What should be said to this woman? How do I ignore her?

[Butterfly88]

I'm in a real life group for autistic young adults. A mother has joined who wants to bring her son. I noticed she is in another group and this group really concerns me. Some things from the other group's page:

"EVERY child diagnosed with "autism" has underlying medical issues. We feel it is imperative that each family understands this very point."

"Our children do not have time to wait for the medical community to figure out this is not a behavioral or psychiatric diagnosis. Our children are medically ill and they need help right now."

On top of this, she claims she lives across the country. Is she coming to "fix" us all from our "illness"? I've asked my mother to message her. If my mother doesn't I may say something myself. But I don't have a clue what to say. How can I have a good time at this event with her around?

 

[Southern Discomfort]

Tell her son that his mother knows nothing about autism? Haha, I don't know!

It's not really your problem. If she starts sprouting this crap then bluntly tell her she is wrong and why. Other than that you can't really say anything. There are so many ill-informed people out there, many who do not want to hear views that challenge their beliefs. You cannot do right by them all.

 

[Warmheart]

Healthy, happy, normal autistic here. I agree with Southern Discomfort. Just relax and enjoy the group. Autism is normal for us. "Please don't try to fix me-- I'm not broken."

 

[Katherine Rawstron]

"All" autistic children have underlying medical problems? I should cocoa! If that's the case, then I've been going around with something I don't even know I've got for 57 years!

OK, some children do have other things wrong with them as well, and of course those things need looking into and, if necessary and possible, treated. But most of us are perfectly healthy, and any other health problems we may have are totally unrelated.

Autism is a condition, not an illness. True, it would be great if severe sensory issues could be treated, as well as other symptoms that seriously disrupt our lives. But we don't need "fixing" per se.

 

[nowwhat]

I feel bad for her kid. The message she is sending there should never be sent to any kid.

 

[Butterfly88]

Thank you everyone! I think I'll try to ignore it. I feel bad for her kid too.

 

[Mr Allen]

This woman = Fail.

Autism/Aspergers is NOT an "illness", there is no cure for it and probably never will be/

 

[Butterfly88]

This woman = Fail.

Autism/Aspergers is NOT an "illness", there is no cure for it and probably never will be/

You're right about this woman. I'm actually personally happy their is no cure.

 

[WildCat]

If I have "underlying medical issues" then I'm certainly not aware of them. I'm healthy, granted with a mild form of ASD, but nonetheless healthy.

This sounds like the typical case of people being misinformed and applying that misinformation to a group as a whole. Better yet, they probably got a whiff of the whole vaccine nonsense and drew conclusions from that. Bring someone like me up there and let's see if we can't change a couple of minds by the end of the day (not that that's going to happen, ever).