Are you offended by, "A Cure for Autism"?

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Usually, yes, but it depends on who is saying it and why.

It's shocking that some people still think ASD's as a disease rather than a different way of thinking.

If there was a cure for Autism or ASD's then today we would neither have the internet, the theory of relativity, newton's theory, or Beethoven's 5th to name but a few. I know not all of us are geniuses, but if the people who observed, understood and created the above were culled or 'cured', would mankind have been able to evolve the way it has?

There's a BIG difference between being differently abled and disabled.

No, I am not insulted. I do think Autism is a disorder.

There is no such thing as a cure for Aspie's.

I haven't even been diagnosed with Asperger's yet (although I'm almost certain I will be when the time comes), & it offends me. Asperger's Syndrome is not a disease to be "cured." It's not cancer, or AID's, or diabetes, therefore I think it's ridiculous to think there's a "cure" for it.

Argh, that is completely horrific. They don't need a cure for it. It's not a disease. It makes us more interesting, unlike all these boring people.

Plenty of people with Aspergers have gone on to do things like win the Nobel prize. And in experimenting on people (which would be necessary to develop a "cure") they would most likely to far more damage than harm.

Sometimes I do wish I was better at socializing and didn't get so anxious, but these difficulties can be worked around and we CAN learn (generally) how to behave in a more socially acceptable manner.

Yes, I get insulted, there's nothing "wrong" with us. It's like saying... "Lets cure all cars so they can be red, thats the right color." I don't care who of you has kids with what, whatever you say you still don't have a clue on how they see the world. Neither do I, or anyone else exept themselvs.
You're telling yourselves and everyone around you that it's for their(kids) own sake, but it's not, you're trying to give them the life you want them to have. And that's selfish.

A (not understanding) parent with an autistik child has technical problems:
-The TV I bought isn't working.
A person that understands:
-That's becouse it's a telefax...


And for you who thinks "cured" will still hang around us "uncured", take a look in the closest school, find someone who was bullied befor (a NT), see if he/she treats his(/hers) former friends the same.
I can tell you right now that they don't, becouse their view changed. Life's not a movie were the former geek stick by his old friends. Hate to break it to you.

"There are three kind of people,
those who are idiots from birth,
those who becomes it due to their company.
And the few exeptions."
//Me.

WHAT THERES NO CURE!! !! !! !! !! !
to be honest i see it as personality and it is how you are so if you were cured you wouldnt be who you are.
but i kinda see it as more of a flaw so im not offended for poeple to want a cure and i know i'd rather not have AS as it is just my weakness.

I don't want to be "cured" because this is my personality, I'm not ILL!
But if someone wants to be cure then that's their choice but I still don't think there will be one

I find it very offensive and uneducated.

Don't wanna be an NT idiot Nananana.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY378m_8 ... re=related

I'm not really offended by it, because in a neurotypical world it IS a disability. I also have mixed feelings on it.

First of all, I agree that most of the advocates of curing autism are probably parents of children who are low on the spectrum and don't even have the ability to compensate for their autistic traits. My heart goes out to those parents and I can certainly imagine they'd like their child to be more in touch with THEIR world. Sure, we as high-functioning aspies have a difficult life sometimes, but the life of a parent of a heavily autistic child is equally difficult, if not more. I won't be judging those people.

That said, even if there's this typical shot in the arm that magically rewires your neural system and makes one NT, it's still not a miracle drug. Low functioning autists generally have a low IQ too, so taking "the cure" isn't gonna make such a child "normal"...it just changes an autistic kid with mental retardation into a NT kid with mental retardation. Sure...it might be an improvement but I think the miracle drug would be overestimated.

Then there's the fact Autistic Spectrum Disorders are PERVASIVE DEVELOPMENT disorders. A person who has been shaped by 20 years of Aspergers may no longer get overstimulated in a crowded pub and might no longer overlook facial cues after taking "the cure", but the years where they would have learned to correctly interpret said facial cues can't be won back and what's left is a neurotypical who feels like he had an unexpected sex change operation...in other words, he's confused as hell. I'm going out on a limb and say that fully grown aspies taking a miracle cure would still require years of intensive therapy before they'd be actually fully functional neurotypicals. Personally, I'd see taking a cure as a process that'd be creepy as hell; my brain has been processing information in a certain way for 28 years and then suddenly I'd have to get used to completely different messages being passed around in the ol' noggin. Yikes.

So I think a miracle cure may be nice for parents with low-functioning autistic children, just to make their kids connect to the world a little bit better, even if it's not gonna turn them into rocket scientists.

I also think a miracle cure may have a positive effect on very young high functioning autists, so they can go through a natural emotional maturing process as they grow into adulthood although this one would be mighty controversial and not necessarily ethical.

For aspy adults, a miracle cure would just mess them up completely and I wouldn't support having them take it.

The parents of the 2nd group I mentioned have a tough ethical decision to make, since the "cured" kid they'll end up with will probably be a completely different person than the kid would end up being like if he or she remained an aspy. They'd have to understand a miracle cure would leave a child quite confused even at that age already and they'd have to ask themselves if just how bad of an impact the autistic traits have...if they're enough to push a kid through such a culture shock.

I don't think a miracle cure at matured age would change one's personality, btw, even though those people would process information in a different way. A person's personality forms over time but after the adolescent's years, there's unlikely to be any major changes anymore...miracle cure or not.