Would an autistic person commit suicide?

http://www.sussexautisticsociety.org/images/logo.jpg

This week we had to write an essay in the College Writing class about autism. One of my friends who is also taking the class had an interesting opinion on it. In her creative writing piece she described the thoughts of an autistic female in an asylum who committed suicide. The lady already killed a person and she was under close surveillance. Her essay was purely hypothetical, but I was wondering how much truth is there in this idea.

I cannot completely agree that an autistic person is capable of committing suicide. I see an autistic person as unable to adapt to the society. As we can see in the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Christopher would have been able to kill a person, if he felt threatened by their presence. He would kill only in order to protect himself. The instinct of conservation has a greater input in his reactions than in normal people. Then, why would he kill himself? It does not make sense to me.

One argument I received was that they might feel pressure from the society, that they might feel threatened by their environment. How can this be true, when autistic persons live in their own world. They do not adapt to the society and sometimes they do not even understand what happens in the society. How can they feel pressure from something they do not understand or are not part of?

In conclusion, I believe an autistic person would not be able to commit suicide. What do you think? Read more!

About me

Romania is my home country and I was born in the middle of it, in a small city called Tirgu Mures. The term city might not be appropriate for Tirgu Mures from an American perspective, but compared to what towns and cities look like in Romania, I would say it is a city because of the economic development and the range of options you have in your career.

I am in a long term-long distance relationship with a smart, handsome and loving man. In general, having a long term relationship is a little challenging but having a long-distance one is definitely a provocation. Still, we have managed to be together and have very good relationship. It wasn't and still is not easy to succeed, but when you have found the right person it is worth every single moment.

I am currently a first year student at Lafayette College in Easton, PA (USA) pursuing a dual degree in BS Civil and Environmental Engineering and BA Economics and Business. During the summer I will be doing research with my adviser on "Models of User Design Preference for Multi-Objective Optimization of Roof Trusses". I am really excited to learn about programming genetic algorithms and clustering mechanisms in a field that I like.
Next year I will serve as a Resident Adviser for the Residence Life Office. I will be in charge of an off-campus special interest house called Reeder St.
I am currently involved in some clubs on campus and I plan on continuing my work with them. The first one is Engineers Without Borders which has a main project in Honduras, helping people from poor village to have access to clean water.
I am also involved in the Family Weekend Committee as part of the Campus Programs Team. I have taken part in activities organized by the International Students Association, the Club Tennis Team and Intramural Volleyball.

With that said, I think you have a pretty good amount of information about myself.

The photo I included with this post was taken at Lafayette and resembles one of my favorite things. I dare you to guess! (Iubu, this challenge is not for you, since you know it very well.) Read more!

Important day

Today is the birthday of my blog. Also today, Claudia celebrates her 20th birthday anniversary. Claudia is a very good friend of mine from Lafayette College (the college we both attend as freshmen students).
I started this blog because I always wanted to keep some sort of diary about my life and my everyday experiences . Corina was the one who inspired me to start this adventure and I look forward to see what is going to result from it. Read more!