Would you 'cure' your children?

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I would not want that for my child, if I was to have a child.

If I had an ASD kid, I would only cure them if they were very low functioning. Otherwise I would wait until they were old enough to make an informed decision themself.

No I would not cure my children, for the simple reason as there's nothing to cure.

Autistic people can use their "tendencies" to their advantage, and they just have to know how. Once that happens, they can top 'em all! Why would I want to take that chance away from my kids just to have them live a phony "normal" life? I mean...really....

Hold up everyone, I didn't make myself clear enough.

Unborn child. A child that has not been concieved yet, so no 'I wouldn't go back and change him', because thats not much different than killing them. And it can be through whatever means you'd like, be it selective sperm, some kind of embryonic genetic engineering, or whatever.

I do not want my kids to have autism. If there were something that could prevent my kids from being on the spectrum, I'd want to do something about it, depending how ethical/difficult to achieve that method was.

Am confused by all the people who seem to think their kids will enjoy their autism, maybe I am misunderstanding.

Of course you will love (or try to love) your kids no matter who or what they are. But being autistic is definitely not the "best possible chance at life." If there are aspies around here who are arguing that autism is better than being NT, AS people can have anywhere from NT to profoundly lfa kids, until you're there, please remember AS is not the definition of autism.

If there's a way to give them the best possible chance in life, I'll take it.

So like many others, it would depend on the situation. Is it really severe of is it a mild form? Does the child suffer a lot or are there just the disappointments you have to deal with? Furthermore, it is difficult for me to judge what the right answer would be. I only have learned about my Asperger's a year ago when I was 25. I won't my child to go through the same difficult time as I did, but his or her case would be different because you know of a diagnosis very young. So there would be more guidance in their lives and you can explain or try to explain why they are different or they feel different to people. You can give an explaination why they have difficulties to connect to others and you can give them help, support, tricks, .... So that they can learn with their condition and try to be happy. A definite cure would be the last step for me, I think. And like others wrote, I think it would be a decision in dialogue with my child. And therefore, they must be shown an adult attitude.

Nope, no matter how severe.

I'd make the environment suit him or her rather than making him or her suit the environment.

Unborn?

That's a no from me then at the moment.

I think what some of the people saying yes are forgetting is all of the other ways in which an individual can be socially dysfunctional and/or be made to feel an outsider of the prevailing culture. If I could cure something, it would be that no one need be made to feel a social outcast due to conditions that lay outside of their control. That would include neural disorders, developmental disorders, deformities, sexual preference, race, gender, etc.. No, I would not seek a cure for an autistic child. I would seek acceptance.

I don't think autism is a disorder that needs to be cured because it is not terminal. I would like if there was a cure for diseases such as Muscular Dystrophy, Alzheimer's Disease, Alcoholism, and Cancer. These diseases threaten a person's ability to thrive, but autism does not.

If I were to have children on the spectrum, it would be their decision whether or not they desire to be cured - I cannot change their free will. However, I would remind them for everything they lack, they have been given a special gift; that being on the spectrum is not only a curse, but a blessing as well.

One thing is for certain, though - my children will not fall through the cracks like I did. I will do everything within my power to make sure they do not, and that they are given opportunities that I didn't have... and the knowledge that no one seemed to have when I was a child.

If this were pre conception then yes I would go for a cure. Watching your children have difficulties is very hard.
You can make adjustments for an autistic child and rearrange your life for them but you always live with one terrifying question: What happens if we (his parents) die in a wreck or something? Who will take care of him? I look at my friends and family and don't see anyone that I think could adaquately provide for an autistic child.

No, not until they're old enough to make the desicion anyway. if they really really wanted to and thought about every pro and con of the cure and got second opinions then I'd let them have it.

My 11 year old son is diagnosed with AS. For the first three years of his life, we knew he was "different", but so far they were only good differences--except for some sleep problems. He clearly had a unique way of looking at the world, and way, by far, the most fascinating person I had ever known. At about age 3, other things started creeping in, like odd social problems (which I saw as problems with the neighbor kids, being an undiagnosed aspie myself), obsessive rigidness, and anxieties.

Now, he's still a fascinating, wonderful person, and I wouldn't want to change him. However, I would like to be able to relieve him of the burdens that his AS puts on him. He suffers a lot from sensory issues, and has a lot of anxiety about things that other kids don't have anxiety about. He has some self-imposed "rules" that limit him quite a bit.

If curing him means taking away the anxiety, and allowing him to suddenly be able to navigate social situations, and to be free of the sensory issues, then I suppose yes, I would want to do that. If curing him means changing his brain so that it doesn't think in that unique way that makes him so interesting and special, then no, I would not want to do that.