Are you offended by, "A Cure for Autism"?

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I think I may have disagreed with every single sentence.

I would support a voluntary cure. Research a cure and give it to those who want it, anti-cure mentality shoudn't be allowed to ruin it for people with AS like me that want to be cured

Of course, making it strictly voluntary would mean it couldn't be used on those who are so impaired by their autism they can't give legal consent...despite the fact that group may be the group who needs it most.

Given aspergers is a classification, something I happen to fall under but which cannot be clearly distinquished from my personality, I would have to refuse a "cure" if one came about personally.

I do however agree with the voluntary cure idea, although this would be difficuly to administer given that to end up "normal" in adult life one would have to opt for treatment when too young to properly consider the implications.

If a cure can be found that means no childern have to grow up with autism it should obviously be used. If childern could be born without mental disorders why wouldnt people want that? as for finding a cure for people that already have autism, i doubt if it is possible in terms of medication, but instead the focus should be on better techniques to help people with autism develop social skills that other people have so that people with autism can live happier and more productive lives. If your happy as is, then i suppose you dont need to worry about a cure and such talk. As for myself, well its too late to fix me so il manage as is.

not broke, no need to get fixed

I don't intend this as any reflection on koolguy18, but the views he is expressing seem to be the usual ones taught by people without autism, and without much idea of what autism really is.

As is often the case, people seem to miss the point.

Substitute the word "autism" with various words that would be recognised as "things you can control via eugenics", and it doesn't read so well.

Juxtapose "autism" with the more emotive "mental disorders", as if they were directly related. Maybe we should breed out vertigo?

Make it sound like the easiest thing in the word to conform with the proper "social skills", as well. All that needs is the odd few electric shocks.

And finally, why should one have to "manage"? It really takes very little effort on the part of others to just accept that the odd 1% of people might not conform totally to the social norm, at all times.

I wouldn't take the cure, personally. My need for repetition is what has enabled me to complete more than 100 projects on my long and circular knitting looms. My Cockneyish speech matches my special interests that include all things London, in particular, the vintage red Routemasters. I would be quite content picking garbage up off parking lots, for the next 40 years, because this is also where the repetition comes in. I have a mind of my own, and I'm not afraid to walk around the dangerous area in which I live, with spiked green, blue or purple hair. On the flip side of my Punk Rock prudery, I'm also a very sweet person, I'm very accepting of people who are different, whether they have all types of disabilities, or not. I also like to give hugs. :O) I live independently on my own, which is the best thing that I've ever done for myself. I'm able to deal with my own incontinence issues quite well, and they don't cause me to want me to be in hiding. I have a strong network of friends, and I get along with my family. I cook my own meals, do my own cleaning and budget my own money. I went to a regular elementary school and I was mainstreamed into a regular curriculum in high school, and that was the best thing for me. I also go to Toastmasters, at my clubhouse, every Thursday evening. I've even held down a job that I hated, for three years. If somebody wishes to take a voluntary cure, they can suit themself. I'd really hate it, if the cure became mandatory.

Last edited by CockneyRebel on 02 Mar 2009, 7:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Well-said. It is high time the paradigm shifts. I think part of the problem right now is the proportion of autism spectral people who actually get formally diagnosed. Is that the source of the purported range of Aspergian IQ? After reading chapters of Niels Bohr's Times I can't help but see a spectral characteristic or two in him. Fortunately for him he had a very cognitively-based upbringing. Who knows how history would have been if he, Einstein, and others had a pentacostal upbringing.

I think maybe more autistic/Aspergian pride should be expressed publicly.

How will Autism Awareness Month be?

Genetics is a little more complex than that. The same genotype can produce different phenotypes depending on conditions and differenet genotypes can produce the same phenotypes depending on conditions.

I don't get the impression that members of Autism Speaks have a robust understanding of genetics or science in general.

Backing up a little bit here... As for hypercoagulation I think (all else being equal) at least one molecular form of Asperger's may show a lower propensity for hypercoagulation, considering the reduced serotonin-induced platelet aggregation.

Let's just say that if this was x-men I would be one of the bad guys, I suppose.

I've always related to magneto more than I did the professor x's guys.

Once we developour social skills, our awesomeness shines.
We don't want to be cured.

hellz no, if that cure were beer, I'd chug a six pack

This post is taking the subject into a different direction but I thought I might post this just to see what you people think.

It is about a mother who thinks her two twin sons have been "cured" of autism. It was posted today in one of the UK's national papers.

link

Oh, yay... another Jennifer McCarthy.