B"H
Hello. Thank you for reading my post. I will be placing my writings on religious philosophy and deep questions in this section, at the request of the Administrators. After this post, I might be taking a break from posting to deal with many issues. I hope that you will read my other threads, and feel free to comment on them.
What a load of deluded fantasies! Sorry to be blunt, but you seem to appreciate that trait, according to your post.
G-d's Children were created for a holy Purpose. It is not a superior one to that of Neurotypicals or "Aspies," but a different one. In Israel, Rabbis consult Autistic children over certain questions in part, I believe, because of their honesty. Autistic people have a difficult time lying. Sometimes the truth is blunt, and a little hurtful. However, it is still the truth as autistic people see it. That is a precious Gift, that of telling the truth. It is one that should be encouraged. It is more important than "looking the teacher in the eye." We can emphasize telling the truth in a kind way, as part of a child's character development---but sometimes the full truth is necessary.
Leaving aside the fact that I am an atheist who views all religion as ultimately irrational, this is still pure fantasy. No religious book supports it, and they support just about anything in the name of religion.
Autistics, and especially low-functioning ones, have large troubles with communication, may suffer severe sensory integration problems, many have well below average IQs, and in general so many problems adjusting to the world that it's highly unlikely they'd stumble on to profound truths, and certainly not any more often than do NTs and aspies. eveni f they did, their communication troubles would in most cases leave them unable to communicate said truths.
This is a fantasy, created to justify the existence of low-function autists. Isn't their being people justification enough? No, smearing poop has no profound meaning. Neither do I think most autists do so.
Neurotypicals and "Aspies" were created for a holy Purpose too, of course. It is simply that to reach it there is a great deal of pride that must be overcome. In the case of the latter, we must humble ourselves and be willing to accept, and rejoice in, the "Autistic" label. In your case, parents of Autistic children, you must see the blessing and find how to bring the special Gift of your child out.
Your child is a blessing, if you can learn to guide your blessing in the right way. You will have to rely on your Intuition for that. I cannot tell you parents what to do. I cannot tell my "LFA" readers how to find your Gifts. I am simply telling you that I believe that the Gifts are there. According to the Torah, Moses was no orator. He stuttered. And yet, he was the greatest communicator of all time. Pharaoh wrote him off. His own opponents called him a "tyrant" (G-d forbid). Yet, it is his memory that has inspired not only the three Abrahamic religions, but also the respect of Eastern religions, Native American "Wavoka" and others. In Africa, his memory is still praised in oral traditions. Do you catch me?
Myth is myth is myth. In myths, everyone is a great orator, for their speeches are honed by the best storytellers in each generation, until the result only vaguely resembles the original.
It is not necessary that your child be a so-called savant. Such an expectation is not only unrealistic. It actually misses the point. A Gift does not have to be something so overt as playing chess against a grand master, or the usual thing you see in movies. It is something to be uncovered. You will find it by being open to it.
NO HUMAN BEING IS CREATED WITHOUT A PURPOSE. I am not interested in getting in to a debate over which model of evolution one believes, or Darwin versus Intelligent Design, Creationism, or anything of that nature. I might discuss my views on that some other time. Rather, it is my belief that no human being is born without a Purpose in this world, here and now. Your child is no exception.
So, is a person who does not fulfill his purpose a failure?
Let me say that I learned more from being a Paraprofessional in a SDC classroom, taught by a compassionate teacher, than I ever would have in a more structured, but less compassionate environment. I could see the special Gifts of our students. And, I know that those of you who are "LFA" (God's Children) are reading this for a Purpose. Many of you, like Sue Rubin, have higher IQ's than you have been given credit. Still others may have other skills. Friends, IQ is a racist invention that really means nothing. Ms. Rubin's jumped from 24 to over 130 in a short time. IQ is really a maleable thing. It was invented by proto-Nazis, and I believe that we are better off abandoning it completely for more complex models of intelligence.
Bullshit and lies. IQ tests were not invented by proto-Nazis or racists. This is an unfounded and stupid claim. IQ tests were originally developed to identify students who needed special treatment due to low intelligence, learning disabilities, or other problems causing them to perform badly on the test. Just like the AS diagnosis is used to identify those who need special help, so IQ tests were invented to identify those who needed special help.
Thus, we see the Th*rd Re*ch and its exceptions bases on disability, race, etc. It was all "rational" in their minds, a "logical conclusion" if you will. Thus, murder itself must be seen as a Divine Prohibition, that we do not kill because it is wrong, not because it is irrational, or else we will begin to rationalize and find exceptions. Human history testifies to this. In America, we have also had eugenics laws, violations of human rights for "rational purposes!"
Human rights extend to people, not to everything with human DNA.
Of course, it can be pointed out that medieval society made similar exceptions to the law of murder, but if we examine it we find that it was not based on the notion that some people were non-human. Medieval society had its own evils, but not that one.
Ever heard of slavery?
If we go down the road of saying that a certain child has certain genes causing autism, and that these genes allow parents to terminate children, we have gone to a barbarism worse than that of the Thirteenth Century.
No, we have not.
In summation, we have a choice between two world views. The medieval one is gone in the western world. It might still exist in the Middle East, but not here. Therefore, we have two stark choices. One respects science (right now I am listening to Michio Kaku' "Explorations"), but does not worship it. The other allows scientists and multi-nationals to play around with life itself, even to the point of tampering with the human genome
To prevent diseases! To make us healthier! To improve the quality of life! How is that a bad thing? It isn't.
