Ok, someone is recently diagnosed with an AS dx. A number of people, parents and teachers go together and want solve a "problem".
First, what is the problem.
Someone raises a shaky hand "I think it is autism". Someone look up autism and find that it is things like repetive behavior, social isolation and interest in a certain topic. Now they go out to solve the problem...
In another case, they didn't have anything to tell what AS was, but they found that AS had to be a sickness, because it was called syndrome. And as all other illnesses it should be treated. So they went out to find a treatment...
...
What is REALLY the problem(s)?
Erkolos - don't know if I can say what the problem is, but having a young nephew diagnosed the family saw it as a 'problem' because they want him to be happy. And the truth is (whether we like it or not) that a society based on fairly fixed norms makes it difficult for those who are different to be happy. In an ideal world this should not be so but we do not live in an ideal world.
Education may help though. Until our nephew was diagnosed we knew nothing about AS or autism. Since his diagnosis my husband has realised that he is probably AS too. Now my husband has not had an awful life - far from it - but he certainly has had some major difficulties and times of depression. He also says that his father (perhaps on the spectrum too???) who is now dead was very awkward, often unhappy and depressed. Our relationship is changing since we have learned (in a positive way) and I wonder if we had never learned about AS whether things would have deteriorated to the point where we split up - it hadn't reached crisis point but I was totally unable to understand my husband's behaviour. I don't think we'll ever get to that place again as we both now try hard to view things from the other's perspective and we also approach things in a different manner.
One thing that I have realised (which makes me feel quite sad) is that I probably rejected the friendship of a lady who I worked with who I am now fairly certain was autistic. She would now be in her 50s, was unpopular at work because she was wierd. I tried to be nice to her (which sounds a bit patronising) but when she did get round to talking to me she sounded quite offhand and almost aggressive. But I now realise that when I asked her for coffee and she said 'yeah, suppose I could' in a dead flat uninterested voice that for her that was probably a major step. It felt like she wasn't interested in me, yet when I left that workplace she was upset and knowing what I know now I realise that maybe she wanted to be friends and that I inadvertently rejected her because I didn't understand. Hopefully for younger people there will be more understanding, through education, and life may become easier.
So I would say that the 'problem' is that none of us want those we love to have to live difficult and unhappy lives. While there are no guarantees for anyone whatever their neurotype (is that they right word?) it seems to me, from the outside as an NT, that sadly life is likely to be more difficult for those with autism because of the lack of understanding.
Autism is a part of who a person is, that is what I want people to understand.
Ofcourse it can benefit autistic children to know what behaviors that are inappropriate, but it shouldn't be too much focus into making someone look normal. That's like when black people give cream to their children to make them look more white.