The AS Rights Movement Is Great, But At Times Goes Overboard

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I'm an Aspie, and I think it is important to educate the world about the nature of Asperger's Syndrome, so they can accept us for who we are and treat us with respect. It is important for all Aspies to pull together and support one another. I think that Asperger's Syndrome is a wonderful thing that God has blessed me to have, and I don't wish to change it. These core values of the Autism Rights movement I think are great.

However, I feel that sometimes the Autistic Rights movement can get a little extreme, especially when it comes to harrassing and name-calling members of Cure Autism Now, and when it comes to expecting the world to revolve around us because we aren't as socially in-tune as others.

I think there are major gifts and major weaknesses that come with Asperger's. We don't need to change who we fundamentally are, but I think there are some weaknesses that we should work on getting better at so we can bless those around us. I have a stronger desire than others to not pay attention to someone when they are talking to me, but that doesn't mean that I should not at least try my hardest to listen to them out of respect to that person, and don't get down on myself WHEN (not if) I don't do it perfectly.

Also, about the Cure Autism Now organization, LET ME GO ON RECORD AS SAYING THAT I DO NOT WISH A CURE FOR MYSELF NOR AM SEEKING A CURE. But I know a mother who has a severly autistic son who is part of Cure Autism Now. Her son at a birthday party exposed himself in front of little girls, not knowing what he was doing. I looked at his mom, and she cried, an embarrassed look on her face.

To be honest, THE IDEA OF A CURE DOES MAKE ME NERVOUS. And I am NOT SAYING THAT THAT MOTHER'S BOY SHOULD GET A CURE, OR THAT HE SHOULD NOT GET A CURE. But I will say that I at least have sympathy for the mother and what she goes through, and whether or not I agree with her, I don't hold it against her personally that she wants to find a cure for her son.

It seems like some of us Aspies don't realize what some parents of severely autistic children endure, I think we should be understanding towards them, and we expect them to bear it all with not a single moment of being upset, (or else they are against autistic people! (this is what a few might think).

I am not going to get into whether there should be a cure or not, but I will say this:

We cannot allow the cure issue to divide Aspies against parents of severly autistic children. Instead of feeling like they are a threat to us, I think we as Aspies could take the time to help the parents train their kids to become better at social skills. We have something to offer in helping an autistic kid to not expose himself in public that NO ONE ELSE CAN OFFER. We have a better understanding of their way of learning than their parents do.

Many NT's INAPPROPRIATELY expect Aspies to cater to everything society wants them to do, but that would diminish the things about us that are special. Likewise, I think many Aspies INAPPROPRIATELY expect society to revolve around them, to the exclusion of them giving back to other people. I don't fault us as Aspies for having this struggle because all of us (including myself) are tempted to use Asperger's as an excuse to live in a way that might make others miserable. I think society should extend understanding and care to the Asperger's community and the Asperger's community should do their best to extend understanding and care back to society. It has to work both ways.

I agree with your comment, its very difficult for the aspies to get recognised from NTs and our Autistic rights movement does sometimes gets its nail hit harder in to the wood by some of those people. But we have to remember that were are own community with our won way of life, they dont really like us just becuase were different and prefer to stay away from the NT social activities and some mothers and possibly future mothers are perhaps seeking an end to autism by eliminating it by birth, (a bit like the down syndrome) but they dont realise that we have our own way of thinking and learning process which can make us excel at some subjects and be poor at others, The autism rights its trying to bring us to the rest of the world to say that there is nothing wrong with us, were just different, its the same sort of thing they have for different skin colours and sexuality, we are wanting to be accepted just because were different and we dont have an illness.

Nice post, word to all of the above. I have to add though that I find the very concept of a "cure" to be creepy to the max, and I know I'd never accept one.

To maccer and ev8.

I agree. I don't like the idea of a cure being offered to me. And I REALLY THROW FITS when I think of eliminating autism through abortion. I'm a pro-life activist AND an aspie, so that is just a DOUBLE NO-NO.

Also, certainly there are a lot of Aspies like us who don't go to the extreme on this issue.

I would say about the issue of a cure, autism is only one aspect of a larger debate here...about whether it is best to seek cures for genetics and personality. There are people I know who have Huntington's Disease in their family genetics and I can imagine they would want a cure for that. But if they can find a way to cure Huntington's Disease (which curing it in and of itself is a good thing) through genetics, it would have serious ramifications on a variety of people groups. People who have a genetic tendency to be angry would possibly feel pressured to take a cure, and the same would happen with people of autism, down syndrome, and basically everything. If that ever happens, that is going to be a HUGE SOCIAL ISSUE THAT SENDS PEOPLE AT EACH OTHERS THROATS IF THEY LET IT. And I plan to just stay out of it. I don't like the idea of someone asking me to be cured, but in general I don't fault people for wanting to find a voluntary cure to autism, nor do I fault people for opposing such a cure.

You are saying exactly what I have been feeling for the last three years or so, ever since I became really aware how many AS traits I possess. While there are many aspects of my life I wouldn't change for anything, there are some things I would like to change. I would like to get rid of my anxiety and triumph in an interview in order to advance at work and get a driver's license, things I know I am intellectually capable of.

I feel for those families of children and adults with severe autism. While I hate the word "cure," I am all for everyone with autism/AS, no matter where they are on the spectrum, achieving their full potential.

