A Cure For Autism: Your stance?

[boring]

Most of the people in my family (including me) have autism - each of us to varying degrees. I think it is not a cure we need but better support and resources to allow us to just live as the truest version of ourselves. I wouldn't want the way I think to be changed if given the option, and I don't believe that being autistic should be a limit on someone's life because that's just not the case. People are so horribly misinformed - if we had more support and understanding of autism in the day-to-day world things would just be so much different and for the better. Yes, I think differently or whatever people will say but I don't need to be fixed because there is not a problem; there is just an alternative view of the world that you haven't seen yet.

 

[Arsenal1508]

Of course yes a 1000 times.

My son I love who is 8 years old, is a curious George. Loves tools, games, but due to his in ability to sensory disorder, he struggles significantly to interact with anyone except his own family.

He only has vocab and few word sentences now due to my wife and our decision to home school since he was 5. He has obsession like behaviors where once he is fixated, he can not snap out. He has to repeat things several times over and over. My wife and I have hawk eyes...we never let him out of our site when we go out. He has an obsession over switches and blenders. He struggles to understand what he is allowed to touch and what he is not.

We visited so many schools but due to him not being able to sit still and touch things...schools don't accept it. I don't want to send him to a school that is forced to accept him due to government as it will be like a daycare for him. He will be on one side and other kids on another side.

I wish my son will develop language comprehension similar to all those that on Spectrum that could engage in this type of discussion.
Some people with Autism simply can't...there are levels this this disorder and unless you know those that are on my son's or similar level.

Therapy has never worked for son...it's so robotic that he simply can't. Only time and my wife's dedication. He still has his daily meltdowns and things that tick him off. Physically he is healthy. He can read. But he can't engage in actual discussions.

 

[Alolan_Apples]

I’m not ready for it. I don’t want to get cured.

 

[Lancelot]

I voted no in the sense that I probably wouldn’t take it, but I see no reason why not as long as it’s optional. I think autism makes a lot of people special, and it’s just a way of seeing the world/thinking differently so I see no reason to “cure” it.

 

[Seastar]

I voted no quite a while ago (I guess last year?) but didn't know how to word a response.
I care a lot about the way I think/see the world and do not want that taken away from me. Sometimes it seems really useful to me because I will notice or think about something nobody else did. I also cannot possibly imagine being less passionate about my interests.
It does come with problems but a lot of it is just me being different from others and people either not understanding or not accepting that.
Something I wish I didn't have to deal with is my anxiety but I'm willing to put up with that if it's just part of who I am.

 

[idiotdoomspiral]

Not rly, most of my anxiety and subsequent isolation over the years came from the way others percieved my quietness, tone of voice, spacing out, fidgeting, general avoidance of eye contact etc etc. ...... Especially as a kid i was very loud & passionate but gradually i think masking it to the point of denying it, the closest thing to a "cure", became my grip which just led to more emotional turmoil. I'm good w animals because i always found comfort in the fact they dont rly have the capacity to judge all of those things and being an encylopedia for niche interests is something i enjoy babbling abt to whoever is willing to listen. Though i dont blame other autistic ppl for seeing less of a bright side; it's difficult to find groups who will accept u for who u are and it is a disability at the end of the day specifically regarding noise tolerance and meltdowns. As a kid many social events n gatherings were soured bc of my panic attacks around balloons and fire alarms and i sure wouldve liked to fix that part lole

 

[amemome]

I think every person should be allowed to approach their autism however they want. If they want a "cure" then they should be allowed to "cure" themselves. But a "cure" should absolutely not be pushed onto all ND folks.

I think this discussion also happens in other disability spaces and most in the community are also mixed in their opinions about "cures."

 

[wrenbow]

There are definitely difficulties that come with being autistic, but I think the focus there should be finding ways to accommodate those things rather than trying to 'cure' autism itself. From what I understand, autism is just a different type of brain wiring that affects how you process information and isn't malignant at all so there's not really anything to fix.

Pathologising autistic traits only reinforces stigma, meaning more people will be punished or ridiculed for expressing those traits, and trying to find some kind of preventable/changeable biological factor that causes them just takes away from resources that could be put towards understanding autistic people better and improving our quality of life in a society that currently isn't built for us.

There are also great things about being autistic, and they wouldn't exist if my brain weren't wired the way it is, so I wouldn't ever choose to be any different.

 

[Arsenal1508]

I'm speaking those autistic that cannot understand or converse like post or understand what even a discussion forum is.

All those individuals on spectrum that have an understanding of this topic....God bless your souls...you are lucky.

