I've thought about this a lot and veered from one side to the other, and now I'm in the middle.
It seems to me that both sides could meet in the middle though.
In the red corner we have neurodiversity people who are against a cure.
A cure means spotting and aborting autistic fetus's because autism is a brain difference. We are all of the same brain, and you can't change your brain.
In the blue corner we have the cure people.
This includes the much quieter autistics who want a cure and probably most parents and doctors.
They see autism as being detrimental to well being and making life much harder for autistics. Because we are outside the normal range, we need help to bring us back to "normal".
The first thing to understand is that both sides have points.
That may be uncomfortable, but they do, and if we want progress it's essential to see the other side.
The second thing is that no one seems to be defining "cure".
Neurodiversity thinks; If i'm not autistic any more then I'm NT and I won't think like I do now, so I'm no longer me. Help me with my problems and change society.
Cure people just want all this stuff gone.
But if we defined a cure as taking ones autism sub-clinical we would think just like we do now, but we would not get diagnosed autistic.
We would still be neurodiverse as we will not think like NTs.
The trouble with the term autism is that it means different things to different people. To me it's how my brain is and if you think like me you're autistic regardless of psychological diagnosis.
To the medical world it's diagnostic criteria.
For example, if I could adjust my diet, supplementation and nutrition and reduce my sensory issues to within "normal" range I'd no longer hit the criteria, therefore I'd be cured.
I would accept this treatment if available, but I'd still be autistic be MY definition.
It seems to me that both sides could meet in the middle though.
In the red corner we have neurodiversity people who are against a cure.
A cure means spotting and aborting autistic fetus's because autism is a brain difference. We are all of the same brain, and you can't change your brain.
In the blue corner we have the cure people.
This includes the much quieter autistics who want a cure and probably most parents and doctors.
They see autism as being detrimental to well being and making life much harder for autistics. Because we are outside the normal range, we need help to bring us back to "normal".
The first thing to understand is that both sides have points.
That may be uncomfortable, but they do, and if we want progress it's essential to see the other side.
The second thing is that no one seems to be defining "cure".
Neurodiversity thinks; If i'm not autistic any more then I'm NT and I won't think like I do now, so I'm no longer me. Help me with my problems and change society.
Cure people just want all this stuff gone.
But if we defined a cure as taking ones autism sub-clinical we would think just like we do now, but we would not get diagnosed autistic.
We would still be neurodiverse as we will not think like NTs.
The trouble with the term autism is that it means different things to different people. To me it's how my brain is and if you think like me you're autistic regardless of psychological diagnosis.
To the medical world it's diagnostic criteria.
For example, if I could adjust my diet, supplementation and nutrition and reduce my sensory issues to within "normal" range I'd no longer hit the criteria, therefore I'd be cured.
I would accept this treatment if available, but I'd still be autistic be MY definition.