firemonkey wrote:
Isn't it time all this bickering stopped, and proper recognition was given to the wide spectrum in terms of ability and functioning? It's not about a 'cure' or 'non cure' but tailoring things to the individual on the spectrum. For some that may involve a 'cure' or more likely an improvement in that which impairs and restricts their lives. For others, more able,it's a recognition of their abilities and the positive contribution they can make to society, and not being dismissed just because of a label.
There needs to be an ASD movement that supports the needs and wants of all on the spectrum and not just factional groups often at odds with each other.
Idealy you could choose what happens with your Autism when you're around 18 yrs old (and even that 'cure' would be controversial), but unfortunately if there is a cure it would likely be enforced on both the lower and higher spectrum as the people deciding who gets it will be parents who know little or nothing about Autism.
autistichoya wrote:
I'm the person who wrote the blog post linked a few comments upthread. I just want to clarify my opinion on medical diagnoses -- I don't think that a person's choice or desire to get a medical diagnosis makes them automatically classist/complicit in the medical-industrial complex/etc. I think that treating people who have medical diagnoses as more validly/authentically autistic than people without those diagnoses is, at least in part, classist
Of course we should welcome and accept people who are undiagnosed as I know people who have had to go through long and disrespectful diagnosis procedures before they could finaly get a diagnosis. It's at that time in their lives that they need the support of WP and similar communities more than ever. But that's not the same subject as creating a two-tier diagnosis system.
Quote:
and contributing to the medical community's gatekeeping power over defining autism.
Well yes, the medical community does have a gatekeeping power over Autism because if we allowed Autism to lose its scientific credibility then we'll leave it open to people like Michael Savage; people like this would have us believe that Autism is fake and just a conspiracy created by pharmaceutical companies. Or instead of Savage there could be the anti-vaxers or PETA who believe that Autism is caused by vaccines or milk. There may also be a kind of cultural appropriation which would twist autism from its roots.
Instead of rejecting or bypassing medical diagnosis, I think a better solution would be to campaign to make it easier for people to gain a diagnosis and the later support regardless of their age, class, gender, sexuality or ethnicity.
13 May 2017, 7:40 am
