Help Anyone on the autism spectrum?

[timeisnigh]

I'm trying not to white knight here, but passing sucked. I'm resentful as hell that I didn't get diagnosed until late. It cheated me of a lot of opportunities for treatment.

What I'm trying to say is "Autists of the world, unite!" Because this stuff, and I'm guessing most complaints, aren't unique to either of the sexes.

 

[ladolcemorte]

Nice contradiction.

@EternalDarkness

I wish someone had connected the dots earlier, so I could have gotten the help and support I needed from a younger age instead of stumbling through life confused and blinded as to what was really going on and why I struggled to navigate the world like everyone
[/QUOTE]

According to clinician Dori Zenner (google her, she has some videos that are very clear), it is quite common for autism to be "missed" in girls, because girls do tend to "mask", and the symptoms manifest differently in women. Also, the current diagnostic tools are designed around men and don't even pick up some of the repetitive behaviours that girls tend to exhibit.

There are clinicians who have made careers out of identifying why women are diagnosed less frequently than men, and how the current diagnostic tools need to change. Apparently it is common for women to be diagnosed late in life (30s or 40s), after being stuck with other labels that are either incorrect or incomplete. Going their whole lives feeling like they are failing at life but can't pinpoint why.

What is she saying she can do to "help" with autism? There is no cure or treatment for autism. It's not a disease or mental health issue. Its a genetic condition. I suggest you do some reading on autism, and see if you think you are on the spectrum. You know you better than anyone.

I asked precisely that ("what is the treatment") and she said counseling. She says she has helped other women with the same issue and they now lead markedly improved lives...

I have been reading about autism in women, and I do relate to a lot of the issues. But by this point in my life, I view any sort of treatment with skepticism. At first I was told an antidepressant would be the cure. Then I was told "no it isn't depression, it is BPD" and I was sent to DBT (twice..). Then I was told "oops you were misdiagnosed, you actually have Bipolar Type 2", and I was given ECT and lithium. THEN it was "you also have ADHD, have a stimulant!!!" THEN it was "oh hey, you have bulimia too, go see a dietitian and an eating disorder therapist"

So far nothing has worked. The eating disorder counselor is the one who thinks I am on the spectrum. Apparently eating disorders and symptoms of other disorders are quite common in women with ASD.

 

[Michaelwaev]

 

[EternalDarkness]

Nice contradiction.

@EternalDarkness
But, because the symptoms presented differently as a girl, no one recognized the signs for years and years. How is that contradictory?
[/QUOTE]

You said you cant imagine a way that being a girl makes autism more bearable but you mentioned in the same post that you can present your symptoms in a more acceptable manner, because you are a girl. This does make having autism more bearable. We all suffer from autism in one way or another. What i am saying is that despite the suffering we all have to endure, girls have some advantages that men simple does not have. You mentioned one but you then said in the same post that you cant imagine one. This is a contradiction.

Being able to present your symptoms in a more acceptable manner came with the negative side effect to get your diagnosis later and you dont like to hide yourself behind a mask but i am sure we all would prefer to not have autism at all. I am not the one that said female autists are completely fine by the way and that is not the point i try to make.

 

[timeisnigh]

cool Venn @Michaelwaev

I'm going to hijack the thread properly because I've never seen this many autistic people in one place, especially on SS.

We're here from having wanted to close the books, to varying degrees of severity, at one point or another: maybe currently. But we're all coping for the moment.

Did I go too hard last night? Are all the weird happy autistic people right? Are the Temple Grandins & Daniel Tammets the rule, not the exception? Are we full of shit to be pissed about being autists?

 

[Ghost2211]

cool Venn @Michaelwaev

I'm going to hijack the thread properly because I've never seen this many autistic people in one place, especially on SS.

We're here from having wanted to close the books, to varying degrees of severity, at one point or another: maybe currently. But we're all coping for the moment.

Did I go too hard last night? Are all the weird happy autistic people right? Are the Temple Grandins & Daniel Tammets the rule, not the exception? Are we full of shit to be pissed about being autists?

