cure low function autism

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reading this thread is like being on a roller coaster. i am appalled by some of the comments and uplifted by others.

darklurker, i usually refrain from making pointed comments at people but i thought i'd take a stab at it. you have expressed several times that you are unhappy with your life, that you envy other people. i think it's important that you realize that not everyone has the same feelings.

just as none of us are qualified to say what you want out of your life, you are not qualified to determine what all people with disabilities (physical or mental) want out of their lives. your experiences, as all human experiences, are filtered through the lens of your own understanding.

perhaps there are people, like you, who want a cure. it's likely that there are. we won't know unless we consult each and every person.

the problem with a cure is that there are no guarantees. this isn't a simple condition we're dealing with. once cured, there's no way to be sure that quality of life would be improved, and what if it wasn't? there's no going back.

the fear that many people have when it comes to a cure might be based on the notion that said cure will not be administered only on those who want it. if we cost so much to keep, would society be willing to continue to let us be if there was a cure?

i personally wouldn't want to be cured. i like who i am. i don't think people are better than me. sure some have capabilities that i don't but i'm well aware that i'm also capable of things they aren't. i don't spend my time on envy, i try to meet my weaknesses head on. i know there are people who envy me and i wish they didn't. i wish they admired those parts of themselves that i do.

You thought I was making what you said look bad. So you couldn't help but reply.


Now you're just focusing on extremes to distract from the goal. What do you even know about gene therapy or adapting?


The pathetic way things are isn't something to be preserved.


I don't think we have to stay the same as other animals.


You don't act OK with it.


There never stops being someone who comes up with a reason to bash cure for LFA. The reason cure for LFA has to be specified is cause the whole opposition to cure is coming from aspies who oppose cure, basically stating their intelligence as their reason to be against cure. There has to be a distinction. It doesn't mean there aren't learning disabilities outside of LFA.


Please, at least admit that you are against what you are bashing.


Mental disabilities aren't core to someone's identity. They don't make anyone unique. They're just awful misfortunes.


Well, I'm kind of harsh when realizing the huge number of lives that would be hurt and held back by their deceptions.

Why wouldn't others in similar situations be envious? Envy is a natural and prevalent phenomenon, which is why it's so familiar.


Since the condition isn't simple, scientists are working on it. Why wouldn't quality of life be improved after cure? That's the whole point of cure. Nobody is forcing cure on them. What they really don't like is being forced to tolerate others getting cures, as they think they should be the exclusive ones to have their abilities. The very high functioning don't cost too much to keep, as they likely are enabled to produce at a net benefit for society. Not that they have to work all that strenuously to do that.

Alright, if that's what you need to believe.


No, I was actually trying to understand what you were saying better, as I clearly misunderstood. I know better than to ask you to clarify, though, because you're not here to educate people, right? If we're talking about focusing on things to distract from goals. You tend to avoid questions. You just did it, may you please at least answer my previous ones?


You're right, it's not something that needs to be preserved, but since perfection isn't real, I just don't see everybody being perfect- Thus giving us strengths and weaknesses. This is my opinion, yours is obviously different. You seek perfection and fairness in life. I seek living the saying "Improvise, adapt, overcome."


We haven't, we've become so "advance" we're killing the world with our amazing discoveries.


I don't have to like a differing opinion to be ok with the fact that someone has an opinion that isn't the same as mine. If I agreed completely with your opinion, it wouldn't be a different one.



I'm sorry, I guess this is my fault for not making myself more clear to you. I'm not bashing the cure, I'm against the reason the OP says there should be one. A cure should be there for people who feel the need to have one, it should be by choice and to better the quality of a persons life, not cost based, and not singling one thing out when there is a plethora of reasons for the financial distress we're in. I've known a number of people who are considered LFA but are happy. Actually happy. How do I know? Just because an autistic is non verbal, it doesn't mean they can't communicate. I've asked, I've gotten answers. I can trust these answers because I've had coherent conversations with people considered to be LFA through other means of communication. I know they're intelligent enough to converse with and comprehend what I'm talking about in any other aspect either verbally or some other form of communication, so why shouldn't I trust their opinion of their life? On the other hand, I've known people who are on either end- LFA all the way up to asperger's who aren't happy because of specific autistic traits, and if a cure would make them happy... That's great. I'm pro-choice in every aspect of life, but when people start doing things to make money, the choices of the people affected become less and less important to society and anyone in charge.


You're right, I admit it. I'm against the thought of finding a cure for any condition based on what it costs a person with said condition to live. I'm for finding a cure for anything that anyone may want a cure for, but it should be their choice and because they aren't happy because of direct symptoms of said condition.


That's your opinion, not everyone feels the same. Also, I wasn't just talking mental disabilities.



I'm not sure I understand this. I'd like some clarification if you'd be so kind. I feel I have a great understanding of what I'm talking about, maybe I'm just not saying it in a way you understand.

One more thing you'd said in a post to someone else:


If a cure is to be administered before the person is either of the proper age or before the person is even born, then it can be considered forced since a child has no say in his or her medical rights. Parents making the choice to give their child a cure, even though a child may not want it.. That's forcing the cure upon a person. As for the quality of life being improved, I think that all comes down to the individual and how they feel about their life. If they're happy with who they are, why worry about them needing to improve their quality of life?

I'm asking questions so I can understand your opinions better.. Who knows, maybe we both have similar ones, but we're just misunderstanding each other.

Last edited by twich on 29 Jun 2012, 11:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.

the sad truth is the first response to identifying any genes involved will be the abortion of many who test positive for that gene. That's what has historically proven true. As rough as my life has been, I would not want to have been an abortion statistic.

Any gene therapy found will be unlikely to help anyone who is involved in this thread.

Scientists have found that certain nutrients help. This is something that we can run with today -- I get NAC, Carnatine and Tyrosine in powder form and spike my tea with them daily. They do help. I also take Hawthorne berry and Taurine to help my heart.

There is also serious evidence that the nutritional status of the mother during the pregnancy is as much a factor as genetics -- all women of childbearing age need to make certain they get enough folic acid for starters.

I don't want to go off topic.


Technology never stops improving. Who knows what's impossible.



The criticisms of cure have been too harsh to just have been targeted at financial reasons for cure.



Preventing cure is unfair to the many who would be deprived of it and remain unfortunate. That's why I don't talk nice to someone when they're opposing cure.


It's forced cause it would be done during childhood or during the fetal state? Children can't consent to much of anything. They don't know what is in their interests. There is no sane reason to err on the side of someone wanting to be mentally debilitated. Quality of life isn't really arbitrary.

Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were in my head and could read my thoughts and know my feelings. Thanks for clarifying that.

I have reasons as to why I'm so passionate about this and why it's ONLY about financial reasons, but I don't have to answer to you, I don't have to explain myself, you certainly refuse to, so I'm done giving you that.


The fact that you refuse to actually answer any questions directed toward you by any member so they could get clarity and understand what you're saying to respond better, and that you have the audacity to assume you know what I'm thinking or feeling because you've decided I'm a horrible person who is against any cures for people who want them has done it for me. Have fun with your miserable, envious, jealous self. Just because you're not happy with who you are, doesn't mean that anyone who is happy with themselves is against a cure or bashing what you think they are.

I have answered questions to clear things up. And they and you were bashing things. If you have principles, don't deny them while arguing them.

Being autistic is pretty core to my identity.