No, there are a lot of Aspies who feel that LFAs ought to be "cured", because Aspies aren't disabled, and LFA's are. Which is partly true, but doesn't change the fact that a low-functioning person is still a person, and has got a right to his/her own personality, to the aid s/he needs to survive, and to the respect that any human gets.
I don't believe in aborting anybody because they're disabled, and that includes low-functioning autism. And you know that's the "cure" they're going to go for.
I thought of some points on either side. (I have numbered them because this is the best way to organise.)
1. Too emotional to be aspie? Not so. In my experience even of this forum, aspies are just as capable of knee-jerk if they (we) see something about which they (we) feel strongly. Myself included.
2. The "flamer" is clearly angry about something, but whatever it is, I don't think it's
really your picture.
3. I would personally like to hear more from LFAs (Many of whom can, by all accounts, write well) about their views. Personally I wasn't comfortable with the anti-cure side until I heard that there were LFAs who didn't want a cure, either.
4. There's no good reason for whoever flamed you to be insulting.
(For what it's worth.)
Happy Razzy.
I get into "flaming" fights with other Aspies all the time. I'm pretty much hated by most other Aspies I know, because I'm not like them.
I know, that's totally illogical on their parts.
I get into a few online altercations with some people if they say stuff I consider silly and/or objectionable.
Let's just put the whole issue of "cure" into a proper perspective.
We all know that the root disorder can not be cured because of it's genetic origin. We can't be NT (that's the true definition of cured). That's 100 percent impossible.
On the other hand, I believe it IS possible for LFA's to become HFA's or Aspies. The trick is how.
My personal view is it depends on what causes sensory overload. For LFA's this is a constant problem. Now find the primary source for the overload. That's the hard part because it requires constant experimentation (yeah that's a bad word but I can't think of a better one) to find it as the LFA child won't react to you and say "That's it" in a way you understand. It takes patience - and curebie parents lack it in spades.
Some have stumbled on the solution for their child. Heavy metals in the body. Now this is where the mercury poisoning morons think they have a leg to stand on, because chelation is ideal to deal with heavy metals in the body (not just mercury). Physical pain is a pretty common cause of sensory overload in LFA's it would appear.
BUT!
It doesn't cure the ASD lock stock and barrel, and that's where they are getting it so badly wrong.
I'm probably getting a tad off topic here, but I just wanted to clarify the issue of "curing".
Autism isn't always caused by genetics, you know. Certain chemicals and viral infections that cause autism have in fact been documented. Just because it's extremely rare, doesn't mean that you can write it off entirely.
Actually - if the doctor I quoted elsewhere is right - I can. By saying that what you said is not possible without the defective dormant gene. Those very chemicals and infections would have caused the sensory overload that triggered the gene.
I'm not saying I'm right (or the doctor for that matter) but it does fit.
RE: Only to exist changes the question to one of whether you are worthy just as you are. Political niceties aside, it goes to the heart of humanity. How we care for others is the true measure of self. What is your measure? Is it all too much to ask to honor God’s creations just as they are? We test tube this and euthanize that to make Gods of ourselves. It is a farce of hells making. Only God sees all the connections. Only he knows each of our purposes one to another. I am not God; just a tiny piece of him. We kill him every day in aborting new life, even “normal” life. Why then should I as an autist expect better treatment. The issue is not one of cure, but one of humanity.
I thought this was beautifully stated by Hrick.
I think that the terms LFA and HFA are so relative to a the perception of the tester and the test that they sould be considered obsolete. The brain is still such a mystery to science and we are only scratching the suface of the 10 pound universe.
Perhaps "the cure" should be addressed as to way mankind is and has treated each other. As long as people treat each other with disrespect and non tolerance we are too polluted to see the truth, much less be changed by it.
The problem with thinking of sensory overload divorced from the way the brain works overall, is that it's only a byproduct of an overall way of functioning.
You can of course eliminate stimuli (including internal stimuli) that contribute to overload, such as pain and things like that.
But once all that's taken care of, what if overload is a byproduct of a way of processing information that includes perceiving more information than most people do, and handling it in a different way than most people do? And what if that way of processing information is very valued by the person who processes information that way?
That's what I was getting at, Anbuend. Finding the cause of the initial sensory overload - which could well be an overload of information, whatever that information may be. I wouldn't call it a by-product in the first instance. It could be later on of course. Having said that though, I'm not saying the theory I'm quoting from is right. It does fit however. The only query I have over it is that it gives the mercury poisoning supporters an out (ie, mercury poisoning could have caused the overload in some children).
