Aspies For Freedom

It happened again.  I pointed out that I do support Autism Speaks or CAN because I believe that genetic research on autism will lead to a prenatal test.  I am then called "a self-righteous person with Asperger's" by a parent of a child with classic autism who would want a "cure" desperately.  How do I respond to this?

Also some people have pointed out that their insurance (Americans) does not cover any therapy related to autism, not speech therapy or other therapies.  

How can people be so naive as to think that any research will lead to a "cure" other than just a prenatal test?   Most likely it will stop there and no cure will be developed for regressive autism types or LFA treatments.  What costs more?  testing a prenatal genetic test and putting it to market to make millions or developing treatments for autism or "cure" drugs that have years and years of testing before market and that will not make much profit due to low numbers of children born with autism after the genetic tests are available.  Why are some parents so stupid?

Okay, i'm going 'way out on a limb here and this theory is based only on my own observations and what intuition I have, mixed up with my personal experiences watching NT loved-ones battle with same problems via different means...

I think NTs "feel" a collective condemnation from being different from the tribe.  I really mean more than the classical inward turned, self-loathing crap.  I am very unused to talking about these types ideas, so bare with my terminology but those that can "read" the frequencies of people (I read on these boards that some can/do) may understand what I mean...(and any insights on this would be welcome since situation is on-going).

when NTs are despondent over some sort of perceived falling short or failing of the collective, their vibrations change...they seem to internalize this faux paux in a way I cannot understand.  In sci-fi terms it's almost as if too many whacks, or a well-aimed whack, can start a self-destruct mode and, also in true sci-fi fashion, there is a great deal of angst and machinations before you can shut the durn thing off.

Ergo...to an NT parent, to "be different" has some other subliminal, sinister NT meaning connected to survival, making them even more desperate to ensure a child's survival by any means necessary (not, I might add, a bad parental trait, just misguided in these cases).

I read a discussion once about ACs theory of theory of mind and how it works between ACs and between NTs but not between ACs & NTs.  This type of dilemma reminds me of that discussion.

If you're worried about being self-rightous try being synic for once. ^^ It's a lot more fun to piss people off who don't even know you. Especially those who you can't change their minds about.

Now, you bring up the money issue. Personally I think this is a blessing in disguise because I believe there can be no cure, short of aborting the presumed autistics fetus. Even if there was a cure proclaimed to exhist, what would they test it on? What animals have autism?  What can you test this 'cure' on except for humans?

I think this would either be a leep of faith or a deception. Because what if this cure ends up killing those it's given to, when it hasn't been tested at all? Once again, what kind of testing short of human testing can be done with this drug?

It's nice to hope for a cure for a disease that causes a parent's child harm. But there is a difference between hope and ignorence, I would like to think people havn't gone to the point that a cure is the only way they can help their child and not accept logic, science, and facts that prove a cure is not possible.

to expand on your thought here: i think in the ice age anyone who diverged too much or not enough Didn't survive to reproduce or inter breed thus make differant  offspring to the perants. thus creating the fear of being differant in most nts or at least wariness of thus stated.inter breed enough time and half the traits become reseve or non active until certain geneal(made up word- for gene) conditions like an identcal or at least simalar reseve trait  in the pair.

Experiments related to autism are done on rats and their brains dissected.  Also certain monkeys are used since the mirror neurons cells in their brains are concentrated in a certain area of the brain --- maybe they are dissected too or given Magnetic imaging.

I don't think that the rate of rats or monkeys being diagnosed with Autism is very high, in fact, I'm fairly certain that Autism is a more or less human thing (correct me if I'm wrong).  How can you get an accurate test on Autism treatments not only doesn't have Autism, but has brain which is far different than those who you're trying to come up with treatments for?

* ...How can you get an accurate test on autism treatments if the test subject not only doesn't have Autism...

I don't think your being self-righteous at all.  I also don't think that any amount of debate is going to change a persons mind about to cure or not to cure.  People believe what they want to believe for whatever reasons.  I too have been slamed in Autistic Parent groups by the chelaton MOMMIes who then kicked me out of their group for posting a blog on acceptance of neuro-diversity. It makes me angry that parents have the power to do what ever they want to their kids in the name of love.  I can not save those kids and it breaks my heart. What I can do is let peole know what autistic people can DO and what a valuable part of our community they are and can be if people will change the way the have labeled them, with LFA and HFA, aspies, auties.  First and foremost we are human beings period. My job is to let people know that.  Make videos showing what is inside the brains and hearts that that society so easly has dimiss as a non-people.  Post blogs, Hold a synposium for awareness, do public speaking, write letters to politians.  Make movies about autism and campaign for change.  Maybe one person will be won over to the truth, or people who haven't made up there minds about the cure will think about ABLISM and what that means.  If I/we put our voices out there telling people the truth about autistic people maybe we will give hope to the AS people who hear are voices and are stuck in homes with "THOSE Kind of Parents who are forcing them through the "CURES".
I'm not sure arguing with a person who has already made up their mind is productive, but there are other options to it.  Write a play, make a comercial, start a letter campaign to your favorite politian.  Be the Change, even if it's in a small way. When the people lead, the Leaders will follow.

I like the thought of curebies gliding smoothly into the world of neurodiversity. People often retreat and shut their ears whenever they get provoked. I want people to copy my mind because it sounds rational, not because ABA is like training a dog.

ABA though is sort of...... how to put it.....
Inhumane?
Degrading?
One-sided?

the breed 'em spacially for it.

Who said anything about being anti-cure?

It's just that we've seen what happens when people think the problem for autistic people is solely "autism", can we try with maybe alittle bit different mindset now?