I can see and respect your anger. The world punished you for something that wasn't your choice. If you were you diagnosed as a child and raised by understand people things may have been completely different. It might not be the autism that is the problem, but rather how poorly people handled it. for What it's worth I can see your value and that there is still kindness in you despite how unkind life has been. Autism doesn't remove your value, at least not to me and I'm sure others.

I'm grateful to people like you that give other side of the picture, and don't just feed me rainbows about how my kids will have "normal lives". I can see from what you and others here have said I must stay alive to be at least one person in their world that understands.

 

[ladolcemorte]

cool Venn @Michaelwaev

I'm going to hijack the thread properly because I've never seen this many autistic people in one place, especially on SS.

We're here from having wanted to close the books, to varying degrees of severity, at one point or another: maybe currently. But we're all coping for the moment.

Did I go too hard last night? Are all the weird happy autistic people right? Are the Temple Grandins & Daniel Tammets the rule, not the exception? Are we full of shit to be pissed about being autists?

I think being pissed is justified. If autism is what it appears to be, it is sort of a global inability to function the way society expects...who wouldn't be pissed about that.

The "success stories" are always front and center because no one wants to hear the failure stories.

Apparently suicidal ideation is very high amongst people on the spectrum, so I am guessing the "happy" ones are either lying (to themselves or to the world or both...) or in the minority. The purportedly happy ones just get more air time because people love inspiration porn...everyone loves hearing "I overcame an obstacle and now I am thriving". No one wants to hear "I have tried and tried but my life continues to be hell and there is no relief in sight".

 

[timeisnigh]

I can see ... there is still kindness in you despite how unkind life has been. Autism doesn't remove your value, at least not to me and I'm sure others.

Thanks. I try to be kind. My psychologist says I succeed, such that "one of his clinical goals is making Mr timeisnigh put himself ahead of others"

I tore my ex a new asshole today. I don't want to get into it too much, because, yeah, this is @ladolcemorte 's thread, but it was appropriate of me. She took it poorly. I anticipate we won't be in touch further, which is a fucking relief to the point that I'm the least suicidal I've been since the split. This in spite of knowing it'll probably be a long time alone & no future partner will be as interesting.

If autism is what it appears to be, it is sort of a global inability to function the way society expects...who wouldn't be pissed about that.

...

Apparently suicidal ideation is very high amongst people on the spectrum, so I am guessing the "happy" ones are either lying (to themselves or to the world or both...) or in the minority. The purportedly happy ones just get more air time because people love inspiration porn...

So, yeah, sorry for the hijack.

I dunno. I feel functional. Until I don't. I think that Wrong Planet rhetoric is bullshit, except for when it's not, if that makes sense. As an example, I was on my best behavior at a store yesterday. some clerk was a total asshole to me. (The other clerks weren't) My friend reassured me I did nothing wrong, but it doesn't change what happened. Or that after leaving, I cried my eyes out in my car for ... a while.

The thing is that I'm smart. I passed for a long time. AND my extremely abusive stepfather wouldn't let me act like a "freak" so I knew to keep my shit together. That, and I'm fucking hot, so there's the good looking people can get away with shit that would be creepy if they looked like the rest of us effect

As for inspiration porn. Well. Yeah.

 

[EternalDarkness]

I tore my ex a new asshole today

Yeah, if everyone would be like you, the world would be a better place for everyone. I think i will also will not ctb, because there is a person like you in this world. <3

 

[muffin222]

@EternalDarkness
But, because the symptoms presented differently as a girl, no one recognized the signs for years and years. How is that contradictory?

You said you cant imagine a way that being a girl makes autism more bearable but you mentioned in the same post that you can present your symptoms in a more acceptable manner, because you are a girl. This does make having autism more bearable. We all suffer from autism in one way or another. What i am saying is that despite the suffering we all have to endure, girls have some advantages that men simple does not have. You mentioned one but you then said in the same post that you cant imagine one. This is a contradiction.