Those individuals with autism that are not as fortunate and sever sensory and language issues...a cure would be Amazing.

I wish the severe ended autism individuals did not get grouped in with high function autism. It's not the same....I urge people to read https://www.spectrumnews.org/opinion/viewpoint/its-time-to-embrace-profound-autism/

 

[VanitasFan26]

I don't know how I feel if there was a cure for Autism. All my life I was treated horribly by so many people in my life and I just isolated myself from everyone from the world in real life. Which is why I never made friends. I used to have friends but they all forgot about me and some even backstabbed me. If there was a cure I feel like I would not be myself. I hate to become someone I'm not and it will just feel awkward. Its complicated to explain but something about it just doesn't sound right. I still have bad memories of going to these so called Job training courses and centers who claim they care for autistic people but they don't. I've had a bad experience at this Job Training Course for autistics way back in 2017. I was sent to this place by my parents because they figured I would get help on how to do job training as an autistic but the staff there treated me poorly.

I was just sitting there not knowing what to do and whenever I ask a question they just give me a dimissive "Wait until we are done speaking" Then they told me to go some Autisim center to learn more about social skills. I have never been so mistreated in all of my life as an autistic. First they were grouping me with other autistic people which they didn't want to talk to me and then they have us going to places doing a whole lot of things that just made no sense. I was left so confused and baffled what was even going on and then when a few weeks later they held some sort of graduation and then my parents came to pick me up and they were just as confused as me because I don't know what was happening. I left with a sour taste in my mouth.

This place did nothing to improve my social skills and my self esteem is in worst condition afterwards. Then things got really bad and then when my parents came to find out what was the problem they told them that I am not "fitted to work" even though I was following their directions and I was very confused on what was even going on.

For me as an autistic I am still confused by everything in the world. I second guess things, I don't know if people can be trusted these days, I have a hard time understanding intentions behind people's actions, then sometimes whenever people ask me questions I take a long time to respond and I don't want them to feel awkawrd so I just force myself to say something even though I don't mean it. Even if there was a cure I still think it would not help me as much. I don't even know who I am these days. One moment I'm a different person that is high function and then other part I am someone who is just sad all the time. I have this bad habit of rambling on and I don't know what I'm talking about most of the time.

TLTR: If there was a cure for autism I would not know how to feel about it. I don't want to become someone I'm not and I don't know if it will make my life better or worse.

 

[oath2order]

I can't exactly subscribe to the initial premise presented in the poll. Whether or not there should be a cure is irrelevant, IMO, because I'm not sure it can even be cured.

Before I continue, I want to say that I'm not autistic, but I do have a sister who is somewhere on the spectrum. I believe the term has fallen out of popular use, but the only way I know to describe her is "high-functioning". I do not know another term for this, so I'm going to use it throughout. So, this is my perspective from a non-autistic person.

I think every person should be allowed to approach their autism however they want. If they want a "cure" then they should be allowed to "cure" themselves. But a "cure" should absolutely not be pushed onto all ND folks.

I think this discussion also happens in other disability spaces and most in the community are also mixed in their opinions about "cures."

This sums up my thoughts on it, but I do want to add that the thing about a potential cure is inherently a problem for "high-functioning" autistic people. There will absolutely be pressure from businesses and family and friends to "get the cure", as it were.

That said, I do look at the autistic kids who basically need 24/7 care because they cannot function on their own, and it's like "****, if there's a way to give them an actual life they can live on their own..."

 

[seliph]

why is there eugenics in my animal crossing forum

the cure would be for society to stop being so ableist. ableism is a systemic issue so ingrained in our culture, it’s made us think that neurodivergent people are the ones that need to be “fixed”

glad someone said it, the only reason to want a "cure" for autism is so that autistic people can serve in an ableist capitalistic environment that's stacked against them. the problem is the structure not the people in it.

 

[LambdaDelta]

wow, what an absolute banger of a thread

anyways, no. a society that values production over people is and always has been the problem

 

[Dinosaurz]

wow, what an absolute banger of a thread

anyways, no. a society that values production over people is and always has been the problem

Well it depends why people are voting

But I voted for myself not society
Is it negative to say that you’d be cured if you could be?? I never asked to be autistic, and I’d rather be neurotypical

 

[LambdaDelta]

I mean I wouldn't stop any individual wanting to for themself on their own terms, but I also know that as of present time it'd also just lead to plenty of people who don't want to being forced to because of the awful parts of societal structure that would chomp down on that as hard and fast as it possibly can