Are you against the cure

[samuelandrews]

Like the title says i would like to know if you are an anticure or a procure
personally i see the "cure" for autism is a cover for a genocide of the autistic people by neurotypicals.
Dont get me wrong not all neurotypicals want to "cure" us i am just saying some do.

[zenemu]

Like the title says i would like to know if you are an anticure or a procure
personally i see the "cure" for autism is a cover for a genocide of the autistic people by neurotypicals.
Dont get me wrong not all neurotypicals want to "cure" us i am just saying some do.

I don't think most people are that aware of the issues surrounding autism and aspergers, so I doubt most neurotypicals have an opinion. As for a cure, doubt that would be possible given the nature of ASD's, but I am sure that many people would welcome a treatment that would help to eliminate some of the symptoms.

I mentioned in this thread how I think aspergers and autism in general has had an influence on who we are as civilization, but I think deeper than that their would be unforseen implications in removing certain genetic traits from what it already a very small gene pool.

I must admit as well I am not entirely comfortable with a us and them attitude, that really isn't the way you increase awareness and understanding of a very complicated hidden condition.

[MM]

Well wasnt some of the most gifted scientists, artists, philosphers and builders all had forms of aspergers in micheal angleo, Einstein and even beetoven

[zenemu]

It is hard to second guess historical figures obviously, but given some of the traits and obsessive behaviour many famous figures have shown, it certainly wouldn't be surprising if ASD's have been a big influence. I daresay the same is true for conditions like schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder, which Van Gogh almost certainly suffered from for example.

If you take a close look we are a very strange species really. Thanks to a near extinction approximately 70,000 years ago in Africa and several disastrous events before that, we have an incredibly limited genetic pool (approximately 90% less genetic diversity than average in mammals), so genetic conditions are rampant in our species really. We also have a large energy inefficient protein hungry brain which a great deal of our DNA has a direct or indirect influence on. It wouldn't be surprising then if these common conditions had has a profound affect on our developing civilization.

[MM]

I was always under the impression that we had quite a diverse gene pool just from the amount of variation between people groups.  But ultimately there is very little difference between each human being.   I wonder what happen to homo erectus and homo neaderthalus surely they were related species

[Aspergers Girl]

Like the title says i would like to know if you are an anticure or a procure
personally i see the "cure" for autism is a cover for a genocide of the autistic people by neurotypicals.
Dont get me wrong not all neurotypicals want to "cure" us i am just saying some do.

Hi there.  

I am neither. I think the cure is a personal decision and should be decided by the person themselves only. I personally would not want it, but I would not judge another for wanting it.

I don't think it should be allowed to be forced on anyone though. Children should be able to make their own decision when they become old enough to make a mature decision.

[zenemu]

I was always under the impression that we had quite a diverse gene pool just from the amount of variation between people groups.  But ultimately there is very little difference between each human being.   I wonder what happen to homo erectus and homo neaderthalus surely they were related species

Between any given human being on the planet there is slightly less than 0.2% genetic variation. As for racial differences such as skin and eye colour, build and height, that accounts for a mere 0.012% of our genetics. On average two different troupes of chimpanzee living in the same area have more genetic diversity than our whole species.

As for other species of human, well Neanderthal died out 30,000 years ago when we reached Europe, mainly I suppose because they simply couldn’t compete and partly because as we have a tendency to do, we took against them because they were different.

[Aspergers Girl]

The Neanderthals had a bigger brain than us so many probably died during childbirth. Also there has been recent evidence that they actually could interbreed with us.

[Balthus]

I'm pretty indifferent to the autism cure débâcle. Autism is too complex of a thing for us to cure now and will likely be for the next 100 hundred years. In my opinion, there will likely never be a cure. Not everything has a cure. Has there been a cure for schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's? No, because these are complex disorders which affect the brain. Pretty much any disorder which affects the brain in some way is incurable but can usually be controlled, to varying degrees, with medication.

Hypothetically, if a cure for autism was found, I think it wouldn't be a problem if autistic people themselves would choose to take the cure. Where would the harm be in that? If people's autistic symptoms were severe enough to hinder them from living pleasant lives, then I see absolutely no reason why they shouldn't have the right to take a "cure". Remember - autistic people are affected by varying degrees. Let's not forget about the severely autistic people out there who don't always live in the nicest conditions. Some classic autistics may find happiness in their lives, but I'm sure that lots don't enjoy their symptoms which affect them in a profound way.

[MM]

One of my professors said that red hair was thought to be a neanderthal train.  It seems likely considering that most if not all of people with red hair and freckles have really pale skin and it would seem like that would be a neanderthal trait considering neanderthal man lived in europe for a very long time and his/her skin would have been very pale.  Just by the way I think ginger women are usually very cute

[Silver Fox]

I think the cure is a personal decision and should be decided by the person themselves only.

How far are we in scientific terms to establishing a cure for Autism / Aspergers? Does anyone have any links to articles concerning this? I've been looking out there but I don't see anything.

Even the latest advance that I've read about: the London MRI scans which can reveal in 15 mins whether or not a person is measurable on the spectrum, do not say anything about whether a fix is anywhere near.

I think that hypothetically, parents need an input into making a decision for their child. It's not as if ASD's affects only the person themselves; it's the entire family,  extended as well, who take up the consequences. Is it really in the interests of the child to have divorced parents, one side of the family not speaking to the other, etc etc? A cure in a situation like that, where it is beyond the human resources of the couple themselves to care for the child AND give something to their marriage would surely be in the interests of the child?

[zenemu]

It appears that ASD's in general are a complex interaction between genetics and environmental issues within the womb. I would be suprices if it would be possible to cure the condition beyond the first few months of pregnancy. Basically I suppose you would be looking at the whole designer children thing, which is a whole different ethical dilema.

[MM]

you would have to rewire the brain to become a neurotypical one and considering brain surgery is along way from this I think we are far off a cure.  If all else fails we can invent a time machine go back almost too thousand years and you can get your cure from jesus at no extra cost

[Dappadee]

I imagine that drugs to control certain symptoms will come along; but there are so many different factors implicated in the development of ASD, that I don't see it being 'fixed' any time soon. Even if; in the future; we completely understand the genetic and neurological factors, how would we control the myriad of developmental ones for example.

There are many years of research to be done; we don't even have solid a diagnostic process yet! The more research that takes place, the more we will understand about ourselves and ASD and for that reason alone, I'm all for it. I'm wouldn't personally want to change anything about myself and I imagine that most other folks on the spectrum who are similar to me would feel the same. An effective treatment to help with classic autism could be a very positive thing however - a drug that helps autistic children to learn to communicate and reduces sensory overload for example.

[Balthus]

If all else fails we can invent a time machine go back almost too thousand years and you can get your cure from jesus at no extra cost