Definitions:
Aspie – Someone with high functioning autism (short for Asperger’s)
Neurotypical – Everyone without abnormalities in their brain structure
Autism is one area that I have seen the general public become exponentially more knowledgeable about over the years. That sort of increased understanding in a general population is an extraordinarily rare thing, and I really do appreciate the fact that such growth is on-going. Unfortunately, there seems to be an underlying belief that Autism/Asperger’s needs to be cured and that doing so would make the world a better place for all involved.
In this article, I’m going to be sharing why I and magnitudes of other autistics are certain that “curing” autism (or even attempting to) is a sure path to a worse world for all involved.
I understand this article is covering a very controversial subject for many people outside of the autistic community, and as such I will be making a strong effort to avoid significant bias in my writing in addition to abundant explanations of where I am getting my data from.
The Autism “Cure”
Throughout the course of time, there have been countless explanations for what causes autism. Everything from vaccines to processed meats are blamed, but the current reality of the matter is this: there is no known cause of autism. The closest we have come is that there might be a small genetic factor as there is a proven increase of autistic children born to parents of which one or both are autistic themselves. Due to this, the investigation for a direct cause of autism is ongoing and may be ongoing for many more decades. Despite the difficulty in finding a specific cause of autism, I have very little doubt that we will find the direct cause(s) eventually. The pursuit of a cause has companies such as Autism Speaks dedicating a substantial portion of their budget to find it. (check Autism Speaks’ 2017 annual report for the numbers)
Hopefully, it is now clear that the research in this area is a good ways from being completed and as such we are left without any chance at a “cure” for autism for the time being. If no one knows the cause of it, there can be no cure. Simple as that. Regrettably, however, there is one path that we risk going down if a cause for autism is found in addition to a way to screen it early on. It is possible that parents will be able to tell, before birth, if their child will be autistic or not. Unfortunately, with the mounds of stigma around autism, it is reasonably likely that some of those children will never be born as a direct result of parents not wanting an autistic child. Do with this what you will.
The result of Looking for a Cure
When an aspie (or any other autistic for that matter) hears of the search for a cure to autism it communicates one message above all: there is something wrong enough with the autistic person that it needs to be fixed as soon as possible. Now, I should be very clear: I do not think it is wise to avoid finding a cure if the only reason is to make autistics “feel better” (though that is possibly as much a need as what follows), but rather I wish to avoid pursuing a cure because succeeding in finding one would be a detriment to the world. Chiefly, a cure for autism would risk grinding scientific and artistic progress to a crawl as the minds built to master those categories of skills would be neurotypical instead of autistic. There is absolutely no proper justification for that sort of hit to our progress as a people.
On the other side of things, there is the very real fact that the vast majority of autistics suffer incredibly difficult and painful lives on a day-to-day basis due primarily to sensory and social overload. This particular aspect of Asperger’s and autism, in general, is the only thing that has led me to hold any noteworthy interest in a cure for autism. Despite this, however, I have reached a conclusion based on my own experiences and the experiences of others on the spectrum that I believe you will find quite enlightening. That conclusion is this: Sensory and social overload lead to the sorts of behaviors that make autistics stand out in such significant ways. If an autistic is never pushed to try and understand the social world or to learn how to cope with the sensory stress, it is my belief that he or she would not reach his or her maximum potential. In my experience, I’ve learned most of what I know through learning how to socialize and cope with sensory stress with a favorite method of handling both, involving isolation (not loneliness) that allows me to focus on the task set out in my mind.
So What is to be Done?
When approaching a topic as controversial and emotional as a cure for autism can be, it is best to acknowledge that no matter what I do, there is going to be a certain degree of prejudice in what I say. It is for that reason that I encourage each of you reading this to reach out to those with autism in your life and learn what their thoughts are on the topic of curing autism. I expect you will be quite surprised by just how many of us are appalled at the idea of losing possibly our most valuable asset. Our autism.
Thanks so much for reading this article! As always, if you have any questions comment them below or shoot me an email at wouldaspie@gmail.com