I think it is pervasive in our public discourse these days -- everything feels like a "heartbreaking affliction" when you hold the expectation that everything in life should be perfectly aligned with societal expectations and directly under your control -- and that you are a victim if this is not the case.  If it's not the "heartbreak" of autism, it's the heartbreak of deafness or food allergies or just about anything else you can think of.  

And where do they find these TV newscasters who can seemingly summon tears to their eyes on demand, as they interview the parents of the poor afflicted autistic child (or the child with a club foot or a congenitally dislocated elbow or what have you)?  

I wish all those people could understand that my autistic child is FABULOUS.  The only time I felt afflicted was during the diagnosis period when for about a week, the doctors announced that they needed to rule out a brain tumor.  The minute I found out that, no, it was "just" autism, I breathed a sigh of relief and got on with enjoying my weird, wonderful, magical, brilliant, different-from-everyone-else-on-the-planet child.  

But even more importantly, I wish that across the board, we could stop being a society of eager victims, rushing to identify with the latest pathology or syndrome so that we can massage each others self-pity about it.  What is that all about?