Being able to present your symptoms in a more acceptable manner came with the negative side effect to get your diagnosis later and you dont like to hide yourself behind a mask but i am sure we all would prefer to not have autism at all. I am not the one that said female autists are completely fine by the way and that is not the point i try to make.
[/QUOTE]

@EternalDarkness

Sorry, but I disagree. There's no contradiction.

I have a brother who's also autistic and he was diagnosed by age 2 because his symptoms presented in a more obvious manner. I envy him in a sense because he's basically lived his entire life with the specialized care and support he needed, whereas I stumbled and suffered in silence for years because I masked better.

It's not a contradiction to me. I don't agree with you that presenting symptoms in a more socially acceptable way makes it more bearable. That's what you appear to miss. I don't feel that way. Perhaps you feel that way, but I don't, after living my life the way I have first-hand. I think it's made my life significantly harder than it needed to be. There's more to the struggle of autism than social interaction.

Masking was tiring and overwhelming; the issues it caused me went beyond my just not liking to hide behind a mask. It took a mental, physical, and emotional toll on me to fake it and try to follow the scripts day in and day out. If I'd known I was autistic earlier, I wouldn't have bothered with masking. I would have just told people up front in the workplace, at school, and in my friendships that I'm autistic and that I may exhibit some peculiar mannerisms and may struggle with social interaction. That would have spared me the mental breakdown and subsequent burnout.

But, because I didn't know I was autistic, I couldn't articulate why I struggled the way I did. I believed it was just a failure on my part of some kind and that the solution was to just "try harder" to act like everyone expected me to act.

I wish I'd had the experience of my brother who was clearly on the spectrum, was diagnosed early, and has been receiving support and resources his entire life.

Of course we would prefer not to have autism at all, but it's the difference between knowing exactly what the problem is vs stumbling in the darkness for years knowing that something is off but never quite knowing what. Both are equally difficult, but one clearly produces far more unnecessary stress than the other.

 

[Ronnie99]

The treatment for autism is lead poisoning

Or CO poisoning

Or SN poisoning

Look I'm normally pretty optimistic about mental health treatment, but if you're autistic, then you're totally fucked. Give up now. It's why everything has been shit so far. I can personally guarantee you it will only worsen from here. Happy autists are wrong, and I suspect lying

This is a the best advice and matches my feelings. I'm here because of autism!

 

[NoneMoreNegative]

Present, severe asperger here.
If you're autistic, you either live a life full of pain, meaningless events and hate or you die, preventing it all.
There's no medication for autism, nor any type of therapy.
You can't sugarcoat it in any way either either.
Therapists that claim they can ""treat"" autism just want to squeeze every fucking drop out of their unlucky, optimist patients.

If you ask me if i would ever try to see another therapist again, i'd tell you i would rather buy an urn as i consider it a better investment.

 

[Mm80]

Autism imo is a death sentence.
Particularly high functioning, as you are painfully aware enough that the way this world works was not designed for you to be happy and thrive in it. Plus because you often appear normal, neurotypical people are not even aware that they are discriminating against you, they just label you as weird.
The bullshit that really gets me is when people talk about rain man and how intelligent autistic people are, like we have an advantage. First of all, only one in thousands of autists will have genius qualities, and while the rest of us may have slightly higher iq, it doesnt mean we are happy, or even successful in putting our brains to use.
Its simple. Human beings are social animals, fulfilling relationships make people happy. Autistic people have deficits in the social world and difficulty forming and maintaining relationships with others. How would you expect their life to be ? Granted as an autistic you can sometimes get lucky and meet very warm empathetic patient people who get you, but these folks are few and far between.
As for treatment. No medicines help with autism itself, only the co morbid conditions that it creates. Like depression, anxiety (many people like myself get treated for depression and anxiety for years before a diagnosis of autism)
And the vast majority of therapists arent set up to treat an autistic person. Therapy is designed for the neurotypical. Someone who can identify and express their feelings in a typical way, unlike autistics who dont always know what we are feeling and why, and have difficulty processing emotions.
There is hope for youngsters with a diagnosis as they may get more support and the world might change in the future.
But for a late diagnosis or adult with autism,particularly high functioning, unless you get lucky, your chances of happiness are slim to none. Just my opinion.

