From a forum I'm a member of:
Should Autism be Cured?
9 say yes, 2 say yes to an extent of treatment, 4 say no(including myself, so it'll be 3 really), and 1 says unsure. Out of 16 votes.
Their comments?
what kind of people would say NO?
cmon it's something that affects innocent people out there :cry: if can be cured it would be great to see it happen.
<-- I think he might be referring to stupid people, as he runs a computer shop, and gets to see the worlds dumbest people each and every day.
People with austism anoy me.
yes. I have several family members with aspergers syndrome and they are very socially strange. They just dont get it. And people just dont get them. I understand them because I've had to deal with them for so long that Im used to how they act and think, but the average person will not be able to understand what's wrong with the person, they'll just think that they are weird. So yes, if it could be cured, I would say we should cure everybody.
Best one so far:
... i dont think there should be a cure for it - i think people just need to accept it and get on with their lives and quit thinking their life is better than everyone elses!!!!
half the time the only problem with something is people saying that there is a problem!!!!!!
famous quote:
"you know what my problem is??? I DONT HAVE A PROBLEM--- THATS MY PROBLEM!!!!!"
My reply to them all:
Mind drive said the greatest thing here.
To get the best answer, ask here. And also, are you only viewing low functioning autists here? And it only affects innocent people?
Of course, Einstein and Michelangelo were poor innocent people.
Listen, YOU ARE BORN WITH AUTISM! YOU DON'T JUST GET IT! And those of who do have it love it.
Keep educating them...(they need it!)
Will do, Amy. I've already let Gareth use my account to post his comments on it to help educate them. Was rather good, too.
what kind of people would say NO?
cmon it's something that affects innocent people out there :cry: if can be cured it would be great to see it happen.
Never trust NTs that act all mushy like that, my friends. They mean business.
People with austism anoy me.
Talk about a stereotype! There is one other autistic boy who annoyed me last summer, but that doesn't mean we're ALL annoying!
yes. I have several family members with aspergers syndrome and they are very socially strange. They just dont get it. And people just dont get them. I understand them because I've had to deal with them for so long that Im used to how they act and think, but the average person will not be able to understand what's wrong with the person, they'll just think that they are weird. So yes, if it could be cured, I would say we should cure everybody.
I got a better idea-- let's cure all you NTs of ignorance!!! Besides, I like being weird!
... i dont think there should be a cure for it - i think people just need to accept it and get on with their lives and quit thinking their life is better than everyone elses!!!!
half the time the only problem with something is people saying that there is a problem!!!!!!
famous quote:
"you know what my problem is??? I DONT HAVE A PROBLEM--- THATS MY PROBLEM!!!!!"
I agree. There shouldn't be a cure.
:!: Mich :?:
Where is this messageboard?
My mighty Panda wrath has been stoked.
Its Overclockersclub.com
Its in the members section polls.
Well, they've already accused me of trolling because of it...
I'm going off of the forums at all places for awhile. Need to calm myself down and relax out some things.
Being called a troll by peeps who support the notion that
ignorance is bliss is not something to get wound up over because they don't want to know. It might be a good idea to leave the topic alone or else you might upset them into turning against you or doing a little trolling of their own here.
Given some of their replies I'm not at all suprised that it's stressed you out
Yea, and I'm not all too famous there either... mainly for being a furry.
I've decided to leave there for the next 9 days(I'll return on my b-day), allowing myself some time to cool down.
Where is this messageboard?
My mighty Panda wrath has been stoked.
Love the avatar. 
The attitudes expressed above seem to be from people who really know very little about the spectrum.
Cerebral Palsy and MR? Well, for the second case - mental retardation itself is not an illness. It's a consequence of an illness or a genetic disorder (Down syndrome, for example,doesn't automatically lead to mental retardation - though it's still unexplored where the difference between intellegent and "***" people with DS is). As for CP... The symptoms "light" levels of CP often disappear after some training. Actually, I believe that if "light" CP can disappear just by motor training, so can "heavy" CP, one just needs much more time.
About a cure... If it would be possible to cure negative sides only, it's ok. Autism has also some positive effects (the most famous is probably recognising small details). If it would be possible to "cure" the negative part only, I see nothing bad. But I don't belive such a cure is possible.
Aspies can seem quite ignorant too.
Anyone can be ignorant, regardless of neurological composition, and anyone can be annoying, too.
There are plenty of good and intelligent NTs out there. Unfortunately, the ignorant ones are a lot louder.
Well, I think it also has to do with historical reinforcement. In the past and today, if you take care of someone, it usually means they are sick or there is something wrong with them. So for autistics that need assistance, what people relate to is not the child, but the parents who must go the extra mile. They want the child to be able to function by themselves and moreso want to see the parents freed from this "burden". And no one can debate that assisting someone takes a great deal of effort and energy. So it's quite difficult to tell NT's that there's nothing wrong with autism. There are things wrong with it. A typical autistic trait is having difficulty in new situations to name one seemingly insignificant example. Yet, it causes so much difficulty in every day life. So if there are things wrong with autism, then why not get rid of it all? They do not see that there are things wrong with being NT as well. That anyone watching the news would have to live in their own world to see that everything is OK with NT's majority status in society.
My main problem is the definition of autism. The official definition of autism are the "symptoms". But if you don't show any symptoms, does that mean your aren't autistic? Many of us must mimic NT behaviour. By the official definition, we are not AS or autistic because there are no apparent symptoms. But what do we call the "way of being" or "essense" that is the core of autism? NT's likely do not understand this difference. If they think that the sypmtoms are autism, then why not a cure? It would make sense. Unless, there was a deeper connection. But we don't hear about that much in the media or in discussions about autism. And NT's don't care about positive traits because anything that's different is considered bad. I still remember explaining some of the good traits and they just stare at you.
My question is: Do your traits define your autism? Or is there something deeper that defines who you are?
I think answering this and letting people know would go a longer way than saying you don't want autism cured.
In my opinion, autistics should just receive whatever support they need to live a decent life. If that's someone to feed them, so be it. If it's just something silly like "I'm autistic, so don't be surprised if I'm not 'normal'", so be it. . . A cure would, I feel, be dangerous at best; it would, after all, entail a radical change in how one's brain operates, along with a radical change in personality.