**TRIGGER WARNER** **Suicide**

Okay, so I need to get this out of my system because it makes me feel so angry and devastated with the world!

I don’t like to follow the news much, only when I absolutley have to or something happy happens. However, this I could not ignore. A teenage girl with Autism committed suicide because she was struggling with the thought of isolation and, according to the articles I read, felt as though “her world was closing in”. The reason I am angry about this is that all the articles I’ve seen reporting this tragedy have their headlines based on her looks. “Beautiful and chariming teenager commits suicide” seems to be the basis for each and very one, but if you scroll down into the article only then do you see that this girl had “high-functioning” Autism and she couldn’t cope with trying to fit in to the social normalities and pretending like she was okay. So when she found out her routine would be changing and she would be trapped inside for weeks she found she could not cope anymore! And yet people aren’t really talking about it. They refuse to acknowledge that, as people on the spectrum, we are struggling with this and even though a lot of us don’t show it, it is very real and can be detreimental. They are also claiming that she “couldn’t face the isolation” but clearly that was not her only struggle, it is quite normal or someone with Autism to bottle everything up for a long time and then one thing, no matter how big or small, will push them over the edge. I’ve been there so many times before. She had a fear of the unknown, very much like many of us do. Emily Owen had been very good at masking and I am so upset that we live in a world where that seems to be so necessary because anything else means we are misbehaving, weird or lazy (although there are many other things people have said to me).

I need every nuerotypical to hear this AUTISM IS REAL! IT DOES AFFECT US DAILY! WE NEED AND DESERVE SUPPORT! IT IS A DISABILITY! IT IS DISABLING!

People with Autism mostly without a learning disability (but not exclusive to) are 9 times more likely to commit suicide. Someone with Autism is more likely to think about or die by suicide than a neurotypical.

Here is an article I found outlining these things and some contacts if you or someone you know feels suicidal: https://www.autistica.org.uk/what-is-autism/signs-and-symptoms/suicide-and-autism

As we approach Autism Awareness month let’s be mindful of what Autistic people are going through. Check in on them because even if they look “fine” they may not be internally. It’s okay not to be okay and it’s okay if you can’t show it or if you show it every day. It is okay!

-Kayleigh