This really made me mad!

Post Reply New Topic

I am all for the cure of those with severe low-functioning autism, seeing as though they usually suffer from mental retardation as well, and they don't really have a self-identity. However, those who want to stamp out AS
and autism as a whole, whether by cure or genocide, are the ones who need therapy in my book. I didn't really need a cure like the one described above; eight years of learning on my own has cured me. The result is some thing better: i know how to behave in an all-NT situation, yet i am above the petty feelings of envy and lust that seem to control the lives of most my age. The thing these people fail to see is that most people like us have their personalities closely entertwined with their AS or HFA. If you take away their AS, you take away their self-identity. I don't see what fuels these people to completely stamp out Aspergers Syndrome and Autism, but it would be more like an autistic-targeted version of Hitler's Final Solution (i'm sure you know what i speak of) than the curing of a devastating disorder (Which it isn't for some people.) Also, pre-natal screening only for the purpose of finding fetuses with autism so they can abort the pregnancy is open genocide. I don't mind curing severe autism, but there are those (like me) who don't need to be turned into an NT with a severe superiority complex. Save the cure for those who need it. Also, pre-natal screening and abortions based on autism have got to stop. The psycological effects on the mother and the risks far outweigh the possibility of having to care for an autistic child. That is all.

Archmage

It is still hard for to contemplate this information. There are rare times, perhaps because I avoid them or just don't come across them very often, where tv or lights can bother my eyes to the point of creating a headache or my body forcing them closed, or while cigarette smoke at all bothers me anyway, when there is a room full of it I can choke or gag and it is wholley unbearable. Then again as I said I very rarely find myself in such a situation so it is hard to say how strongly or often such things affect me, but are those I mentioned examples of sensory overload?

I often get headache from lights and feel like the light is bouncing off everything but I don't count that as true overload (although it probably is visual overload). When I get overloaded I can't think straight, I start stimming furiously and I really do not know what to do with myself (I used to hit myself or dig my nails in my scalp but I tend to stick to leg shaking now). Everything becomes too loud and too bright and I can't stand to be touched or talked to. When its really bad I feel like all of my skin is sensitised- as if I'm being brushed with a feather all over. Its like my brain is shuting down and when its really bad the only thing I can do is lay down in the dark and quiet.

i'm not sure whether i agree with the above or not. parenting is the most difficult job in the world, cos it's a little PERSON involved. and no-one gets trained to be a parent. great, isn't it? IT training all over the place, but none in parenting: "Hey, yes, we can tell you how to squaffle your flangette on the OS98)(*&^$£$%"£, but don't ask for any help in trying you make sure your kid's self esteem is ok, or even how to cope with being a single parent, hourly paid, who can't work cos your baby's been teething for the last 7 nights." i would say "rant over" at this point, but i can assure you it isn't.

on the other hand, it's nice to hear someone recognising the impossible position of women having to make the decision about abortion, instead of castigating them. thanks for that, archmage.

Excuse me. How do you know that?

I'm too tired of this sort of stuff to read the whole thread, so I'm not sure if I'm allowed to call BINGO! ! already...

On the other hand I do remember occasions, especially when really young, of having thought overloads. I would think about the all the things millions of people do and all the possibilities and directions each human could do or think. Even when in the scope of a small area, there are millions of cells interacting, thousands of insects outside, and I could go on. I would think about virtually everything within a given subject and sometimes everything that existed, and my mind was performing many, many thoughts and calculations of actions and probability.

I have to agree with echospectra. I have worked with profoundly ret*d people and even the worst off of them DO have self identity. Moreover, they have a need for that to be recognized and respected.

I guess my main fear with prenatal screening is that basically, I don't think it could detect the severity of autism; all it might do is to indicate that the child will have some form of autism...and in that case, very high functioning sorts and those with AS would be indistinguishable from one with a very severe form. I don't honestly think it should matter though...I don't think either one should be exterminated.

