To say that Alec gets picked on would be like saying that a mosquito is a little annoying to have right beside one's ear. If you are deaf, think of it more like flashing lights. He's a victim and this isn't said sardonically because it is essential to appreciate it when you understand his stereotype and psyche.
Alec does not pretend to suffer more than most, he genuinely does. He is wired different, not just due to his autism but due to his deep passion for anything he begins to feel for. He has learned that showing emotions, being 'soft' in any way, gets you picked on and hurt. The problem for him is that by developing a hardened exterior of anger and alertness, others see only that side of him and respond accordingly.
Alec is the one who is ready to be rejected, and so gets close to noone unless it's deemed extremely safe and predictable of a friendship. He's similar in his approach to money, education and life in general. The perpetual fear of people preying on him, of things going wrong if he remotely gets soft, weak or rests eats at his soul. It causes deep agony for him and makes him even more sad and internally hostile (he isn't so much externally angry as he is constantly sizzling).
For Alec, life is a brutal, blistering set of ordeals, it is not a journey. He need only become a little more soft and his real emotional self and life may begin to shine for him, though I do advise him doing so in select ways to select people.