Why are people here so against a cure for those who need it?

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Noo, I wasn't saying they don't have a right to live, all of them have a right to live. I just want those on the lower end to have a better life.

Maybe if they collect disability, or have somebody advocating for them so they don't get terminated constantly.

I wasn't aware most or even a 1/3 of those on spectrum live as independent adults, even with help.

I always was under the impression most were stuck in their own mind unable to do the most simple thing. Perhaps this thinking is wrong.

Okay, but IQ isn't always correlated with happiness. I've read research that people on the spectrum with higher IQ's are often more depressed than those with low IQ's, because they're more aware and concerned with how they're different.
I think when it comes to cure talk, most people who are higher functioning don't want to feel that they need to be fixed. They want to be accepted for who they are, which they have every right to be. I think they're thinking of their situation, which is very different from a person who eats their own feces.
I've seen many people with very low IQ's who are happier than people tend to assume they must be.

How do you know these people lack any meaningful cognitive function? Many who do learn to communicate make it clear that they do in fact have meaningful cognitive function. They have thoughts, feelings, opinions, convictions, hopes, dreams, just like everyone else. Just because you do not see them communicating these things does not mean they do not exist.

I'm not even saying anything for or against a cure, but wondering how you can make such proclamations about people?

Quoting IQ scores is irrelevant. If you have someone who cannot communicate in a relatively typical fashion, they're not going to score high on an IQ test because of their receptive and expressive communication impairments. Odds are the rates of actual intellectual impairment among autistics is exaggerated because of this.

It is my impression if that someone with meaningful cognitive function wouldn't sit around all day rocking, flapping hands, making noises, and what not. Maybe I am wrong, and maybe they do have meaningful cognitive function.

Yes, you are wrong.

Here's an example of someone who was assumed to lack meaningful cognitive function, who defied expectations once she was able to communicate:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNZVV4Ciccg[/youtube]

Very low IQ? Some people are just very bad at taking tests, even IQ tests, but are obviously very intelligent irl.

Some people wrap up their identity in Asperger's. The idea of a cure threatens them.

It's completely understandable. I don't think there's much to worry about. I think the way the DSM is supposed to work is that it's very subjective in terms of functioning. You could be aspie as hell and not qualify for a diagnosis simply because it does not impair your ability to live your life as you want to live it. Perhaps, if things like a cure become more of a reality, it will be more important to emphasize this aspect of PDD's.

If it's good for you, why cure it? Nobody is going to force this to happen. If it's bad for you, you can cure it. But I think even a so-called "cure" would change much less about a person than most people think.

I am a Narcissist, so I have to be cured.

I don't think a "cure" is possible. Treatment for certain symptoms and accommodation for disabilities, yes. A cure? No.

In which case, looking for a cure is wasting money that could actually be used to help autistic people.

I do not want a cure and I do not wrap up any part of my identity in "Asperger's." If anything, I think it is the wrong diagnosis and do not identify with the terminology.

I think the reasons are more nuanced than just feeling like one's identity is threatened. Being autistic impacts how one thinks and perceives and possibly on a rather fundamental level. If you take me and remove the autism, then I am going to be quite different. I do like who I am, and I do not see why I should become another person with different thoughts and perceptions to meet someone else's definition of "healthy."

I think it is good that you asked this question because it has allowed you an opportunity to expand your perceptions. A lot of people have uninformed perceptions. The wise thing is to remain open to the possibility of changing your thinking if you encounter ideas or evidence that are contrary to your current beliefs.

What I find...dangerous...about the assumption that people with lower functioning autism need "curing" is that it is only that...an assumption. Once when I was younger, I volunteered to go to a basketball tournament with kids who played wheelchair basketball. I was to be the assistant to one of the young girls. I had the most awesome time and was really impressed with the kids (they were high schoolers and I was 19, so the age difference wasn't that great). At one point, I must have been staring at one of the guys with a sad look on my face. He told me not to feel bad for him. That he had no idea what it was like to walk, run, or jump, and that he was 100% happy the way he was. He said that he actually thought he was probably happier than most of his friends who could walk. It made me realize how judgmental I was being. I assumed that being able to walk was better than not being able to walk in a way that made the quality of my life better than his. My face actually turns red as I type this because I can't believe I ever held that ignorant of a belief. Who was I to judge his happiness and quality of life based on my own yard stick? That is as backwards as automatically assuming my life is better because I am white or live in America. Says who?

This is a really important statement here.

I don't think Einstein needed a cure. Nor do many other autistic people. I don't think a cure in the sense that we usually understand it is even possible.

I do think, however, that stem cell treatment could improve executive functioning/cognitive functioning and communication skills, as well as anxiety/depression. That's about all it would change, particularly in adulthood. I don't think it would change anything about you, really. So it wouldn't be a cure in the traditional sense.

If the mother doesn't think she's capable of raising an autistic child and as a result is prepared to go through an abortion (which is a horrible process), then let her. Being autistic is hard enough with good parents. I used to agree with you, but I'm generally in favour of abortion, so why not be in favour of aborting autistic foetuses?

I like your latest post a lot. I have a friend who is autistic, fairly high functioning but unintelligent. People might think I'm odd when they meet me, but he is obviously disabled. He runs around when everyone else is walking, threatens to feed people to sharks, that sort of thing. For a lot of people he is probably the most disabled non-Downs person they have met. He manages to go to school and achieve reasonable results (on specially designed course, I might add), he can dress, wash and feed himself, he has some understanding of money management, he can hold a conversation (at least by my standards, though it should be said NTs often struggle to communicate with him). You could "cure" him, remove his autism and make him intelligent, but then he'd probably be a lot less happy.

I also know some people who are lower functioning still. The lowest functioning Aspie I know can dress himself and can feed himself with some encouragement, but he struggles to communicate, has extremely repetitive behaviours, and easily experiences sensory overload. The case for "curing" him is initially extremely compelling. Certainly I think curing his sensory issues would be a very good thing. Additionally, I think he understands nearly everything said to him, but he struggles to use more than two consecutive words, so can't explain why he is distressed or what he needs- again, that would be a good thing to "cure". Whether he would then request a cure for his other autistic symptoms, I don't know, but it is dangerous to assume that he would.

Not only that, I'd like to point out that, based on these examples, that autism is NOT a coherent disorder. It's a dumping ground for a lot of different, possibly unrelated conditions which probably should be differentiated. Thus, a complete cure is not possible or coherent. You can fix some bad symptoms. That's it. I don't see what's so threatening about fixing a few symptoms here and there.

Especially when you look at it from a structural perspective: what's wrong with repairing a few holes in a person's white matter (what I believe is the cause of autism) and regrowing a few missing neurons?

People act like treating autism fundamentally would involve subtracting something. That's not true. Even the most successful stem cell therapy would only involve adding something: myelin and neural connections.