What effects would a cure have?

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This just bugs me. I could end up becoming a full-blown psychopath or, good god, Jack Nicholson from the end of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Had a conversation with my mother a while back. I said I doubt that a cure could make a full-blown autistic boy into a Nobel Prize winner. She said, "You don't know that."

Even if it could be guaranteed I would not end up like Murphy, if the cure was truly effective, I would most certainly NOT be who I am.

And that is unfathomable. I have spent far too much of my life reaching the point of accepting who I am. Now that I've reached that once seemingly unattainable goal, I'm very happy just the way I am, thank you very much.

I have no need or use for a cure. A cure would mean having to rediscover myself all over again. Having already been through that journey, I've no interest in repeating it.

How many times do I have to say this? There is no cure, there will never be a cure, and when you talk about one, you're talking about a thought experiment, not a real thing.

the whole concept scares me as much as attempting to divide by zero by mistake...................

in the twilight zone episode "mr. bevis" is a great illustration of what might happen if one were suddenly able to erase one's essential aspergian traits and drives.

^ Yeah, that.

Though, there are, in a way, some nightmarish "cures" already: chelation, Lupron, aversives, electrocution, inappropriate neuroleptic use, and g*d-only-knows-what's-next. It's just that they don't actually work, in addition to being harmful. I can see those as nightmarish "cures," sort of in the in the sense of the OP (like Nicholson getting lobotomized to cure his behavior problem).

In a hypothetical world where a cure is possible, there would be a lot less innovation, a lot less new technology, a lot less creativity, a lot less software, a lot less scientific progress, etc.

A cure doesn't exist. When we argue about what effect it would have, we're arguing about something that doesn't exist. It's kind of like arguing about what vampires are like. What do you WANT vampires to be like? You can make them however you want. I did a long, in-depth post once on what might be meant by "cure" but I don't know where it is now.

it's good to be prepared in case it happens. they are on the way to being able to determine if a foetus is likely to be autistic already, this might be their way to cure autism: telling the parents so the child is never born.
i think asp-z's theory might apply if this happens.

QFT

What about nano-technology in the future to "rewire" a person? After all, people say that autistics are "wired differently". I know it's a long ways off before anything like that is even remotely possible, but it's a thought.
And if nothing else, it'd make a GREAT premise for a sci-fi novel.

If you wanted to develop such a thing, you'd likely need autistic people to do so.

That's the bulk of the issue for me.

If there was a "cure" it would make me NT. It would be a good thing in that it might end a lot of the problems in life that has held me back and ruined relationships and opportunities.

However, a "cure" for someone in their 40s means that person must re-learn how to live life, and the benefit of such a "cure" would really be limited to an end to unwanted symptoms rather than a full restoration of a "normal" life.

Yes. Though not entirely because of the absence of autism. A society that "cures" anyone who is different and disabled will reject people who are different and not disabled--as ours does, but even more so because when different/disabled can be cured, then different will be seen as even worse than when different/disabled people live and work alongside average people. A society that rejects disability will reject difference, meaning that people who are different--eccentric, minorities, and non-mainstream ideas--will have less opportunity to contribute to the society. Without that contribution, society does tend to stagnate.

Yep. It'll be just like Gattaca.

Autistic people can win nobel prizes, what are you talking about



and a lot more love. You describe a rather nice world actually.