Don't cure autism now

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Stinkypuppy,

Hopefully, you agree with me. You seem to disagree.

Anyway, at this point, I would doubt anyone saying I didn't have aspergers. I fit the profile PERFECTLY.

My "stimming" is of the nature that various sites, etc... say is COMMON in normally developing kids. I just tend to present it a bit as an adult. Why should I care? Somehow, my mind is mapped kin of odd, and I have more general intelligence, and less social.

That kind of mismapping is actually COMMON with certain external triggers, over/under use of certain areas, or brain damage in younger people. It is WELL documented. SO, it is obvious how the biggest bad thing, and most of the benefits occur. I still don't understand the skewed senses. That DID make me feel at times like I was from another planet. Maybe that is how this site got its name.

SO, I would love to have a better grasp on the social aspects, and others SHOULD have the same sensory sensitivities, but otherwise, I am FINE with this!

The other things may be coincidental for all we know. Maybe there is a common trigger, or some incompatibility. WHO KNOWS?

BTW determining IQ IS difficult. They can't test all the knowledge a person can have.

Steve

Hmm, I don't see anything in your message that I disagree with, SteveK. However, when I talk about the biological basis of autism, I mean more than just whether certain parts of the brain are overused/underused, and more than just "brain damage." I'm talking on a molecular level. All we might know about is the parts, but how exactly does overusage/underusage of the brain parts result in the various phenotypes that we see? That's the part that scientists do not understand yet. Also, it would seem that there is a genetic component to autism, but we do not have any definitive autism genes discovered yet. And it's so darned difficult to study polygenic inheritance of human disorders (for lack of a better word) with variable expressivity. So I do agree with you, it's just that there is still a lot more that remains to be understood.

Oh, I haven't yet mentioned anything about IQ, but that's primarily because I wouldn't use it in any argument as evidence for anything. IQ measures only a certain type of intelligence, if even that, and of course there are many other ways that a person can be "smart."

Why do you assume that I'm in the 'cure' camp? I'm not in the 'hate' camp either. best wishes

Attractive as it is for some people (primarily because of how much it simplifies matters to think of things this way), I don't think that the "LFA = autism + MR" equation works. At all. On several levels (including assuming the true existence of something called LFA, which has been called into question by science -- and also including the totally inaccurate presumptions it tends to make about both people with MR and autistic people). It does, however, make it a lot easier to give simplistic answers to things, such as "Cure the MR, not the autism" (never mind plenty of people labeled with MR don't want a cure either and are quite vocal about it), or, "Well that person's problem isn't autism, it's MR. Obviously. Because they can't do IQ tests very well."

It also creates a neat little category to either, shunt people like me into if we don't prove what we know, or else, claim we never belonged to the category to begin with if we do manage at some point to prove what we know.

There's a bit of arbitrariness (is that a word? ) in the terms "low-functioning autism," "autism," and "mental retardation." Yeah there are so-called definitions and "classic traits," but for many mental conditions, even discerning whether a given person fits the definition or has the classic trait has an element of subjectivity.

As the father of an autistic four year old, I have very mixed feelings about the article posted at the beginning of this thread.

As a parent, I want nothing more than for my son to be healthy and happy. Fortunately, his health is not in question, so my wife and I have worked for the last two years to make sure that he can successfully function as an autistic person in a non-autistic world.

OK, now to get to the point- I do NOT want to change who he is. At one point, a 'cure' would have seemed like a welcome miracle, but now that his speech and communication generally have improved, I realize that perhaps the best thing for him is to treat the deficits that put him most at risk for long-term life problems and to foster his unique talents so that he will be in the best position possible to decide for himself how to live his life (when he's 18!! !).

Welcome to the forum! You must be a new member!

"Cure Autism Now" is a group of people who speak against that and don't cure autism.

I once posted a message on this forum stating the name and e-mail address of someone who I thought would be a great addition to this forum, but I shouldn't have done that.

New and confused to be honest. Almost given up as I don't seem to either be making myself clear, nor putting the right words in the right place. Best wishes

Actually, "Cure Autism Now" wants to cure autism.

Well..

In this case does cure mean to stop it alltogether? Or to understand? Or to prevent the painful side of things?

Cure means not autistic anymore.

Well..