Going back to getting flamed. I was reading this book, The Lucifer Effect, it talks about how certain situations make it easy for people to abuse others. I wrote this in a journal about the cyber bulling situation. "Here in cyber land the situation is perfect for that kind of abuse. We have a choice of total atmospheric anonymity. A virtual masked profile where we can type in whatever we want about ourselves and let the terroristic comments begin. Remember the prison guards in the movies with mirrored sunglasses and the prisoners masked or id numbered, perfect metaphor for a situation ripe for abuse. Non faced power figures holding down non-people. The power we have with our faces masked over unsuspecting bloggers who are putting out their feelings/opinions can transform our character. Make us into monsters that can lash out and no one can catch us because no one see's our faces. No personal accountability breeds antisocial behavior. The bullies see us in a deindividuated state and it makes it okay in their minds to say anything and leave any comment no matter how rude or inappropriate. What's going to happen to them in cyber land?
Don't think your capable of being a bully? Any deed that any human being has ever committed, however horrible, is possible for any of us-under the right circumstances. "
What I thought was interesting is how perfectly nice people can turn and be abusive gived ther right situation. Like the German people who lived near concentration camps and saw what was happening to the prisioners but later denied they knew anything about what went on in there. We all have this monster inside that we subdue but once in a while we might see a little glimpse of it's ugly head.
Before staring a fight spread across several threads, I would humbly suggest you first click on Ethel's name, click on 'find all posts by this user' and read everything she has to say on a variety of subjects.
I have done similar in the past; it gives a new member a chance to catch up on long-standing 'personalities' on the forum and gives you an insight into their true character.
Yes, but a new member may read all of a long standing member's posts and agree with most of them but still clash over one or two things.  Why should a new member have to humbly bow before an established member?  Aren't we all equal here?
Good point, Ethereal, but unfortunately, it seems that if a member has been here for a certain amount of time, then they are automatically Jesus Christ and the newbies are chopped liver. As George Orwell wrote, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." By the way, I do clash with some things. PM me for more details.
Who gave older members permission to cyber-club newbies?  It is the height of rudeness to demand newbies to bow and scrape before the established member.  And as for the question "aren't we all equal here?"  Apparently not and obviously not. Â
The question screaming to be asked is:  Just because a person has made two or three thousand posts in this forum, what gives them the right to behave like a bully?  And why is the bully ENCOURAGED to bully ONLY new members?  Is there some unspoken rule in the forum that if you need to bully someone, you must only bully the newest members?  Is there so much pent up hostility in this forum that newbies are seen as target practice?  On the other hand, it is probably a good idea for newbs to frame their comments in a way which neither attacks older members nor invites attack.  And that would appear to be a skill one could use to one's advantage in the real world.Â
Heh. Better quit before I find  cyber-noose around my neck.
Nobody was bullying anybody.
I saw that a disagreement between two members was being dragged up in another thread and humbly suggested a better way of dealing with it. I did not demand humility of Johanna (that was a mis-reading by ethereal). I used the word in order to show that I wasn't bossing people around. Or is there suddenly a new meaning of 'humble' that is the opposite to the one I intended?
The question could be re-phrased: "Why have so many new members joined this forum and started fights?"
There certainly have been a lot of trolls recently (people who join a forum solely for the 'fun' of upsetting people) so perhaps established members are being a little hyper-sensitive. But a lot of the arguments could be stopped immediately by reading the mission statement on the front page and saying at the beginning of a post to whom it is being addressed!
Someone commenting on aspieweb.net said you were rude and obnoxious,
So that's where Rossco buries his victims.
Don't listen to Zombies, Johanna.
Max, I just said I didn't think Rossco was bad. Besides, sometimes, you've got to experience things for yourself instead of listening to other people. Don't you think I know that by now? I may not be an adult yet, but that doesn't mean that I'm entirely stupid.
I can't find a single phrase in that response that has anything to do with what I said.
Not to be too abstract, but until you learn how the steering wheel works, you might want to consider easing up on the gas pedal.
I think the fact that Korrigan's post was necrobumped from five weeks ago is interesting. Also, of course, that Korrigan has been very helpful to Johanna and they are friends. It's hard to see it as a pressing issue.
I don't see how telling people to apologize is bullying or telling them to stop being rude is too. There must be such thing a civil bullying then. You come off as nice but you are bullying and you sound so civil as you do it. I still don't see what Korrigan did was bullying. Sounded civil to me.
One of my children was in diapers and nonverbal at age 4.  He did start to speak around age 6 and eventually was able to do self-care things.  He now would be considered HFA.  But even before he spoke he was able to communicate with sign language (much of it he made up himself) and grunted inflections. Â
He had passions and interests, and could be a very tender and loving child.  Why is it that society focusses so much on the non-verbality and bathroom issues instead of seeing the rest of the child?  Of course you should do what you can about the language and self-care, but that's not the be all end all of any human being.
As far as needing to be "cured" so as to avoid being a target for bullies... that's outrageous.  The "sickness" is with the bullies, not the target.
QFT.