This really made me mad!

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www.cureautismnow.org

OK, maybe I'm overreacting. You folks read it and see what you think. The notion of them finding a 'cure' and ridding the world of our kind bothers me in the extreme. Actually, the objective seems to be to turn us into neurotypicals, and I find that even more disturbing.

If I were to take a pill, or worse, have some 'therapy' that would turn me NT inflicted upon me, I think that I would mourn my old self, the rich inner world that I have now. Even though I've always wanted acceptance, I enjoy being different and would not choose to be normal given the opportunity. What frightens me is that my parents would very probably have made that choice for me if they could have.

For all their supposed superiority, is it beyond the realm of their capabilities to tolerate or (gasp!) even accept other types of people on the human spectrum?
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Chamoisee

Yes, this sort of thing disturbs me, too.
Certainly, there are many people on the autistic spectrum who are very severely affected, but what they need is help , in order to live their lives safely and with happiness. They may need protection, too, from people or situations that could distress and harm them. What they don't need is "curing" as if they had some disease that society needs to be protected against!
This applies particularly to Aspies, because their problems are not as "visible" to the NT population as those of someone with 'classsical' autism. Aspies may simply be seen to outsiders as odd or eccentric, but why should that be cnsidered as unacceptable, or wrong?
It disturbs me enormously that there is a tendency to rconsider words auch as 'normal', 'standard' 'average' and 'natural' as being synonomous with 'right'. Why should this be? To be outside the norm is not wrong. Nor is it wrong to be different from the average. This applies to many fields of human activity; we could be talking not just about neurological diversity, but about sexuality, or religious belief, or politics.
For heavens sake, its not 'normal' to be an intellectual genius; a great artist or scientist, or a saint - but surely the people who are so set on standardising society would not think these things unacceptable!
I don't want to be cured. My personal experience is that it is my attempts to interact with an NT society that has caused a lot of my problems, not just the fact that I am an Aspie.
Perhaps people that who think they are right to change what they see as 'not normal' should use language a bit more precisely. To say "I believe" something is not the same as saying "I know" it ;, although it seems to me that a lot of people use these words as if they were interchangeable, and act accordingly!
To be different does not imply that the person is better or worse. I wish society would delight in difference , not be suspicious of it.
Glenn (rant now over!)

i always worry about this, as i have worked with people with severe autism, who can do absolutely nothing for themselves towards independent living. i don't want to speak for them and say whether or not they should be "cured", although i do agree that therapy and treatment is incredibly useful. one young man can only express himself by punching his mother, whom he lives with. she takes it for as long as she can, and then he has to go into respite care when it gets too dangerous for her. she doesn't want him to be anywhere else full-time. this situation is so utterly tragic, in the true sense of the word - she is totally devoted to him.

i don't know what it's like to be NT - if it were a choice between being able to have relationships (NT) or my high intelligence (possibly due to AS), i'm really not sure. but how can i know what it's like being anything other than me? and i'm 43, so it would be a bit mad to start a whole new life now. i'm really not sure how i feel about all this.

Vetivert, you make a very good point. People who are clearly seriously affected by classical autism do need more than just support and acceptance. I guess the idea of "cure" is relevant to them.
But when I wrote my rant, I was thinking more about Asperger's, who are not so drastically handicapped in their attempts to progress through life ... most of us can communicate adequately even if we have trouble socialising, or with relationships. Yet we are on the autistic spectrum, too.
Maybe I am too influenced by my own experiences...since childhood, I have been called 'eccentric' and I have felt very mych an outsider. Yet for all that, I do not feel I have a problem that needs "curing". I would like to be acceptable as I am ....as everybody should be, if they cause no harm or hurt to others![/i]

I read a quote in the Schafer report that dissed the concept of a cure, but not the need for help. It went something like, Do not need a cure it is not a disease, but do not dismiss that they don't all need help or at least some help or support. I liked the way it said it. Keep the good traits and learn to work around the bad, I think sums it up.

Do you have a link? I find most of what Lenny Schafer has to say insulting and annoying so this is interesting to hear, perhaps he is not as one dimensional in his perspective as I took him for. I saw this on neurodiversity.com as an illustration - some of you may have seen this already as I know it has been discussed on a different board, I found it a very rude and blinkered response to a question, so I thought it was pertinent to this thread.

http://www.neurodiversity.com/inquisition.html

As I have said in the 'Lovaas' thread, the problems faced by profoundly autistic children and their families are horrendous, and I agree wholeheartedly with most approaches used to improve their lives and help them to function more effectively, where these are applied with respect and love. The idea of a cure seems delusional to me, you can't cure a neurologically based condition but you can certainly work towards effectively managing it without destroying a person's identity, and help someone achieve as much as possible. The only feasible cure is prevention and you know what that means - screening, and the ethical can of worms that opens.

