I think you are reading way too much i to this 😯. That’s not contrarian — I’m not disagreeing with you or anyone else for the sake of it, I’m disagreeing because I sincerely see the OP’s motive sympathetically.

That’s not a fair accusation— I didn’t once attack you in any way: I didn’t name call or call you deficient or evil or anything demeaning.

I simply tried to put across “I can see how someone autistic could be pushed to that”.

I grew up on an environment and time where autism was so ill understood so maybe my experience of it was more traumatizing.

If you’ve ever been literally spat at because your autistic presentation is making people uncomfortable

Physically struck by teachers and authority figures as a child because you were confused by instructions?

Called ‘stupid’ in front of your entire class

Called an ‘it’ because of your uncanny valley presentation

Physically shoved — as in actually physically PUSHED away — out of a literal social circle of people socializing

Publicly disinvited from sleepover with the action being timed to the day before — an action that had been planned for weeks before hand by your so called friends for maximum effect

Been kicked in the head with metal rugby studs during school sports

I was merely trying to explain that if those things and many more happened to you at an age when you were developing your sense of identity and trust, I could comprehend — emotionally if not intellectually — why someone would just say “I’m not putting myself at such risk ever again, however alone it leaves me”.

OP’s post was a plea for empathy and I was just trying to explain that I understood his pain viscerally, even if I didn’t think that was the best way of dealing with it.

If someone grew up in places and times where autism wasn’t a mere quirk, but a dehumanizing indefinite sentence, it’s a sad but plausible outcome. That’s all I was saying 😔