 

[Rünomai]

The treatment for autism is lead poisoning

Or CO poisoning

Or SN poisoning

Look I'm normally pretty optimistic about mental health treatment, but if you're autistic, then you're totally fucked. Give up now. It's why everything has been shit so far. I can personally guarantee you it will only worsen from here. Happy autists are wrong, and I suspect lying

You're implicitly proselytizing autistic individuals to kill themselves. You proclaimed that the majority of truly zeal-filled autistic people are most likely lying about their states of mind; moreover, in a separate post, you go on to reify this ideology by claiming that your cynicism doesn't make you wrong, both statements might imply that you earnestly believe your assertion is objectively correct, thus reifying the general psychological fettle of autistic individuals.

In abstraction, I most likely understand why you've come to this determination, and though you might not typically be irrational, this doctrine is certainly irrational for many reasons. Please, regardless of your mindset, do not sputter possibly detrimental, heinous pretensions about people.

 

[Eren]

I cannot say that it is, since I am in the process of being diagnosed, but most likely I have Asperger's, I am 25 years old and I have not found any way to improve.

Autism imo is a death sentence.
Particularly high functioning, as you are painfully aware enough that the way this world works was not designed for you to be happy and thrive in it. Plus because you often appear normal, neurotypical people are not even aware that they are discriminating against you, they just label you as weird.
The bullshit that really gets me is when people talk about rain man and how intelligent autistic people are, like we have an advantage. First of all, only one in thousands of autists will have genius qualities, and while the rest of us may have slightly higher iq, it doesnt mean we are happy, or even successful in putting our brains to use.
Its simple. Human beings are social animals, fulfilling relationships make people happy. Autistic people have deficits in the social world and difficulty forming and maintaining relationships with others. How would you expect their life to be ? Granted as an autistic you can sometimes get lucky and meet very warm empathetic patient people who get you, but these folks are few and far between.
As for treatment. No medicines help with autism itself, only the co morbid conditions that it creates. Like depression, anxiety (many people like myself get treated for depression and anxiety for years before a diagnosis of autism)
And the vast majority of therapists arent set up to treat an autistic person. Therapy is designed for the neurotypical. Someone who can identify and express their feelings in a typical way, unlike autistics who dont always know what we are feeling and why, and have difficulty processing emotions.
There is hope for youngsters with a diagnosis as they may get more support and the world might change in the future.
But for a late diagnosis or adult with autism,particularly high functioning, unless you get lucky, your chances of happiness are slim to none. Just my opinion.

Completely agree, the worst thing is that many times others are not aware that we have a problem, and simply label us as "weird".

 

[The Abyss]

Aspergers, diagnosed in 30s after struggling throughout my life, no cure, I hate this world. Isolated & I feel like I'm a different species. I'm utterly alone & find ppl are generally awful.

 

[Mm80]

I cannot say that it is, since I am in the process of being diagnosed, but most likely I have Asperger's, I am 25 years old and I have not found any way to improve.




Completely agree, the worst thing is that many times others are not aware that we have a problem, and simply label us as "weird".

Well at 25 you you are still relatively young and from personal experience, us aspies tend to look younger than we are lol.
I dont know your circumstances, but maybe you have a chance of happiness. I hope so.
I agree. High functioning autists are seen as weird because we are essentially seen as normal by neurotypicals. Our difficulties are subtle and we have learned to mask many of them.
So we are simply written off as weird which to me has negative connotations. A fucking serial killer is weird. Being called it for years takes its toll and knocks your confidence. It became a self fullfilling prophecy for me. People thought i was weird anyway so i just acted more odd.
Feel free to let me know how you are getting on with diagnosis etc as i was diagnosed in march so may understand.

