hypothetical cure yes or now

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Should autism be cured yes or no

I would like to hear opinions for a hypothetical cure for autism
I for one do not wish to see autism be cured (except in extreme cases). Autism is something that makes me unique and it does have downsides but it also has its ups, for one it has given me an outlook and perception of the world around me that no one else has. Autism has also given me an interest in science you could even call it a passion because it gives me a further understanding of the world around me. I think I would be a shame to see it all go away. I see becoming an NT as a loss of my intense interest, no more intense focus, a loss of my uniqueness and a loss of a piece of my self. It would be a shame to see it all go away. And its not like autism poses any direct threat to life it is a fact that people with autism grow up get a job get married and have a family.


your ally
Legionaire

I agree with you on that, it should only be cured in the extreme cases. I'd hate to see part of myself go away. I'd be a different person, and not me.

I don't know. I guess "yes" for people who are really really bad off, or really, really want to be cured.

But I wonder what would happen to the world without it? It seems like lots of people think a lot of our progress is due to people on the spectrum...so what would we be doing to ourselves if we "cured" it completely?

Or...if they started screening for it, and parents got rid of any children who were going to have it?

Personally, assuming I do have AS, then I don't know what I want. I like who I am. I wouldn't want to be someone else. But I would like to know how to handle social stuff. If I could flip that on without making me dumber in other ways, or changing me, then maybe that would be nice...although I suspect it would make me a drastically different person.

There was a time in junior high where I finally begged God to make me normal. To let me know how to fit in with people, even if it meant I couldn't be as smart. I was so sad and lonely back then.

I wouldn't want to be cured. If I was really severely autistic, such that it completely prevented me from experiencing/achieving huge parts of life- like relationships, career, school, independence- then I would want a cure. Of course that's hard for me to say; if I didn't have AS I think I would expect someone with AS would want a cure.

I imagine the people closest to me get tired of taking care of me, and they probably would want me to be cured, although I don't know that for sure. (My executive dysfunction is really bad, and I'm not able to live completely independently because I forget to do things like budget my money, go to work, and pay my taxes.)

I am right on the fence here when it comes to my personal healing of AS. There are things like the hypersensitivity to food and social anxiety I want to get rid of, but the way my mind works, how I figure stuff out, and things like that I wouldn't want to lose.

I wish more autistic people understood the meaning behind that sentence you just said.

Non-autistic people would often assume autistic people want a cure.

Then autistic people often don't want a cure, but assume if they were what they consider to be another type of autistic person (whether or not it is really another type, whether or not the categories they are using have any basis in reality, etc, leaving all that aside) then they would want a cure.

And they don't seem to see that they're doing the same thing that so many non-autistic people do when making assumptions about them.

Plus there's also the fact that as far as I can tell, desire for a cure is not influenced by kind or degree of autism, but rather by how the person thinks about the world, what sort of ideas the person has been exposed to, and a number of other factors that have nothing to do with innate type of autism. Sure, a lot of people who say they want a cure say it's because of how much trouble they have with such-and-such an activity, but then you'll find people who have the same trouble or more with that activity who don't want a cure, so that can't be the real reason. As Cal Montgomery said, I don't think you can divide autistic people into high-functioning and low-functioning to begin with, but if you can, it's not by comparing their political opinions. And cure is a political opinion.

I would love to see a cure of the NT dominated societies belief ,that if a person functions different themselves then they should be altered to be more like them.I think humans are highly dysfunctional and their social systems have created a hell on earth.


Anyone hear about the Inquisition,The treatment of African Americans and Native Americans,witch burnings,torture,war for greed and religious intollerence.....death camps and genocide?I would not have been capable of this sort of autrocity....Do I need to be cured of my logic?My nieve belief that humans dont need more products but more interest in the physical beauty around them(nature,animals).Do I need to be cured of my desire to learn.My preference to read,write and create art rather them go get drunk and chit-chat at a party?


As far as the LFA "debate".We do seem to live in a society that believes that if someone isnt "productive"ie creating something or laboring to be a good consumer but using social resources(for those who need assitence with feeding,dressing,etc)that they have no value as life.......My cats dont do a lot of "labor" but they certainly have value to me.There will be many "disabled,armless,leggless,Brain trauma war vets coming home soon,they have value......and those who need physical support are providing jobs for others,so they do add to our economy.(they would be doing, more so, if we would stop sticking them in institutions and hiring people from other countries to come over here to take care of them to lower the wages of "care workers"....but thats a different rant.)If you want to question the actual "value" of a human life....there are plenty of rich people who do "nothing" all day long but we still value them as "consumers"....So consuming is a value.


I think before we find a "cure",we need to find out what is broken.Is a bike tire "broken" because it doesnt work well on a car?I think society would benefit more by creating environments to use our strengths and assist with any deficits.Perhaps if LFA were provided less hostile environments,they might be more interested in coming out of "themselves",but if not,surely they can be given a safe place to just BE.(sorry for anyone who is offended by my cat analogy but it's not that I think of LFA as less valuable...like "pets"....but that I value my "pets" more then most people I know.)The curbie parents are the ones who need to be "cured" of their projections onto their "off-spring" as being ...."not what they ordered"...this is not Walmart,these are not defective products that you can fix or return for your money back....I am sorry that you dont get to live out your own childhood disappointments through forcing your child to succeed where you failed or inpress your co-workers or social clicks.As soon as you sop feeling sorry for yourself maybe you will fight for creating a world that will respect your child and their differences...but that isnt going to happen until you do so yourself.

