By definition, we are gonna have repetitive behaviours and restricted interests, or not experience emotions or social cues in a NT way. This might come off as strange, cringey annoying, or even harmful, but we can't help being hyper fixated on a particular topic or sounding like a broken record. I am sure I repeat myself often and my long posts are annoying, but this is how I communicate and I don't really know how to convey my thoughts any other way.
Just because we don't bond in the exact same ways NTs do, or may be uncomfortable with certain types of body language and physical touch, often displaying altered sexuality or dysphoria as well, doesn't make us monsters undeserving of love. At the core of autism is experiencing and processing the world in a way that is fundamentally unique compared to a neurotypical POV. And even then, it varies so much between autistic people, that sweeping generalisations and stereotypes don't really do our struggles justice.
Unfortunately the latter type of autistic person is often propped up as a laughing stock/lolcow for NT people to humiliate and mock. Think of Chris Chan type figures who get manipulated and beated down for years for entertainment, then everyone wonders why they completely lost the plot as of recently. They were harassed for years and no one cared because the wider society thinks it's amusing to harass autistic people if we are "cringe" and have "childish" interests like anime or games.
No worries, I like reading and writing long posts. Easier to get all the thoughts out that way.
Anywho-
I often wonder why there's so little activism on behalf of autistics.
I mean, we really have a shit time of it. Here're some disturbing statistics I saw-
Autistica is funding research to understand suicidality in autism
www.autistica.org.uk
"Studies have shown that
up to 66% of autistic adults have thought about taking their own life, and
an alarming 35% have attempted suicide. Around
1% of people in the UK are autistic,
yet up to 15% of people hospitalised after attempting suicide have a diagnosis of autism."
Case in point- you and I on this website.
Research has shown that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have higher rates of health problems throughout childhood, adolescence, and adulthood, and that this may result in elevated risk of early mortality. The present study reported ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
"There is a small but growing literature suggesting than individuals with ASD may have an increased risk of mortality compared to the general population (
Woolfenden et al. 2012). For example, in a Danish cohort of 341 individuals with ASD followed from 1960 to 2006, individuals with ASD died at twice the expected rate of the general population (
Mouridesen et al., 2008). In this study, there were no differences in mortality risk between those with ASD and intellectual disability (ID) compared to those with ASD without ID, with frequent causes of death including epilepsy, infectious diseases, and accidents."
Research indicates that sexual violence affects about 30% of women in the general population and between two to three times as much for autistic women. We investigated prevalence of sexual abuse, autistic traits and a range of symptoms, using an ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
"Research indicates that sexual violence affects about 30% of women in the general population and between two to three times as much for autistic women."
That's roughly 6 to 9 out of 10. Happened to my girlfriend. Absolutely revolting numbers.
Certain behavioral traits or school policies may contribute to high bullying rates among children with autism, researchers said
www.cbsnews.com
"63% of children with autism bullied."
Again- absolutely revolting.
The 17th to the 21st June marks Loneliness Awareness Week in the UK; a week aimed at reducing stigma around loneliness and helping people to connect. Loneliness has been suggested to be as harmful to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and can have an enormous impact on our physical...
psychologychartered.co.uk
"Autistic people are four times more likely to be lonely than the neurotypical population and as many as 79% of autistic people report feeling socially isolated."
No surprise there.
Related- autistics often struggle with dating and intimacy to some degree or another due to lacking NT social skills. In American culture, where romance and sex are extremely visible and set as a requirement to be normal, this is doubly painful. Autistic floundering in that sea of ambiguity is quickly labeled weird, clingy, crazy, a red flag, incel-ish, creepy, etc.
In light of all this- why is no-one marching for us?