Personally the way I've always had to work hard with people has been a struggle yes, but its taught me such valuable lessons, its even helped me develop a love an acceptance for all people.

You can't remove the autistic part of me without removing an integral part of my personality.

You will get further if you treat him as a real person who, as a four year old child, has needs that must be met, not "deficits" that must somehow be "corrected." You may or may not be seeing his own decisions in a negative light, but he needs the power to make decisions that are binding even when you don't agree with them. A person who is constantly corrected before he implements any decisions becomes someone who continually second-guesses himself and takes a long time to make a decision. This is fatal when driving a car. He has to have room to make mistakes before he is old enough to have to have to handle driving, using power tools, making home repairs, and so on. If he doesn't he won't learn. This goes for anyone.

It may be harder for him to learn some skills, but it's time to start asking yourselves and him what it will take to identify the skills that he needs to learn and what it will take for him to learn them. He doesn't need a lot of pressure when he is four years old, but he can make it a goal to understand how to modulate his voice, how to be mannerly around people, how to ride his bicycle safely, and what traffic signs mean. If he can decide to be good at all the different life skills, he won't just be a high functioning autistic, someone who people expect less of even if his functioning is the highest, he will be a high functioning human, period.

Let him do his regressions when he has to. Let him get his rest when he needs it. Any person needs time to compose himself. That's why breaks are mandatory at workplaces.

No, they don't!

I don't know why I brought up that organization when I wanted the other person to join at the time.

This person never joined anyway.

I walked in the WALK NOW event this past weekend in Orlando, Fl.

I can absolutely appreciate the author's standpoint and perspective, and struggled for months over my own personal feelings before deciding I would, indeed, support genetic research to "cure" autism.

One thing I don't like...the author tended to speak from the area of..I don't know. too encompassing. because people want to find a cure, then they WILL cure everyone with autism, and they WILL all be RUINED.

but the fact is, that just isn't true. no one is going to hold down someone with autism and force them to be "cured"...and one can't assume it would make the individual lesser, since the cause of autism isn't known.

there were many good ideas...but then a grand leap to a BURN THEM ALL!! ! pitchfork mentality.


I can tell you a little bit about the other side of the coin, to try to help people understand why we DO support autism research. or at least, why *I* do. (not to assume you're interested...but I'm already typing and it is kind of falling out of my face, anyway.)

I've always been "different". a freak, an outcast, a weirdo, whatever. it has only after having two children diagnosed, one with autism and one with aspergers, that I realized something diagnosed in me as anxiety and ocd is really probably aspergers. as an adult, I wouldn't want anything to be "fixed". I am happy the way I am. so I really *do* understand that some people don't feel they have anything that needs to be *cured*.

I struggled at first. I have always taught my boys that everyone is different...different is beautiful. I have pink/green/purple hair, depending on my mood, piercings, unschool them, and let them do whatever they want with their hair. so it seemed hypocritical to me, after stressing how individualism is so important, to want to "cure" anything.

I love them unconditionally. no matter what, autism or no.

but THEY should have a choice. just as some persons in the deaf community choose to have implants that allow them to hear (even though some other deaf people say they aren't "embracing their heritage"). I support the genetic research because my kids have a right to know what makes them tick, instead of just getting a vague explanation. the ALSO deserve the right to decide if they want to be "cured".

my son with AS is 6 and has an IQ of 154. he has trouble expressing his emotions, so he has loud, violent outbursts that can last for an hour. if scientists can discover a way to fix the part of his brain that causes him to pound his head into a wall to try to hurt himself, he SHOULD HAVE THE RIGHT to choose to have it fixed.

in the end, the cure/don't cure debate is just like any other, I suppose. too many people on BOTH sides, positive that they are right and the other side is wrong. I prefer to try to understand the opinions of both sides, and be on BOTH sides. people don't HAVE to be cured of autism. but they SHOULD have the CHOICE.


I've had to wander around the house a few times during this...ramble...so I'm not really sure I said what I wanted to say or in the right way. there it is, anyway.

Well said but while I agree there should be a choice the problem is that if a cure is available there are many many people who will not be given the choice.

A prenatal test = 90%+ of unborn babies wont get to decide if they live with it or die.

A cure = a great majority of parents who force it upon their children because its what the parents want regardless of how the child feels about it.

A choice is only a good thing when the choice isnt made for you.