system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Star Trek] Why are Vulcans often misunderstood by human Starfleet officers?

The emotional "deficits" generally exhibited by Vulcans are similar to the symptoms of high functioning autistic individuals, right? Shouldn't officers have at least a passing knowledge of this comparison and use that information for better relations between the species, by relating to Vulcans like they would autistic individuals?
gpt
Also remember that Vulcans are largely a secretive and traditional race. Humans that join Starfleet are a largely rare breed and those that excel are rarer still. They have to be a combination of scientist, diplomat and soldier, which not many people are capable of doing. Vulcans with that same aptitude are even rarer than that. 

Most Vulcans keep to their planet, or ships made by Vulcans or crewed by all Vulcans. This is logical to them. If they deviate from their centuries of tradition, or consort too much with more volatile species, they might find themselves slipping back into unbridled passion and unchecked logic. They don't express emotions, but they do feel them, and the fear of regressing back into those old ways frightens Vulcans more than anything. 

So they keep themselves isolated and a little stagnant. Unfortunately, this means few people really understand Vulcans. Add on top of that the already inherent difficulties of another species trying to understand the culture of another and you have a recipe for constant misunderstanding.