Do you think that society should care more about Autism?

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Specifically high functioning?

Now, I understand that people DO care about individuals on the spectrum. However, in my experience, high functioning autism flies under the radar at times due to the similarities of neurotypical individuals, despite some differences.

Do you believe my statement or does it all depend how you act, along with the group of people who you interact with on a daily basis?

I think that society should give us equal opportunities, especially opportunities for employment.

Very interesting. I don't want society to make a big fuss over me because I'm autistic, and I don't want people to treat us different even if we really are different. My needs just aren't that unusual even if I am a little bit odd.

If it flies under the radar, WHY would we treat HFA as yet another special interest group?

I fight every day for normalcy--not masking, but conformity to the good and rejection of the bad. If this is ableism then that's like calling Booker T. Washington a racist against black people. I want to live like a normal white-collar workingman: married, family, little house and maybe some land, white-collar job. Unfortunately blue-collar work though fascinating is nothing I can deal with in all probability.

Perhaps other people will have ideas.

I never went to school & am home-school product, all the way through high school. I was largely self-taught in high school using correspondence schooling & a manual typewriter. I don't have a bunch of friends but the friends I have are true. In fact I didn't know there was anything the matter with me until I left home & went into a Catholic seminary training for the priesthood (it takes 8 years) where I took on a full load of college classes plus seminary life. Maybe this is the same hard-headed attitude of the Greatest Generation but I'm proud to say I learned it from them and I think the autistics "doth protest too much." This isn't knocking the struggle--it is real--but I'm saying it can be overcome.

I think people care about things that they understand and can relate to

Many people are afraid of autism. The first autistic student I had was so different to any other kid I had known I just wanted to finish the lesson and escape. He rejected me, banged his head with a clothes hanger, wouldn't look at me. By the end of the lesson we had laughed together and both relaxed. I taught him for many years, through university and we are still friends. I really don't have a clue how to solve this, but I would show Tony Attwood Webinars and Youtube items frequently at schools, to educators and kids and parents. Attwood teaches that autism is not defective but different and he provides tools to help understand what autism is and how to decode the different thought processes, with much emphasis on the positive aspects. I had to discover all this on my own. Once I had figured out why my student was upset, what he needed to calm down, how he learned best and what triggered his meltdowns then I started to be comfortable enough to acknowledge all his incredible gifts and attributes. It's all about knowledge. I once, while training in a London hospital, ( I am also a registered nurse) had lunch with a West Indian nurses aide. We were chatting and I told her I was jewish. She said " I can't see your horns, jews have horns." I replied that I also had a tail but I tuck it into my knickers. I didn't blame her. She was educated that jews have horns. The only answer to ignorance is solid, positive exposure and an educated explanation at the target audiences' level of comprehension.People tend to feel safe with the familiar.
People are afraid and suspicious of the unknown. Autism needs to become an integral part of peoples' lives and not be considered an illness, just an element of human diversity . Granted there are comorbidities but many NT's have those also.

What I have seen is consistent disregard for ppl with severe ASD not just my son. But others as well...

and very ignorant professionals and extremely negligent professionals all around. Not everyone but most.

If Thats how many pros getting paid tons act and think how can I expect the rest of society to understand or care ??

Hypocrisy and only a fake display for appearances are what the majority of ppl display ... They couldnt care less if the child breaks his skull etc. They dont acknowledge it many times let alone step up n do their jobs

although wish people could seriously use some upgrading in their ability to interact with autistic individuals high or low ..am thinking making allowances for some fairly idiotic NTs should be considered ..... like permanent institutional residence for those whom presume to prey upon other humans .

I think “Society” owes us nothing. Sure, it would be nice if people in general didn’t treat us like circus freaks or token disabled people (“See? We have an autistic kid on our staff! Ain’t we special?”), but we are neither gods to be worshipped nor “cripples” to be pitied.

We’re people.

They’re people.

That’s just the way it is.

The question is, even if they care about autistic people more, does that mean better opportunities for these people? Does that mean better employment, etc.? It depends what the results are.
I would say generally, yes. Especially in some countries / places, there isnt enough attention about this. But what is way more annoying, is the inequal treatment. When they see someone who is a little different, they also treat him/her different. Thats the automatic, natural response. But I think that is wrong, especially if the different person can behave and act almost normally like everyone else.
Even if the person isnt 100% normal, treatment should be normal otherwise the person can feel sad and behave differently because of sadness, not because of autism.
So it depends how you look at things, but generally, there needs to be more attention to detail about these things sometimes.
It depends on the country a lot, some countries have better or worse treatment than others. The percentage of people with autism in my country is small, so the attention is also equally small, unfortunately.

Of course society SHOULD care more about autistics.

Society - especially the workplace, schools - should definitely care more about the bullying of AS people, and stop enabling the bullies by bystander apathy. It should care more about the long term impacts of bullying AS people, and stop blaming the victims.

In the playground, AS children are not just "children". They are often targets. And the same for AS adults in the workplace. And they are given the message that they are not worth protecting, that they deserve to be victimised.