The Autisnob

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And having a problem with "charity" organizations for your condition has a long tradition in the disability rights movement, and there are real reasons (not "snobbery") to have problems with them. Blind people often can't stand organizations that are "for the blind" instead of "of the blind", lots of people with MD either don't like the MDA, or (more commonly) don't like the side of the MDA that has Jerry Lewis in it.

Same with not wanting a cure. For most people with long-term, non-terminal conditions, a cure is a low priority in their lives, if it's a priority at all. And many go beyond that to actually not wanting one. Which is not, as far as I've seen, a reflection of how severely affected they are by whatever condition it happens to be (including autism), but a reflection more on how they view various things, and how they view the solution to various problems. Two people can have the same problems, and one will want to solve it by a cure and another by something else. What I wish people would quit doing is insisting that political viewpoints (whether a person wants a cure) are the same as whether you have certain problems or not, because that tells me that if I have those problems (which I often do) then I have no choice at all in what I decide to want to do about them, and that I must support a cure (which I don't). I don't tell anyone else they hhave to not want a cure, and I wish people would quit telling me that if I don't want a cure it's because I have all kinds of abilities I don't necessarily have in the first place.

You will notice I DIDN'T mention Jerry Lewis. I am not crazy about HIM either. He just spends too much, etc....

As for the others I mentioned?

1. St Judes....I hope NOBODY I know qualifies for their care, but I like them there for others!
2. Diabetes...My family DOES have a history, but I currently don't appear to have it.
3. LFA...........I don't know of anyone in my family that had/has it.

LPP, I'm not with the Aspies Uber Alles - next stage of evolution C**P. My opposition to a cure is not absolute, but practical. Everytime new drugs are put on the market, the sales dept plays down indications of adverse effects to the point that it may appear that there are no bad effects. Furthermore exactly what are they going to cure? From a practical point of view a "cure" is probably a long time coming. If you read my posts you'll see that I do recognize the drawbacks to the spectrum. I do consider it a Disorder, and I don't buy for one minute that substituting the term "difference" will magically make the negative aspects of the spectrum go away. I would be very careful about accepting a cure since the various parts of the Brain and CNS systems are so complex.

It's not that dandy on the "high-functioning" side either for some of us (I really don't know how several IQ points define one's functioning level, but that's beside the point).

It's funny, I don't think I've seen an individual with [adult onset] MS/CIDP/whatever other neurological disorder not want a cure for their ailment.

I wonder if one hit a "normal" adult with the autistic bat; would they want a "cure" (we don't miss what we never had...)?

NOBODY ever said difference, or even the idea of evolution, meant that there were NO problems. Yeah, if someone has AS, and reads this for very long, they will DEFINITELY see that! I KNEW about some problems, THAT is why I accepted the idea of AS. After reading here, I realize it is like 3 times as bad as I thought, for ME! The reason I didn't know that before was because I hid things, and learned to live with others.

Absolutely, Daniel -

The GREAT difficulty with developmental problems is that they start before we are born and there is nothing that can correct them (as of now). The only "medicine" available can help some results of the developmental problem (such as anxiety or depression) but won't fix the underlying brain structure and function. If ASDs were adult onset, there would have been a lot more research about them and probably more understanding in the medical world by now.

Z

Yeah, and I've also noticed that whether people want to be autistic or not has nearly no correlation with what their actual abilities are.



I have known a large number of people with adult-onset (or adolescent-onset for that matter) conditions who either don't want a cure, or don't have it high among their priorities.

This also includes some people who, like me, have progressive loss of motor planning starting in adolescence or early adulthood, associated with autism. Not all of us want a cure for that, either as a matter of it being a low priority, or just outright not wanting a cure for it. (I'm ambivalent, it depends on what I'd lose in the process, given that the motor planning problems in some of us seem to be related to gains in other areas that are important to us. A matter of reshuffling, possibly.)



It probably depends.