Dunc

Society always believes there to be a normal and anything that doesn't match with that idea of normal is considered wrong and must be corrected. Well, guess what there is no normal! Every single person on this earth is different from the next. There is not a single living organism that is just like another, not even identical twins because they always differ an at least one way mentally. To set a standard of "normal" and persecute those who don't seem to fit into that category is ridiculous. If you ask me, that's a form of prejudice and prejudice is a modern day monster that is not to be tolerated.

This is giving me flashbacks of the thread stating that Asperger's Syndrome is a gift, and it is. Do these people think that they should not respect people with autism just because other people assume that they can behave inappropriately? What a terrible way to treat us! We belong in this world! The fact that we are here should not be a disgrace!

I don't agree with a genetic cure, but I can see where they are coming from. In their FAQ they addressed this issue.

After I read this I could see their point, but support and therapy can also greatly improve the lives of those living with autism. I have seen evidence of this numerous times. On TV I saw a show (it was either Dateline, 20/20, or 60 Minutes) about a family with three young boys and one girl (who was NT). All three boys had low-functioning autism. The parents were stressed out all the time. The boys were constantly with therapists and psychologists. A few months into the strenuous therapy, the oldest boy could speak, read, write, and attend school, the second boy could speak, and the youngest one (who had the most severe case) could make eye contact. The parents, of course, were thrilled.

These types of stories show that not only genetic research improves the lives of those with autism. All it takes is time and effort. In my opinion, finding a cure based upon genetics is like taking the easy way out. But it is still a difficult issue.

I'm not really sure about my opinion on this, but: If you could have the decision between having a disabled child (could be physical, not just autism or AS) or a 'normal' one, which would you choose?

I don't see any problems with curing it or offering to cure it.. It's not like you're being forced into it.

For some people with Autism and those who care about them, this opportunity might be a dream come true..

I've seen a few examples in this thread in which treating some people with serious Autism would be a great benifit.

I am on medication that tries to keep it a bit more under control than it would be, and I am happier.

Schafer Archives

SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT "Healing Autism:
No Finer a Cause on the Planet"
________________________________________________________________
Wednesday, January 5, 2005 Vol. 9 No. 2

Revenge of the Nerds
By George Dvorsky for Betterhumans.
"Yet despite the problems, and considering his cognitive gifts, there's
a good chance that this boy will integrate successfully into society and
lead a fulfilling and meaningful life. That's what a growing segment of the
autistic community wants the rest of society to acknowledge. Organizing
around the idea that their condition is not so much a disability as a valid
mode of psychological being, a growing number of autistics say that the
problem is not with their condition but with the general unwillingness to
accept and integrate them into society."


Somewhere over the Spectrum: Is Asperger Syndrome Autism?
Lenny Schafer
Editor
(Most of this article is not only argumentative and contridictory to current popular opinion but is rather is blantly biased and one sided. I ask Schafer would the flu be considered any less so if it lacked severity or one of the symptoms common to it. How can something that has most all the same attributes and the same treatments work for be completely different?)
"Asperger Syndrome is a serious disorder and those who suffer it
deserve sufficient support to help ease their integration into the rest of
society, to the extent they choose to do so."[/url]

Their point is, autism should be cured, but that is not possible. That is just the way we were brought up. Not even doctors can do it. So, I will be thinking for quite a while about why people even thought about the fact that there should be a cure for autism.

Oh, that is ridiculous! I said there is no cure for autism, so there is no point in saying something positive!

I don't have a serious a case of Autism / Asperger's, so I'm probably not the best person to ask about this, but those with really serious cases can't speak for themselves. I find it hard to negatively respond to the concept of a cure for autism. While the disorder is much more complex than something like cancer, it is obvious that many people cannot live a normal life because of Autism; It is a disorder. Severely autistic individuals and their families would greatly benifit from a cure, as their suffering would be relieved. If I had a choice to cure myself, I probably wouldn't chose to do so unless the cure only took away the negative aspects of the syndrome, but I don't know what it is like to be a severly autistic individual.

You didn't make it clear which post this comment was in response to- but you can not tell people that they are not allowed to have a different opinion to you. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and the discussion does not have to stop just because you say there is no cure for autism.

I personally feel that the real issue is not whether on not there is a cure, but how acceptable the 'treatments' being proposed are.

Last edited by Mel on 20 Jan 2005, 7:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

BTW- I am not sure how I feel about this issue- for me I feel that I don't want to be cured, but I don't feel that I can speak for everyone.