Aspergers, diagnosed in 30s after struggling throughout my life, no cure, I hate this world. Isolated & I feel like I'm a different species. I'm utterly alone & find ppl are generally awful.

I can relate to feeling like a different species.

 

[Eren]

Well at 25 you you are still relatively young and from personal experience, us aspies tend to look younger than we are lol.
I dont know your circumstances, but maybe you have a chance of happiness. I hope so.
I agree. High functioning autists are seen as weird because we are essentially seen as normal by neurotypicals. Our difficulties are subtle and we have learned to mask many of them.
So we are simply written off as weird which to me has negative connotations. A fucking serial killer is weird. Being called it for years takes its toll and knocks your confidence. It became a self fullfilling prophecy for me. People thought i was weird anyway so i just acted more odd.
Feel free to let me know how you are getting on with diagnosis etc as i was diagnosed in march so may understand.

I can relate to feeling like a different species.

Thank you. I've really tried, but I don't think I can.


And yes, I feel completely identified. Our problems are subtle enough that others do not identify a problem, but they are subtle enough to be "weird"

 

[Mm80]

Thank you. I've really tried, but I don't think I can.


And yes, I feel completely identified. Our problems are subtle enough that others do not identify a problem, but they are subtle enough to be "weird"

Maybe just get your diagnosis sorted first. Most people are ignorant but you might just meet some lovely, sensitive empathetic people who like your quirks and if they know you are on the spectrum, will learn and adjust for you.
I met people between age 25 and now who would have accomodated me if they knew i was on the spectrum. It wasnt the autism that lost these people for me, it was the misunderstanding and unawareness on both sides.
Im not saying life will be easy for you, autism is tough. But pls do give yourself time.
Plus when i got diagnosed, i knew why i was different, and tgat i wasnt weird. This gave me the empowerment to tell people who judged me to fuck off, with some justification.

 

[The Abyss]

Bit harsh don't you think?

It's the truth, successful aspies generally had a lot of intervention early in life by NT family to help them fit in with society & overpower their "ticks" or are attractive to the point of odd behaviour being overlooked.

often times males assume that females are given an easier path in life in general, so that just extends to autism. In reality however if we are not what society expects us to be we just end up getting used and thrown away instead of becoming somebody's wife. Some people just live in a fairytale where they think that society actually cares about females.

Just make an onlyfans account & there's no worry about holding a job down & workplace bullying, that's a perk tbf.

 

[Misfit72]

It's the truth, successful aspies generally had a lot of intervention early in life by NT family to help them fit in with society & overpower their "ticks" or are attractive to the point of odd behaviour being overlooked.

Just make an onlyfans account & there's no worry about holding a job down & workplace bullying, that's a perk tbf.

That's the problem - I'm from the lost generation, who was first told about it when it was a new thing and there was even less support or advice then than now. The National Autistic Society in the UK only care about children because they have pushy parents. All my Dad did was to show me a newspaper article about Asperger Syndrome back in 1991 as if to say 'this is why you need to work twice as hard as everyone else to be normal', which caused me to be even more anxious and depressed before, and he was astonished when I told him that doctors and psychiatrists were either ignorant or dismissive about it.



Paradoxically, I heard about AS before I heard about depression, and the only knowledge of mental illness I had was schizophrenia. The NHS mental health crisis team here is a joke, and one of the people who came round to see me couldn't even spell Asperger correctly - 'Asp Berger'. But if I got a diagnosis, what difference would it make? Would I be treated any better as a result? Given what happened to Callie Lewis, I doubt it.

My Mum died when I was six back in 1979, and one of the last things she did was to take me to a child psychiatrist. Had she lived, she would have been a counterweight and a second opinion. Ironically my Dad remarried a women he later described as 'autistic', but that's his term for anyone who doesn't think the world revolves around him. He says I have a 'neurological dysfunction', but he could be diagnosed with ADHD.

