What do you think about autism "cures"?
**Note: This is a controversial subject, and while we want our answers available to curious parents, we also don't want anybody to feel uncomfortable email us because they disagree with the opinions of individual panelists. So when you read this, please keep in mind that it is merely the opinion of one panelist, not any sort of official AskAnAspie stand on the issue.**
Q:Hi everyone! So, here are some questions, in no particular order, that I have long thought about. Hope I don't overwhelm you. What are your opinions about some of the new methods for "curing" autism? Do you want to be cured? What do you think about the sudden rise in the number of cases of autism? Is it better diagnosis, broader definition of Autism Spectrum Disorder or truly more cases?
My husband wrote a children's book about our son and I am writing the sequel, telling about our family's journey with autism. Do those kinds of books bother you or are you okay with that?
Thank you again and hope to hear from you.
Marie
A:Hi Marie,
Hmm... Let's see if I can answer these one at a time...
>What are your opinions about
>some of the new methods for "curing" autism?
Well, to start with I think those quotation marks are 100% appropriate. There is no cure for autism. I think the best any of these methods do is teach autistics how to pretend that they're neurotypical. Sometimes this can be helpful, such as developing basic communication systems for people who are non-verbal, and allowing those of us who are high functioning to "pass" when we need to. But I think that too many of the parents and professionals who participate in this training don't see it as a way of providing certain acting skills, but as a "cure" that makes the person who has learned to pretend no longer autistic. As far as individual treatments go, I think just about anything using Aversives is a bad idea, and I find the gluten/dairy free diet personally amusing. I realize that a lot of autistics have gastrointestinal problems and that for many of them avoiding gluten and dairy might be a good idea, I just think it's a funny cure for autism, because I've been eating nothing but Frosted Flakes with milk for the last month and a half and I don't think it's made me any more autistic than when I ate bacon for a month.
>Do you want to be cured?
Heck no. If somebody tried to cure me I'd defend myself with a tire-iron. I love the way my mind works and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.
>What
> do you think about the sudden rise in the number of cases of autism? Is it
> better diagnosis, broader definition of Autism Spectrum Disorder or truly
> more cases?
I think it's probably 90% better diagnosis and broader definition and 10% actual rise. I'm 20 years old, and was diagnosed last year. But I still don't get counted in the statistics for autistics born in 1984, so my diagnosis is contributing to the "rise". I think blaming vaccines is, frankly, stupid and irresponsible. Thimerisol has been almost completely out of vaccines for years, and autism rates don't seem to be going down. In the meantime, the rates of children developing serious complications from diseases like measles that could have been prevented is skyrocketing.
> My husband wrote a children's book about our son and I am writing the
> sequel, telling about our family's journey with autism. Do those kinds of
> books bother you or are you okay with that?
It depends on the book. If it's about how Baby X was a happy, healthy baby until one day the demon of autism came and plunged Baby X and his family into a pit of dispair in which they will remain until someone finds a cure for autism, then yes it bothers me. If it's about the advantages as well as the disadvantages of autism, and presents autistic charecters as real 3D people, then I say yay. We need more books like that.
Feel free to email us any time, and please spread the word about our service.
Wiley