Thank you for cutting through the BS on each side.

that wouldn't be very good if they tried to eliminate genetic disorders if they decided... right no-one with cycstic fibrosis and carriers for that matter, no-one with huntingdons and parkinsons. no-one with downs etc etc were allowed to have children so they can eliminate these "genetic disorders" that some people have, its like putting evolution on halt because it is genetic changes that created different creatures.

I am a person with AS AND the parent of a severely autistic child; I am divided against myself!

I completely agree with this; I've described AS before in basically the same terms. I seek no "cure" for myself; I'm fine with what I am. If someone were to "cure" me, I'm honestly not even really sure what that would mean; I do not believe I could be "cured" and be the same person I am now.

My son is very deeply autistic, and is largely non-verbal; THAT is a problem (not being able to comminicate in or out, that is). The term "cure" is rather vague; wouldn't want to disturb my son's world, but I would like to be able to communicate with him, more than anything in the world, actually; and I know in my heart that he would like to be able to communicate also; he expresses huge amounts of angry frustration over being unable to do so. I'd settle for some "cure" that enabled me to meet him half-way, like signing that we'd both have to learn, but ideally I think it would be helpful if he could communicate at least a little with arbitrary people, for the sake of being equipped to survive in this world. Once again, I think that's what he'd want also.

It's a fun, big, crazy mixed up puzzle, possibly with pieces that will never even fit together; fun stuff.

Good fortune,

- Icarus the Parent

Last edited by Icarus_Falling on 13 Sep 2007, 8:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I wonder...maybe it is as simple as finding a way to cure and manage the PROBLEMS, not the Autism?

...and, to coin a phrase, learning the wisdom to know the difference?

M

I wonder about this too. Many of the people who are strongly in favour of a cure seem to confuse "we don't want to be cured" with "we don't want you to help your children with any problems that they have."

lol, my son has this one down already He says "My brain isn't broken, it just works differently, so I don't need anything for that. But if they could find some medicine that would help things taste less sour to me, then I would take it."

aspergers is probably the least likeliest to end up being cured,pro cure groups main campaign is a cure for lf kanners,which is why parents from these groups often complain about aspergans campaigning against cures due to having very different ability and needs.

It's a complex issue, and I understand the desire for a cure, although I do worry about the way that NT parents of young children seem to dominate the movement. Autism often improves drastically by adulthood. The "tragic" autistic child of five who can't speak or be toilet trained might be in school a few years later.

The one autism cure group I will never respect, however, is Autism Speaks. They produced a video called "Autism Every Day", which is meant to show how difficult it is to raise autistic children. Toward the end of the film, a mother confesses that she once thought about killing herself and her autistic daughter by driving off a bridge, and that the only reason she didn't was because she didn't want to leave her NT daughter. She says this while her autistic child is in the room with her. Any organization that would condone a parent talking about killing their child in front of the child is not an organization I can support. The film crew should have immediately called child protective services because that is ABUSIVE behavior.

Link: Autism Every Day Death-wish Mommy is around 6:00

The thing is, until we have a firmer understanding of what causes autism, we're nowhere near a cure. Sure, genetics plays a big role, also possibly the prenatal environment of the child. Whether any "cure" would affect those with AS, or just low functioning autistics we can't know 'til we know how you might go about curing it. We don't know how subtle the indicators are - it might be an all or nothing proposition where we know a foetus is somewhere on the autism spectrum but not where, or there might be the possibility of a very subtle deliniation of the eventual effects on the child. It might be as simple as giving the mother hormones during pregnancy to regulate how significantly affected the child is, or genetics might trump that in spades. We don't know, and in the end I'm not sure how helpful speculation is 'til we know better how and why autism develops.

That just about says it all, for me.

I strongly oppose any concept of a "cure." How can you cure something that is not a disease? The problem with having a "voluntary" cure is that it would most frequently be the choice of NT parents, who most often would lack a full undertsnding of the benefits that come along with autism. Thus, an autistic or Aspergian child may be drugged into neurotypicality before getting a chance to realize his or her special talents, and would have no choice in the matter.
Also, I think the concept of "normal," "healthy" childhood development is deeply flawed. The world has billions of perfectly normal people- it doesn't really need any more. By "curing" the supposedly "defective" individuals- even those who do have a real disorder- we lose the potential special contributions they could have made to the world. Handel, Shumann, Twain, and Hemingway are all considered to have been bipolar. If they had been cured, might we have missed out on their works of creative genius? And there have been many historical figures speculated to have been Aspie/Autistic. While I will not go into any specifics to avoid derailing this thread with some side controversy, I am certain that the world would have missed out if autistic and Aspergian tendencies had been repressed. I do not consider normality to be the ideal- no great person in human history has ever been "normal."
My main problem with groups like Cure Autism Now and Autism Speaks (haven't these two merged now?) is simply that they are a bunch of genocidal nut cases. There are people who want prenatal testing to selectively abort Autists- don't try to tell me that isn't genocide, and in the US we already have laws prohibiting discrimination against those with disabilities. Ignoring the fact that autism is not a disability, it would violate these laws to abort a child on the basis of the chances of that child having/developing some form of autism. Are we going to become like China, killing children if they don't have the particular traits the parents would prefer? If Autsim Speaks would stick to trying to find therapies or other ways of helping low-functioning autists, then I woulld be perfectly fine with them. But they want to wipe us out of existence. That "cure" is a little too extreme for my tastes.

its all propaganda. just like everyone has to be a home owner and own a business