Talked with my mother about "THE CURE"

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At the risk of sounding cliche here... I AGREE.

Take a look back at the history of people who are considered to be "great" intellectually. The vast majority of them were decidely not NT, or had some kind of chemical dependency problem that gave them an altered view of reality.

My personal favorite article along those lines is from the same site:
http://www.autistics.us/library/dontmourn.html
In particular, I think the following point can't be said often enough or loud enough:

My mother and father are one of the few people who realized soon that AS is part of me, and to cure it would be catastrophic.
Great goin' guys!

Any decision on curing someone autistic (in the unlikely event that there will be a cure in the future) should be down to the individual unless he/she wasnt able to communicate a decision in which case it should be presumed that decision is yes. I think in the general population of autistics that most would rather be 'cured'.

While implied consent for those that cannot answer has traditionally been considered to be the least of all evils, assuming that the majority of classic Autistics want a cure is completely unfounded. No research has ever been conducted to prove or disprove such a claim.

Very good. I like that.

Case in point, I have an Aspie friend who has an autistic son (he's 4 years old and is just starting to go wild with echolalia) and she said finding a cure is unthinkable and irrelavant because with a cure, she would no longer have the son she has come to know and adore.

With regards to LFA and MFA: I was in the psych hospital once in the adolescent ward and I met an autistic kid in a well-chair who didn't speak and appeared to do no more than squeeze the hell out of my hand and dig his finger nails into my skin. I would just want to know if HE would want to be different. If HE would want a cure for some or all of his difficulties. That's all.

I know I don't want any sort of cure. But then again, he and I doubtless lead incredibly different lives, which is why I would hesitate in saying yes or no either way for the entire spectrum.

I think the desire to be cured is more closely related to the personality of the person than their so-called level of functioning.

Yes, I have been blessed with the Optomistic Gene.

Many of the people who judge those that want cured happen to be independant with jobs, a social life etc. It is wrong for anyone to judge someone that doesnt like having autism as they havent lived that persons life. Who is going to look after my nephew for instance once his parents are dead and gone? Is anyone who is high functioning in a position to judge if he was cured and was able to live a full and independant live? I believe in tolerance on all sides. Tolerance of autistic behaviour and tolerance of those that would rather not have a disability too.