Who is to judge quality of life?
The last few days I've been seeing a lot of posts from people who are not autistic who want to create some sort of dividing line between those autistic people who are deemed "high functioning" (mostly those who have Asperger's, those who can talk, and those who can live independently) and those who are deemed "low-functioning" (those who are non-verbal, those who live in care homes or who live with their parents or some form of caregiver.) These people will say that those of us who are high functioning are "lucky," or that we have a much greater quality of life than those who are deemed to have "SEVERE autism". "Severe autism" would include somebody who can't go to the bathroom by themselves, for example. These people are "unlucky." According to a couple of people I've encountered online, the people who have severe autism are completely miserable and would be better off if they had cancer (yes, seriously, somebody said that.)
I'm wondering exactly who put these people in charge of determining quality of life. I know people who have what some would classify as "low-functioning" autism who are very happy. I know some people with Asperger's who are unhappy. I know some people who are dependent on caregivers who are happy. I know some people who live independently who are unhappy.
I'm wondering exactly who put these people in charge of determining quality of life. I know people who have what some would classify as "low-functioning" autism who are very happy. I know some people with Asperger's who are unhappy. I know some people who are dependent on caregivers who are happy. I know some people who live independently who are unhappy.