Aspergers son who was suicidal

This is such a common characteristic of autism and so little discussed. There really needs to be more attention to this.

To give an illustration, one of the major reference texts on aspergers isTony Attwood's "The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome". It has about three pages making cursory remarks about suicide.

One of the ironies about this is that it seems to be more prevalent amongst people with "milder" autism. And because autism support organisations focus on those with more marked autism the issue of suicide tends to be neglected.

The suicide risk, aside from depression and other complications, and the use of medication that modifies personality, seems to be a response to being able enough to believe you can mix with other people, or do well academically, or get a job, but to be continually undermined and rebutted by people who wont respect the disability.

Someone with more marked autism is less likely to be in competition with non-autistic people or interacting with them, and has more support.

Bullying seems to be a factor, and as I keep on saying on herre, not conventional bullying (older kids extrorting pocket money) but collective ridicule for being different. Many or maybe all people on the spectrum experience prolonged and high levels of bullying, which must undermine self confidence and self esteem long term. It might be worth looking to see how far bullying contributed to his present mindset.

Depression with autism is easy to comprehend. You cannot easily outwardly explore feelings and fears with a social circle. People not affected by autism have social networks and social outlets. If you are mainly locked into your own thoughts and unable to find external reference points, depression is likely.

Also the environmental aspects of sensory senstivity and sensory overload mean that people on the spectrum may not go out much. Going for a walk is a simple remedy for feeling low, but may not be an easy remedy for someone with autism.

Until money is spent researching this issue it will remain difficult to provide advice. Unfortunately research concentrates on people with more marked autism, as if somehow milder doesn't matter.

If it leads to suicide and depression, milder does matter. So lets start addressing autism issues across the spectrum, rather than in little pockets of action.

This is such a common characteristic of autism and so little discussed. There really needs to be more attention to this.

To give an illustration, one of the major reference texts on aspergers isTony Attwood's "The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome". It has about three pages making cursory remarks about suicide.

One of the ironies about this is that it seems to be more prevalent amongst people with "milder" autism. And because autism support organisations focus on those with more marked autism the issue of suicide tends to be neglected.

The suicide risk, aside from depression and other complications, and the use of medication that modifies personality, seems to be a response to being able enough to believe you can mix with other people, or do well academically, or get a job, but to be continually undermined and rebutted by people who wont respect the disability.

Someone with more marked autism is less likely to be in competition with non-autistic people or interacting with them, and has more support.

Bullying seems to be a factor, and as I keep on saying on herre, not conventional bullying (older kids extrorting pocket money) but collective ridicule for being different. Many or maybe all people on the spectrum experience prolonged and high levels of bullying, which must undermine self confidence and self esteem long term. It might be worth looking to see how far bullying contributed to his present mindset.

Depression with autism is easy to comprehend. You cannot easily outwardly explore feelings and fears with a social circle. People not affected by autism have social networks and social outlets. If you are mainly locked into your own thoughts and unable to find external reference points, depression is likely.

Also the environmental aspects of sensory senstivity and sensory overload mean that people on the spectrum may not go out much. Going for a walk is a simple remedy for feeling low, but may not be an easy remedy for someone with autism.

Until money is spent researching this issue it will remain difficult to provide advice. Unfortunately research concentrates on people with more marked autism, as if somehow milder doesn't matter.

If it leads to suicide and depression, milder does matter. So lets start addressing autism issues across the spectrum, rather than in little pockets of action.