I've bought some caffeine powder but haven't done anything with it, and have since read about it being like having a heart attack, but it seems preferable to surviving with brain damage, which is what put me off helium. A couple of psychiatric nurses asked me 'isn't that expensive?' as if they were going to give me an NHS leaflet suggesting cheap ways to end it all! SN looks interesting, and I've managed to find it for sale on 'that' site.

 

[The Abyss]

That's the problem - I'm from the lost generation, who was first told about it when it was a new thing and there was even less support or advice then than now. The National Autistic Society in the UK only care about children because they have pushy parents. All my Dad did was to show me a newspaper article about Asperger Syndrome back in 1991 as if to say 'this is why you need to work twice as hard as everyone else to be normal', which caused me to be even more anxious and depressed before, and he was astonished when I told him that doctors and psychiatrists were either ignorant or dismissive about it.

View attachment 44285

Paradoxically, I heard about AS before I heard about depression, and the only knowledge of mental illness I had was schizophrenia. The NHS mental health crisis team here is a joke, and one of the people who came round to see me couldn't even spell Asperger correctly - 'Asp Berger'. But if I got a diagnosis, what difference would it make? Would I be treated any better as a result? Given what happened to Callie Lewis, I doubt it.

My Mum died when I was six back in 1979, and one of the last things she did was to take me to a child psychiatrist. Had she lived, she would have been a counterweight and a second opinion. Ironically my Dad remarried a women he later described as 'autistic', but that's his term for anyone who doesn't think the world revolves around him. He says I have a 'neurological dysfunction', but he could be diagnosed with ADHD.

I've bought some caffeine powder but haven't done anything with it, and have since read about it being like having a heart attack, but it seems preferable to surviving with brain damage, which is what put me off helium. A couple of psychiatric nurses asked me 'isn't that expensive?' as if they were going to give me an NHS leaflet suggesting cheap ways to end it all! SN looks interesting, and I've managed to find it for sale on 'that' site.

I didn't get diagnosed until last year after struggling forever, based on descriptions on multiple sites & observing behaviour I'd have to say my father has aspergers & my mother a condition called diogenes syndrome, they met in a psych ward, one inpatient the other outpatient.

I don't know the details surrounding Callie Lewis but the articles on her can go fuck themselves calling this place sick, it's the fucking society that is sick, they only give a shit after the suicide to virtue signal.

I'm tired of this notion that only children struggle with this condition like they somehow adapt as adults, high functioning is a laugh too, higher than what, sub 80 iq staring at the ceiling? My nephew is regular autistic & by all accounts will never live an independent life yet high functioning makes those deemed that sound like they're somehow better than the average person, perhaps in intellect but certainly not social skills & coping, social skills over book smarts any day.

The average person knows fuck all about this condition citing the good doctor or rainman as their understanding of it & when so called health care professionals know diddly squat it's not good.

Face it, this world is a struggle for the average person now how do you think someone that can't fit in, can't get a relationship, struggles to get work, doesn't charge up from huge social gatherings, born into poverty & had a rough childhood marred by bullying from being in a bad neighbourhood will fare, no fucking friends, no nothing. It's too much & you get these ppl with the support networks trying to tell you they know what depression is after their puppy died jfl.

Oh when I'm feeling down my bf/gf, friends/family cheer me up. Just put yourself out there, see a therapist.

This doesn't apply to those at the bottom, it's like comparing a scratched knee with a shotgun blast to the chest.

I'm surprised the suicide rate for "high functioning " autists is ONLY 10x that of the general population.

 

[CatIsFedUpOfThis]

As an autistic myself this thread was quite alarming to read lmfao. Here to offer an alternative perspective: it literally makes no difference in my life being autistic. In fact, there are even benefits. There are pros and cons to being autistic AS WELL AS pros and cons to being allistic. Obviously this thread is going to be pretty one-sided but I do NOT appreciate users preaching their internalised ableism to everyone else. And preaching eugenics. Nah fam that ain't it. Sorry you feel like being autistic has made your life worse. But not everyone feels that way. So stop saying ableist shit and how we should all die. Autism isn't a mental illness. Your DEPRESSION makes your life seem awful not autism. Would love to discuss this with someone who won't just say that I should kill myself after fighting for 2 years to get a diagnosis of ASD. Your opinion is not gospel.