What you describe has been going on since recorded history, predating Christianity. The Romans enslaved everyone they conquered regardless of race. In anthropoogy, there are very few cultures who do not try to exterminate their neighbors. The ones who don't are typically found in locations where they are pretty isolated or in warm areas where there is plenty of food. Even chimps try to kill their rivals. I believe it to be genetically programmed group behavior. I'm not an idealist. Slavery was common in most cultures until recent history. One of the few places slavery still exists is in Africa, where tribes enslave other tribes. It was only because of the Enlightenment that people have changed their minds.

The extermination of autism will be brought about by abortion. That is a pretty enlightened and liberal idea. How do you reconcile that with your personal philosophy?

I think you think I am a Liberal?Perhaps my "rhetoric" gives that impression, but believe me,I am not naive enough(nor unwell read), to think only one race of people are capable of human autrocities...who do you think sold the "slaves" to bring back to America?Native American cultures and African,Asian....all had autrocities,genocide,slavery....I am not some pot smoking ,tree hugger who thinks only having white skin makes someone "evil".Yes,lack of resources will make cultures invent reasons to kill others.It doesnt explain why their is such a need for some to have such an abundance of resources that others in society must starve....that is just insanity.


As far as "abortion" being an enlightened idea?Women have been killing feotuses and even newly born children for along time.This is also seen in nature.Mothers will kill their off-spring if they feel that they are "weak" or the environment is lacking in resources.It's about survival of a species....I dont think that is what is happening in "first world countries".There are individulas who dont have the emotional or economic resources to care for off-spring and decide to abort.These are individula decission based on a variety of reasonings.Personaly,if my parents were going to spend my life torturing me with ABA and other "therepies" or be abusive to me because I was not what they wanted or I would end up in one of the "homes" I use to work in for people with DD.....I would rather be aborted.Thats just my personal thoughts,others appear to feel more value in this life.

Well, you did mention socialism. That's pretty liberal. I'm also having a bit of a mental panty twist trying to mix and match my own points of view while at the same time allowing for diversity.

You forgot outsourcing and sweat shops. There are quite many of those in China, hell American companies like Nike and Wal-Mart who run their businesses on slave labor.
Ironically, Wal-Mart is supposedly a "christian" business
Also ironically, I'm betting a good portion of Nike's clientele are black people, who have themselves been enslaved historically. And now they'll pay for a pair of sneakers that'll aid in someone else's slavery.
You can see the hypocracy seeping through the cracks here, within human behavior.

Note I did not mean that against the good, innocent christians or blacks. I am not narrow minded, I hate all people equally

Before they go there, they need to understand the brain and try creative ways to communicate with LFAs. Too many have communicated later and said how they hated being treated like a lab rat. I think what we know could fit in the head of a needle and we're currently too stuck in our pre-conceived notions of what communication needs to be like and they (and we) need to fit into the NT mold. It's arrogant and to be blunt, stupid. I don't have any respect for thinking like that. It's like telling a deaf person, whether you can hear or not, you must act exactly like a hearing person because we can all hear. There's no reason to have any respect for that attitude. It's illogical, emotional and is all about the group saying it. They're basically saying they don't care anything about the Auties and again, to be frank, they don't. They don't respect them as separate people with their own thoughts. They deal with them only in terms of themselves and what they view as their own pain and inconvenience.

Until they know what all of these fancy Autism groups, the gov't and the shrinks turn it over to true scientists who have nothing to do with Psychology, I'll pass. I really don't care what any of them think about anything. I haven't seen any improvements out of what they have done so far and that's usually the case when you deal in guesswork and psuedo-medicine.

Er... no. We need more research - not into making people 'normal' but in finding ways for lower-functioning people to communicate with the rest of the world, so they don't come across as basket cases that can be abused. 'Curing' people is not the answer and will not work.

hey,dont quote me (krex),as saying that....that wasnt my quote...it may be true but I didnt say it!!

I hate to even think of where the term..."basket-case" came from....(Did they use to keep us in baskets?Yow,that sucks)

Maybe LFA have figured out what it took me thrity years to figure out...most of the world is not worth communicating with....
It would be nice for them to have the ability if they want to communicate.I have read that some autistics are very responsive with interactions with animals...maybe because they are tactilly stimulating and straight forward in their communicating?

The individual I worked with with LFA had a way to communicate to let me know many things....he liked chocolate and grabbed the spoon,didnt like certain foods and would push it away,he smiled when I tapped his chest, bounced him on the bed and rubbed his neck.....when he was understimulated and wanted contact or stimulation he would become "vocal"..he didnt need words for this.I wanted to crawl inside his head.I liked him very much and felt more then a "professional" attachment in his
physical presence.I dont know how anyone could be near him and not see a sentient being."Being human" and having value is not linked to ability to communicate in words.Many of the "tantrums and acting out" IS communicating.It is letting the world know that they are being over or understimulated and what people should be learning is how to create environments that meet these individual needs.....not blame the individual for having a differently wired sensory system.

Our culture has such a punitive way of dealing with "differences",we often dont even ask what we are losing in our desire to create widgets.