I suspect hitting an autistic adult with the "normal" bat (without telling them that's what it is) would possibly make them want a cure for being "normal".

I do know people with brain injuries who aren't particularly interested in being cured though.

No doubt it would be very different for adults who become autistic suddenly, because in their case they would be trying to return to what was always their personality and basic abilities (as well as their acquired skills), not substitute a new unknown for what was always their personality and basic abilities (possibly rendering their acquired skills redundant and requiring new skills).

Can you both link to actual examples of these views? I have never seen either one that was not a mischaracterization or misunderstanding of someone else's idea.

People have before often mischaracterized my position as velodog's quote, and it annoys me especially because it cuts out complexity and knowledge of other people - both of which I am already falsely assumed not to have. LePetitPrince's example is a clear exaggeration, but done in a way that I usually associate with trying to silence other views by making them seem selfish and without empathy, and thus extremely unsympathetic. I have a lot of trouble believing that people say these things really, and particularly enough people for it to be a type.

My post is not there to belittle you or anyone else cas, and it is not specific to you or anyone else. My post in this instance was actually pointed to the cure discussion. At a March meeting of Aspies at the M.I.N.D. Institute in Sacramento California is the first time I heard any argument or controversy over whether or not AS is a disorder or a difference. While it is a difference, I consider my declaration that you quoted to be self evident. I also believe that if you had bothered putting my whole post as a quote then it would be obvious that the part you quoted is a side issue of the hypothetical cure debate that was the main point that I was discussing with LPP. So, there is no cause for you to treat this as a personal attack since I was, in fact, stating my own position in absolute terms - not in relation to anyone else's, except the Aspies are better theory as a whole.

I know it sounds like I think you mean me specifically given the conversation we have had, but I don't think that and I am not treating this as an attack on me personally. (I also don't think that LePetitPrince was targetting me specifically either.)

But what you say there has been used by other people not just as a self-contained "self evident" statement for social purpose, but to characterize my position; while I have never seen anyone who actually thinks that if you could just change the way their categories are called they will "magically" no longer suffer negative effects. So I question that it is ever true, and wanted to question that particular statement. Did you hear exactly that from people who believe it (where, who)? Are you sure that you aren't misunderstanding what it is they mean?

Regarding "next stage of evolution" mention in your post, I thought it had already been covered previously in this thread, so there was no need to go into it. And my post is well close enough to yours that including your whole post for context is unnecessary. However, that's a regrettable view, but one that I'm sure is very rare (if perhaps loud) and probably more based on reaction to being thought "less than" than on an unprovoked action against NTs. It is not the biggest problem in lack of acceptance for autistic people, and while annoying is I think more annoying when used by others as a stereotype against autistics with different ideas. (This is not a personal attack as you have not done that, that I have seen.)

Completely agree, great post.

Autism snobbery? Here's an example of what happened to me yesterday:

You know that certain boy with AS in my class I always keeping tell you about, well, I think he has some sort of rich family because he can usually do stuff my family can't even afford (even though we're not poor) like go to the movies every week, go on vacations a lot, go to fancy-type restaurants, etc. and when I told him I have never did any of those things, you know what he did? He teased me about it, which kinda made me feel bad.

roygerdodger, I think that you experienced old fashioned generic snobbery that was being practiced by an Autistic individual.

Yeah, and it is STUPID anyway! I mean how can HE boast about his family? TODAY, more people are selling what USED to be others inheritance for a quick buck, etc... For all that boy knows, that $7 movie ticket may be PERSONALLY costing HIM over $100! He won't know for perhaps 40-60 years... Also, some rich people end up very poor, and some poor people end up very rich.

Great thread and so true. On another forum this site was mentioned, and it was brought up that many here have an arrogant attitude. And yeah, it poisons our community because how can we spread a positive image of autism if we are acting like idiots??

There IS a difference between arrogance and stupidity. They don't always go hand in hand.