And here is where I don't like myself, because honestly, if I found out that my unborn baby was Down's, I would seriously consider abortion. Not because the child would have no right to live, but I would be fearful of being unable to give such a child what it would need to succeed in life, and I have seen enough, workign with the agency I was with, to know that even the most dedicated of parents can work very hard, sacrifice a lot, and still have a totally dependent child. I have a hard enough time with my NT children...

Another factor is that people aren't very educated about autism. They have notions that all people on the autistic spectrum are non verbal or of very limited vocabulary, are incapable of any sort of love, and bang their heads constantly, etc etc. When people hear 'autism' they don't think of Einstein or Temple Grandin. Even the peditrician who looked at my son, who specialized in diagnosing disorders, told us that autistic children don't demonstrate closeness with their parents.

The thing is, I have this idea that we aren't malfunctioning, screwed up people who need to be fixed; we are a genetic variation from the norm, that the world NEEDS us, the way we are, not "cured".

good points, chamoisee. what it boils down to is that, at some point, the buck stops. SOMEONE has to take the responsibility for making a decision. yes, it would be great if we could all see into the future and see what life holds for a child. but we can't, and so it's a risk.

so, the first step is to educate people about ASD, so that they can make an INFORMED choice, by knowing what may or may not be likely to happen if they have a child with ASD. people still do have children with Down's, after all - they haven't been eradicated. and, at the same time, we have to lobby for proper state support of parents, so that it is a REAL choice, that parents will know they can have a child with ASD and be supported, rather than have to abort a child because they don't think they could cope.

education and money. sigh. so much is about education and money...

I'm with you on this one, which was the other (less well expressed) focus of my original rant - awareness and proper support, for parents struggling to cope with autistic spectrum kids, and for autistic adults seeking independence or help/protection in the workplace, is something very important to me and a goal worth lobbying for, and the resources of those seeking a cure might be better spent in this area. Less glamorous to sponsors than genetic research (which I won't get into again or we'll end up going round in circles) but at least as worthy of pushing for.

Dunc

Well, they do have a self-identity, but they'd be better off if they were cured than most people with HFA and AS.The pros outweigh the cons in their situation. Sorry if i offended anyone.

"cure"... what an awful word! Shock therapy is a "cure." Lobotomy is a "cure". Castration (both real and chemical) is a "cure." May God protect us from "cures."

I would never want to be cured. I just wouldn't be me anymore. I would lose my Artistic Abilities and I'm afraid that I would become one of the Sheep around me. People on the Spectrum are born out of Nature. A Cure is born out of Fear. People are afraid of things that are different, so they try to disquise those things to make them less noticeable. Besides, Normal is boring. I would also like to add that nobody chooses to have a Disability.

There should also be a choice as to whether people want to have some of their more troublesome symptoms cured. I feel we don't really have the right to speak for everyone on the spectrum, as seen on the would you choose to be NT thread some people would choose this.

Aspies don't need to be cured, they need to be promoted and refined!
Society is very very sick as a whole. Look at the big picture.
The goal is to go out and seek instant gratification, have the most money, look good, drive a nice car, go to the gym, play sports, load yourself up with pills and vitamins to get fit and healthy. The list goes on and on and on. I can guarantee you that there are very very few people meeting these expectations and then they get severely depressed about it.

I hate to say this but uhm i was in fact cured of as at least temporarliy. not dilerablerlablty but uhm just had teh snot drug ged out of me without my informed consent. trust me being cured is not worth.
My third person perspective is gone. i am physically coordinated as is my speech. i i ihear my own voice i pick up on social cues. of course it could just be brain damage. The things nts say sound good. The inner world is dead.

Are some of us uncomfortable with the idea of a "cure" because our Asperger's/Autism is such a part of who we are to us? On days that I'm having a hard time of it, I sometimes think it would be easier to be NT, but most of the time I wonder if I would really feel like me if if I were suddenly "cured." I can't picture any other way to be.