Dutch assisted suicide programs have euthanized an increasing amount of autistic and mentally handicapped youths, a British study found.
This is a sad one since there is no cure for intellectual handicaps or autism. However, with 77% saying it’s the loneliness and isolation that drove them to this route, maybe the answer is in simply having programs that bring people like this together with each other.
Problem is, just because nobody wants to spend time with them because they’re socially impaired, doesn’t actually make them more accepting and / or willing to spend time with each other.
I am autistic and I disagree with this. Yes, autistic people understand what each other is going through and can relate better than with someone who is neurotypical. However, there is some fundamental loneliness that comes with some autistic traits.
Being around people overstimulates me and tires me out, so it’s really hard to maintain consistent relationships with other people. And then of course when you are ready for human interaction you don’t have stable relationships to turn to in that time and it can feel super lonely.
Like, I am fine being on my own 99% of the time. But when my birthday rolled around and I wanted to have a party for once it was really depressing that I barely had any of my own friends to invite.
Plus the world is just hostile to you in general on top of that… Imagine just existing and living your life and everyone seems to have a problem with you just being who you are. Even if you are low support needs and most people can’t tell, they think you are just rude or stuck up when you’re actually just awkward as hell.
