Speaking as someone that communicates primarily through text (high likelihood of Autism) the internet was the first chance a lot of us had to ... speak.. and be heard
People have a need to be heard and understood. That’s half of what we are doing here posting.
Many (“not disabled”) people don’t fit in with their local peer group / society. The internet gave them a way to connect with other like-minded individuals.
Do I need to give examples? Let’s say: struggling with a rare disease.
There are far, far too many people who genuinely think disabled people should just disappear or die for it to be "safe" to be facetious about that without a clear sarcasm indicator.
Not much has changed, only people get diagnosed now. I think GP makes actually a good point that, with all its downsides, there are also net positive upsides to the internet.
there are upsides but I dont know if its net upside. In this particular example, communicating by text - letter writing has existed for millenia and has arguably degraded considerably in this age of instant messaging
Sorry, i know it's a bit "flavour of the month" but I mentioned it because I have a difficulty communicating face to face, which is common amongst a certain group of people, and I figured that mentioning it would help people understand my thinking.
Speaking as someone that communicates primarily through text (high likelihood of Autism) the internet was the first chance a lot of us had to ... speak.. and be heard