Can we drop the D?

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Let's assume it happens, I will have all my memories and will still be me, I will start doing things the way an NT would, I would go and have a nice day, watch a movie and be able to absorb it like I can't now. My IQ and overall intelligence would go up since performance and executive function would not be an issue. I would be able to read other people and empathize, forming deep emotional bonds I can't do right now....I would hang out with friends and get pleasure from social interaction (chemical would be released that aren't now). etc. Maybe the biggest difference is that I don't feel comfortable with how I am now. Some autistic people are comfortable being autistic, but I feel like a transgendered person in a way since I have aspired to do non-autistic things and lead a different kind of life.

If it does that to you....then cool.

But it could also have consequences which we can't anticipate.

Because, by "curing autism," you are getting to the "heart/essence" of a person.

Why not just get rid of the bad symptoms?

If we are talking about an individual with all the strengths of an autistic person and neurotypical and none of the weaknesses, some sort of daywalker, then we are talking about something else.

If that's the result, then that's cool.

It's silly to even have this discussion hypothetically, there can't be a cure for autism anymore than there can be a cure for an amputated leg as the damage has already been done. You can only treat and accommodate, unless you can 'cure' autism and have a time machine to relive your life without it then you will always be autistic. I don't worry to much about 'a cure' effecting me because the cure they are looking for would most likely be if/when scientists can screen the genetic markers for autism prenatally so they can be aborted en masse. It's eugenics! The cure is never being born!

Autism is believed to be some combination of genetics and the environment.
The rapidly improving CRISPER-CAS9 technology can edit multiple genes at a time.
Our brains rewire constantly. The most rapid and important brian wiring occurs very early in life
Behavoir modification is believed to rewire brains
Scientests are starting to identify autism in infants. A current priority is diagnosing autism as young as possible.

If you identify an infant as autistic concievably through behavoir modification Autism can be intercepted or deflected before your genetic predisposition makes you present as autistic which is often noticable in the toddler years.

People arguing that a cure can never happen but is an existential threat is bizarre
Curing adults right now looks impossible, but I have seen so many things thought to be impossible happen (see Trump)

If Autism at a future date via eugenics or early behavior modification or something not even on the radar at the moment is in the process of bieng eliminated or greatly reduced priorities for supports treatments will go down.

From what I see the anti ND people for the most part define the ND movement by how a few self deluded radicals on Tumbler view autism. This to me is a victory for the supremicists and seperatists and the paranoid in that they are driving the debate. People should actualy read what most ND people, people who fear a cure and do think society's impairment model has problems actually have to say about research, treatments, and the difficulties and deficits of autism.

We may not be able to "cure" adults the same way as children, but we can sort of "plaster" the brain. Editing a gene in adulthood can still change behavior and physical structure of a brain. The brain is closer to a liver than it is to a leg (even a missing leg can someday be replaced with a bionic leg or perhaps we can artificially grow one in a vat. Dunno, organs are much easier in some ways ironically than muscle and bone to deal with). Plus there is a technology also being developed to reintroduce critical brain periods via drugs, it has had success with mice. On top of that there is also another technology to convert certain cells into new neurons. Someday we will begin to question the definition of a self, our free will, and much more considering so much of who we are can be tweaked. Or it turns out there is something that remains unaffected despite all the tampering. I am interested in the Buddhist concept of anatman vs the traditional view of atman. (Non-self vs immortal self). Dunno, but that is a question for philosophers. Ideally with these technologies we can create humans who have all the strengths of neurotypicals, autistic, and whatever and none of the weaknesses. Let's also eradicate any genetic predisposition to disease too! Make all of our children also 10x stronger and faster than normal and able to live to be 150! Let's hope North Korea doesn't do something with this tech!

Edit: Okay I've been looking into neurodiversity a bit more and it seems to be very factioned now, I noticed this before but did not see the significance. There are huge differences in views and beliefs among different groups over different concept such as "is" and "ought" or "descriptive" and "prescriptive". But this makes it less of a movement and more of a group of ideologies. In fact it may not be worth mentioning the word since it has so many definitions it practically is meaningless in certain cases.

Exactly why I dislike labels.
Especially labels with stigma attached.

As for a cure, what would be helpful to me are books, videos, and especially in-person classes on things like body language, small talk, verbal and non-verbal social cues, etiquette, etc.

As for accommodations, certainly they would help. Like keeping the noise level down, like not touching me or grabbing me to hug me unannounced, and for being understanding about things like when I tell you that no, I am not trying to say offensive things on purpose, and please let me know if there's a small social issue you have with me before it turns into a larger one that can harm our relationship.

Changing who I am through drugs or surgery or other invasive or intrusive procedures to "make me a normal NT"?
No thanks.
Remember John Elder Robison?
Remember "Flowers for Algernon"?

...

Perhaps "curing" autism is similar to what Michael Jackson did to "cure" his blackness—only, with your brain instead of your skin.

The sad thing to me was that Michael Jackson looked wonderful exactly the way he was born.

He certainly looked a heck of a lot better "black" than he did with all those surgeries.

And the real scary thing is that without too much makeup,
I could cosplay a female version of Michael Jackson
that looks real close to the male version of what he ended up looking like ...
I can sing and dance,
just need to work on my moonwalk ...

If you view a film of Cab Calloway doing "Minnie the Moocher" around 1931-1932, you'll see many elements of the Moonwalk.

You can find such a film on YouTube. It was at the beginning of a Betty Boop cartoon known, ironically, as "Minnie the Moocher."

About the original question in this topic - I read all the differing answers and it seemed to me that everyone clearly had a valid point, from their own perspective on the different positions on the spectrum. It's something I've been considering, and re-considering, and researching, and wondering about while reading, so I've followed this with interest.

It seems to me that people with ASD are born with something, yes. Heredary, yes clearly. We have it in our family. Sensitivity? Non-conformity, inability to pretend to be something they're not? Extreme empathy? Something beyond, or at least different from what other people have, generally speaking. And THAT is positive, I believe. The autism that can then come out of that given certain conditions, is NOT positive. It can lead to great suffering, most of all for the affected person themselves.

What makes the difference? I think (and I know this is not really a fashionable perspective, in particular from the point of view of defensive parents) that environmental factors make the difference between a positive and negative life experience, or experiences through life. These could be anything from birth or hospital trauma, illness, to parenting and schooling, relationships, friendships, immediate surroundings, community. Some are unavoidable, whereas others are avoidable in some situations. I'm making a detailed list, slowly, and would be grateful for any and all suggestions.

I tried to illustrate my answer to the question 'can we drop the D' - with the answer 'that depends'.. see below:

Nah, didn't work like that - I'll get back on this tomorrow ..

Last edited by katy_rome on 23 Sep 2016, 4:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.

No, the image didn't work. Simply post an image on "imgur" and then paste the image link into the box generated when you press the image icon above your message. Like this...

Thank you, Jute Fell asleep with the kids and came back just now after midnight cornflakes...
heck I'll get back onto it tomorrow, if my brain didn;t function well enough 3hours ago it def won't now.

nighty night...