Cure? Who decides?

Post Reply New Topic

I've been seeing Aspies who speak out vehemently against a "cure" for Autism, and make a multitude of arguments about how they are just different, or that they aren't disabled, or that they are offended.

But so far, I have seen very few Autistics, people who're diagnosed with more disabling variations of autism than Aspergers. I started to wonder just how many people are of certain minds. So, I established this topic, and this poll, to try to find some answers.

By most heard, I mean those who are heard the mst, not who you think should be heard the most. If who you think should be heard the most differs from who you think is most heard, then please, post what you think.

Am have no problem with the idea of cures depending on how it will be done,who does it,who makes sure it isn't done illegally/forced etc,am could not accept change having lived this way for twenty three years so would like to keep core autistic being,but do want a partial cure of autism to at least reduce the severity so can finally have some quality of life.

Am think everyone should have a say in a cure [if or when the time comes] as it affects everyone on the spectrum,but am also think everyone on the spectrum should respect that not every ASDer is just 'different' and there are auties and aspies who might want a cure or partial cure because of the profound effect autism or as has on their life,high functioners often see it as an attack on hfa/aspergers,but for many who want or are okay with cures/partial cures it's not about wanting to destroy the difference of high functioning autism,it's about wanting the same quality of life and chances.



Have voted [other] as wanted to include everyone.

:Misread the poll and post, but heres my post anyways:

To answer "Who Decides?" I will say that it should be left upon the individual and not the whole. There seems to be two communities here battling each other: The Autistics who do not want a cure v. The non-autistics who search for a cure. What matters my opinion on these grounds? Moreso, how can one group outweight the other? If a person is severely disabled by his/her autism, how can the autistic community proclaim "He/she is just different. He/she needs no cure." Equally so, how can the non-autistic community say "He/she is defective and will need to be cured." Either way, the will of the indiviual is not even considered. If the autistic individual cannot "voice" his/her opinion, then the hopes of the parent far outweights the hopes and desires of others.

To reiterate: It should be left upon the individual to consider curing him or herself. Ofcourse interest groups are not interested in the desires of an individual. The pharmaceudical companies will not cater to an individual.

(er, deleted for accidental double-posting)

I don't know what to put there. My daughter is severely disabled. She has no hope of a good future when I die so I'd like a cure for her but I'm not a cure parent. Most of the cure parents I met in real life are gullible, in denial and don't like their kids. They do nothing for their kids' futures. I wouldn't be so alone in looking for a better life for my daughter if more parents were realistic about their autistic kids.

The cure culture is a way for them to collectively play martyr together and reject reality. If I ever see a cure group knock some sense of reality in those parents, I'll stop my exteeme dislike for them but, so far, they just keep feeding the fantasies to keep the money coming in. Disgusting game playing and the most helpless among us loses.

I checked "other" because of the divisiveness of the poll questions and the fact that the premise (that one out of these many groupings of people, groupings that are made based on a combination of bad sociology and bad science, will automatically know better, and that even "pro-cure" and "anti-cure" are monolithic categories with monolithic reasons) seems nonsensical.

(And severely disabled people can and do have hope of good futures, but those good futures don't exist without us and people close to us fighting for it. I live in a state for instance where it's mandated that people with developmental disabilities not be forced to move out of our own homes for services, and that can happen anywhere if the pressure is high enough. My sympathies if you live in Oregon though, because disability rights on many levels is pretty dismal there, including that Voice of the ret*d has a strong presence there, an organization that is made entirely of people without intellectual disabilities and has a strong position that severely disabled people belong in large institutions, and they have strong monetary and political ties to the groups that keep those open. If I lived there with a severely disabled child, I'd seriously consider moving out of state. Despite the fact that most of my relatives on one side live in or very near Oregon.)

Sorry that my post isn't really long and informative, but I'm really tired and don't feel like thinking too much >.<

I feel that supposed "specialists" who deal with AS and autism patients (yeah right, just people who are paid a bunch to say stuff) are the ones that are heard the most, since they supposedly have "significant research" into the matter and have tested "several severely autistic subjects".

Yeah right.

Usually when someone wants to raise money for a cause, they will use a severe case as an example. If you wanted to raise money to help the kids in Africa, you wouldn't show a fairly well off family who only needs a little help but is otherwise happy. To get the most money, you show starving, poor, homeless kids who have nothing. Organizations like Defeat Autism Now! won't get much money for autism research if they show everyone how great it is to be autistic. It's in the best interest of every autistic who wants treatment for them to show severely autistic examples and to make it look real bad so they can raise more money. It even helps anti-cure autistics if they're right if the research into environmental factors finds no connection because it makes genetic causes more likely.