Aspies For Freedom

Should we cure autism?
A distinguished autism researcher argues that the condition should just be recognised as another development form of development
September 11, 2007 2:19 PM

A cure for autism is a very long way off - scientists barely understand the condition - but even if there was the possibility of a cure should we use it? The distinguished autism researcher Prof Simon Baron-Cohen brought that up today at the British Association Festival of Science. He believes the condition should be recognised as an atypical form of development, like left handedness, but not cured.

That goes against many well-funded and high-profile groups who want to encourage research that will ultimately lead to ways of preventing or treating autism. Their names - Cure Autism Now and Defeat Autism Now - speak for themselves.

To some with autism and Asperger's syndrome though, this is a statement that they do not deserve to exist. One support group called Aspies for Freedom, for example says:

    We know that autism is not a disease, and we oppose any attempts to "cure" someone of an autism spectrum condition, or any attempts to make them 'normal' against their will.

To others, "curing" an autistic person would mean replacing that person with someone else.

    Autism is not something that I have, it is something that I am. Autism is in every emotion I experience, in every thought I think. Autism is throughout my philosophy, my political beliefs, my religious convictions. Autism affects my choice of job, my taste in clothes, my favourite music and literature, the artforms I like, and those I dislike...If it were possible to remove autism from a person, you would get a different person. A person who, perhaps, fits in better with his surroundings. Maybe a person who abides by the rules of society more. A person who does not stick out. That person will look identical to the previous one, but will be a different person nonetheless.

Prof Baron-Cohen's research points towards testosterone levels in the womb being critically important - although the scientific case is far from proven yet. "There is a very live debate about whether autism should simply be recognised as an atypical pattern of development like left handedness which doesn't necessarily need treatment," he said, "It just needs to be recognised as different and maybe supported educationally but not cured or eradicated."

I have reported MikeBTexas's post, mainly for this completely ignorant comment "If Aspies don't like the stigma of a disease then don't subscribe to it, just be yourself and don't try to hijack the label for something it was never intended for."

Yes autism and aspergers should be cured, because there is no real reason for people to have autism or aspergers.

@mbokohutu

"Yes autism and aspergers should be cured, because there is no real reason for people to have autism or aspergers."

You have got to be joking! That is the most un-educated comment I've seen this week (leaving user NeuroInsanity out of it). Of course there's a reason! We need people who are able to focus on one thing exclusively. There is an argument (and I agree with it) that many of the great scientific brains of history were Aspies. Albert Einstein comes up the most often. Those behind the industrial revolution last century...heck what about Bill Gates?? The man who revolutionised computer technology! THAT'S why we have ASD's. It's all about progress.

This blog has turned into an ASD hate fest, and it has to stop. To everyone who objects to the comparisons to skin colour, religion and "left handedness" - you are missing the point, and probably deliberately out of the very same intolerance that afflicts Osama Bin Ladin, Slobodan Milosevic and worst of all Adolf Hitler. If you don't understand it - it scares the cow manure out of you. When reality is there is nothing to be afraid of. ASD's are not a disease, it is a genetic difference.

To those who claim a "cure" or "this helped", those who claim a cure either do not have a cure or the subject didn't have an ASD to begin with. With regards to "helping" all you did was treat a symptom. You didn't touch the root condition. Treating the symptoms can make a difference but it is not a cure, and not every treatment works with everyone such is the variety of levels of ASD's.

One more thing - to anyone who claims that LFA and Aspergers are totally different. The root condition is the same - the ASD. What is different is the environment that develops. I read a theory some time ago that I agree with - the influence of sensory overload early in life. The smaller the overload the less the affliction. Massive sensory overload equals LFA. Minor sensory overload equals Aspergers. But the root condition is the same.

Also - to the person who claimed that the occurence has risen recently, that has nothing to do with any recent changes in medicine except for one thing. The DSM-IV (1994) and the DSM-IV-TR (1999). Prior to this it was not uncommon for Autism in it's several forms to be missed - especially being diagnosed with schizophrenia as an alternative (this has been going on for decades). This is because before Leo Kanner's work was done in 1943, the only work doctors could fall back on was that of Eugene Bleuler - the man who discovered Schizophrenia and coined the word "Autism" (note that the word was coined in 1912 - 19 years before Eli Lilly developed thiomersal). Prior to that, a fellow named Kraepolin wrote about something called "youth dementia" which is probably closer to Autism than Bleuler's Schizophrenia - and there is anecdotal evidence of youth dementia dating back to ancient Greece.

The reason why the DX of Aspergers has been more prevalent lately is not just because of the DSM-IV. It's also been the changes to the work place. We now embrace multiskilling and flexibility and have moved away from routine and autonomy. That move away has exposed Aspies whereas perviously Aspies were able to hide in perfectly acceptable employment and no one would bat an eyelid. It's why I advocate going back to that so that us Aspies can show the world what we can do - and we can.

Looks like my post scared the lunatics off! The posts have been all good since!

Yeah well it didn't last! The lunatics came back - with guess who leading the charge (no names)!! (No, not "Guess Who" on this board I hasten to point out!)

Chi and Chang? Do you mean that moron who talking about Yin and Yang, WfM?

No, not him although he or she rates - I was talking about the one who calls himself "Neuroinsanity".