 

[Racon]

Your DEPRESSION makes your life seem awful not autism.

The Autism leads to depression though.

 

[CatIsFedUpOfThis]

The Autism leads to depression though.

If that is true then why does not every autistic person suffer from depression?

 

[catalepsy]

I have ADHD and a nasty case of OCD. If I'm not mistaken, ADHD is part of the spectrum. I might be mistaken, though. I don't remember.

 

[CatIsFedUpOfThis]

I have ADHD and a nasty case of OCD. If I'm not mistaken, ADHD is part of the spectrum. I might be mistaken, though. I don't remember.

ADHD is part of neurodivergency, so it's not on the autistic spectrum but part of the neurodivergent spectrum. And autism is on the neurodivergent spectrum too. So kind of similar :)

 

[Racon]

If that is true then why does not every autistic person suffer from depression?

I wish I knew. Maybe they just aren't that autistic or got stupid lucky with finding companionship. At any rate depression and suicide rates are much higher with autism. Just look at the July survey on this site and you'll see 16% of people reported being autistic.

 

[catalepsy]

ADHD is part of neurodivergency, so it's not on the autistic spectrum but part of the neurodivergent spectrum. And autism is on the neurodivergent spectrum too. So kind of similar :)

I've been told I act autistic when it comes to things that interest me, but I think that's also a component of ADHD. I just like stuff, man.

 

[Mm80]

As an autistic myself this thread was quite alarming to read lmfao. Here to offer an alternative perspective: it literally makes no difference in my life being autistic. In fact, there are even benefits. There are pros and cons to being autistic AS WELL AS pros and cons to being allistic. Obviously this thread is going to be pretty one-sided but I do NOT appreciate users preaching their internalised ableism to everyone else. And preaching eugenics. Nah fam that ain't it. Sorry you feel like being autistic has made your life worse. But not everyone feels that way. So stop saying ableist shit and how we should all die. Autism isn't a mental illness. Your DEPRESSION makes your life seem awful not autism. Would love to discuss this with someone who won't just say that I should kill myself after fighting for 2 years to get a diagnosis of ASD. Your opinion is not gospel.

Can you be more specific to who which posts you are disagreeing with? This discussion hasnt all been one sided against autism.
Also, what brings you to a pro choice website whereby many are suicidal? You clearly arent affected by autism as you said it makes literally no difference to your life. And you dont seem to have the depression that is an incredibly common co morbid condition to autism. Would love to know how you stumbled across sanctioned suiced and became a member?

ADHD is part of neurodivergency, so it's not on the autistic spectrum but part of the neurodivergent spectrum. And autism is on the neurodivergent spectrum too. So kind of similar :)

No. Adhd, (which i have too) is a neurodevelopmental disorder as is autism.
It has a high comorbidity rate with autism,as the two conditions overlap in symptoms quite a lot. Its very possible to have, and be diagnosed with the two. @catalepsy its possible you could have both disorders.

I wish I knew. Maybe they just aren't that autistic or got stupid lucky with finding companionship. At any rate depression and suicide rates are much higher with autism. Just look at the July survey on this site and you'll see 16% of people reported being autistic.

Your right, @Racon depression is a very common co morbidity with autism. This person above is actually the unbalanced one here, by ignoring that 80 plus percent of autistic people have severe mental health issues and are much more likely to commit suicide. Instead they are focusing on the minority that dont.
I think the main factors are early diagnosis. A child can get more support and understanding if they know earlier and not feel as weird or alienated, which would cause depression. Many of us went into our adult lives without a diagnosis, so we just felt different, weird and alienated. Its no surprise we would become depressed.
Also some people get lucky like you said by finding a super compassionate companion or friend, or have a good family behind them. And sadly id say financial circumstances would play a part.