Why so much opposition to curing Aspergers?

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I'm new here and I had a question on my mind that I've been pondering ever since I found this site, the question of whether autism should be cured or not. Reading this forum, I have seen the answer as a resounding no (at the bottom of the page, it even says that Aspergers is not a disease). Before I continue, I must emphasize that I also have Aspergers syndrome and that this is not meant as some kind of troll post. If it comes off that way, I apologize; all I really want is an answer to my questions and no offense is intended to anyone here.

Defining mental illness is admittedly difficult at times, but suffering or pain caused by a condition is usually considered a factor as the body and mind in a healthy state are not generally afflicted with conspicuous pain without cause. With that in mind, what do you say to people who are downright miserable due to Aspergers, people like me? What else do you call an unpleasant neurological condition that interferes with life and brings anguish and despair if not a disease?

Building on that, I often hear the term "neurodiversity" to refer to the notion that autism is a variation of neural wiring to be tolerated and accepted rather than shunned. The word "diversity" usually implies a variety that is beneficial in some way; one would hardly say call an artist's work diverse and mean that half their œuvre is crap. How, then, is autism part of a beneficial diversity and not a kind of flaw? What does it contribute to the world and how are those contributions enough to outweigh the suffering of many autistics? To put it another way, why should I foot the bill for neurodiversity in the form of a lifetime of despair when a cure could give me the opportunity for a better life?

I think having AS is a gift from the godesses.

While I think the majority of the people on this site have the viewpoint you mentioned, not all do.

I'm not really for "curing" but I definitely do think it's a disease/disability/whatever. I can't say I'm into curing because I don't know that being an NT would be any better. There are plenty of unhappy NTs out there.

I'd rather satisfy myself in a way that involves me making things work for me, instead of me working for other things. Isn't "curing" Aspergers sort of cheating, in a way?

If i didn't have AS,i would be typical NT hoodsta street-trash and if
redmage,starbuline,tinky,shadesofme,spacecase and all the other AS girls were NT,they would be total sluts who whore themselves to jocks.

No offence to the girls but its the truth.

I've attached to my condition beyond the fact that I have it. What I mean is that, well, my personality is defined by my creativity, strong love for math and logic, and mysteriousness. I simply wouldn't want any of that to change! I've found a way to cope with my life, and I'm downright proud of myself.

Cure Asperger's??! !?? It's not going to kill you like AIDS or Cancer DOES!!

IMHO, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it..."

I have no problem if people want to cure aspergers. I just feel that
its wishful thinking. Its not going to be mechanistically possible in
the foreseeable future to cure it. Likely a genetic test will weed out
future generations of aspies from every being born.

You need to treat the comorbit issues that are treatable depression, social anxiety, speech problems, etc.

I don't think I can express this very well in words, but I view AS as both a gift on maybe one or two levels and a curse on many other more l. While I don't believe in "curing" people with AS of their perceived deficits, I certainly wouldn't sign a bill that asks psychology to look at autism as being of a "different kind of wiring".

Theres this essay that really gets my take on AS across way better than I ever could in an essay, at least right now. I'm exhausted!


http://www.case.edu/affil/sce/Texts_200 ... lmonte.htm

asperger's isn't a disease. it's a syndrome. the two are completely different. A disease has a known specific cause or causes (called its etiology), wheres a syndrome is a collection of signs or symptoms that occur together.

I would just like for more people to have a greater understanding of Aspergers and hopefully that would lead to a greater acceptance of it