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FeMailleTurtle — Autism is not a tragedy
Published: 2008-06-15 01:30:13 +0000 UTC; Views: 16072; Favourites: 542; Downloads: 41
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Autism is not a tragedy. IGNORANCE is the tragedy.Educate yourself...if not for you, then for your children.
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Comments: 333
VH1 has this thing called "RocK Autism". The commercial made it sound like a horrible incurable disease. I have AUtism and I was offended. Are rock stars idiots or is VH1 is using this bullsh*t to make money?
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I think a lot of the commercials these days, at least in the US (cuz that's all I know), are sensationalized. People think of autism and they think AUTISM!! - most people don't consider HFA, PDD-NOS, ADD/ADHD, Aspergers, Rett and other spectrum or similar disorders (I consider all to be on the spectrum).
I think many do consider autism to be incurable, based on what is considered a "cure." I think there are many levels of cure...and each person has to decide on his or her own what it means to them to be "cured."
My son is ADHD, ODD, SID...can he be "cured?" No...because there's nothing "wrong" with him. Yes, he needs help via medication, behavior modification, IEP in school, etc. to succeed in "normal" society. But that doesn't make him less in some way, it makes him different. Nobody is perfect, just different. Ya know?
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Exactly what I was thinking.
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Hah, I feel proud to have AS. Only one in every 15 thousand girls have it XD
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I feel proud with you, I know only of one girl with AS apart from me. And I know of at least eleven boys with it.
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I have a bestie with AS. I wondered why it was so easy to get along with her until we were on the subject of therapy (?). She told me she went to therapy when she was little. So I asked her why and she said
"Because of my Aspergers." And I was all like WOW.
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I had therapy before they discovered I had Asperger XD And they didn't even notice what was really going on with me. I suggested it myself, cause I found a lot of simmilarities between myself and my friend, a male with Asperger. And indeed, I had it.
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Wow we have the same situation! Only I haven't been diagnosed yet. Mom thinks I'm making up stories. I watched a special on autism. I can't believe they are still trying to find a CURE. It's like people don't SUPPORT neurodiversity or something.
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I had known for 2 years I probably had Asperger, before I was properly diagnosed. And yeah, a cure???? I don't think that's even possible... I mean it's like changing a persons personality. Makes me think of world domination by altering brains.... *shiver*
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I've been thinking I've had it for almost a year now. I just want to get it over with so they can tell me I have it already! And if I don't, I'm probably just a socially inept retard, but I think the opposite is true.
NEUROTYPICAL PEOPLE WANT TO BE THE DOMINANT SPEICES ON THE PLANET. AND THEY'LL DESTROY US ALL TO MAKE IT HAPPEN. DESTROY US ALL.
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XD I personally prefer world domination by seagulls though XD (never mind my private jokes 
I hope you get diagnosed well 
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I would LOVE a world dominated by birds! Birds are one of my special interests! I stood in a pet store for an hour just to wait for a cockateil to stretch out his wing for me. I finally got a photo 8D If the world gets dominated by birds, do we all receive special wings? 8D
I hope so too. I never understood why I wasn't normal. When I was a kid, I didn't understand alot of things that neurotypicals take for granted. People always thought I was so rude because I didn't know what in the world they were talking about. I've learned to understand alot of things, but there's still alot I need to learn. :C
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Well.. I'm starting to think that some people can't be understood... I mean one of my best friends at primary school didn't want to be seen with me anymore, because I wasn't wearing the right clothing :S. Ah well... I guess some people just can't be understood 
I used to have big fits because I couldn't understand people and they couldn't understand me (sometimes even worse) when I was little. I calmed down a bit when I grew older though XD
Nah.. they want to dominate the world, they'll put us into cages to look at *.*. Eeehm... let's see if I can translate what my friend thought would dominate the world: red marschickens from Jupiter. XD
I like watching birds when I have nothing to do. I could look in the garden for hours and I will be spotting birds regulary. And when I'm on my way to school, I keep track of the bird nest of rare birds somewhere on my way.
And.... wow... I talk a lot
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I only had one friend in kindergarten. She was the sweetest thing and I can't believe she ever had to move. I Used to have fits because no one understood me either. All my teachers always told my mom I was bossy and rude but it's because our classes had no organization and everything was like on big blur. I HATE SCHOOL LIGHTS. THEY STROBE LIKE A SON OF A B*TCH.
I went to charleston today to get a tour of the harbor, I saw two HUGE pelicans and I FLIPPED. 8DDDD
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when i first read the stamp all i saw was the tragedy part so i thought u wer being ignorant but then i read ur description and i was likke OOOO000000ooo ! loll my lil bro frankie has autism and im a junior autism embassador (=
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The 'hate and ignorance' people talk about is perfectly reasonable.
Autism is NOT a block keeping the 'real' person from coming out. Autism is a part of an autistic's brain chemistry. To cure autism is to kill the child and replace the child with one more pleasing to society.
To think of that as a good alternative to an autistic child is in line with Peter Singer's idea that it's perfectly ethical to have a second child after your first one so that, if something happens to the first one, you can kill the second child, hack up the body and use the organs and limbs as spare parts.
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I agree with you, I have autism and I'm proud of it. I have to face with allot of people treating me like if I wasn't a human being and saying I'm a troubled child cause sometimes they don't understand what I try to say to them. Monday one regular ed student that I know in my dance class and recently found out I was autistic hit my back pack twice like a punching bag and I was wearing it while I was heading to my next class. Now my back is in severe pain and my walking isn't as good as it was last week. My parents are well concern about my well being and hate the fact that this girl is being ignorant and thinks she can do that to me. I already reported this to the assistant principal and waiting for a response. I was lucky to have friends who are regular and special needed who understand me, even my english teacher understands me. But still I face others in school that don't and I try my best to cope. But to cure Autism is impossible cause so such cure is gonna be found, all they could do is help them interact like they did with me when I was in Elementary School. I had teachers teach me how to socialize and get used to my surroundings. It's possibe for a Austistic person to learn to interact with others and live a normal life without a cure. That's what they don't understand and that's what makes me feel sad.
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It makes me sad that high function autistics are portraying themselves as some of the MOST intolerant and ignorant people out there. The hate and venom I see far surpasses anything I've seen from the most venomous racist or sexist.
They have a disorder, which I assume is what is preventing many of them from having any empathy at all for lower functioning people with autism.
I am heartbroken for my son. I would cure him of his autism today, if there were such a thing.
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I am more near the high functioning end but I don't think that way. However, I do suck at showing empathy to anyone often. I am terrible at expressing my feelings.
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HEY! i'm high functioning and i don't think that way
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Okay. Will you please only give him a cure to the extent that he can tell you how much of a cure he wants? Sorry. I stand by the Autistic's right to choose.
Yeah, I hate. I hate it when children and other looked down-upon people are devalued. Especially when their lives and their freedom of choice is devalued, pretty much.
That said, I'm mostly not pointing my metaphorical word-sword at you; It's pointed straight at someone else, who has obviously and horribly devalued her child's life.
REALLY!!! You've known a person who's received or could received the ASD diagnosis, you've known ONE person. Don't lump me in with anybody, unless I give you explicit permission to!
Thank you!
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Where are you seeing this intolerance and ignorance?
I am heartbroken for my son as well...he is not autistic, but I consider him on the spectrum. Why am I heartbroken for him? Because people can't see him for the amazing child that he is. They see instead the parts of him that make it difficult for him to relate to, and act as, so-called "normal" kids. Does he make me angry? Yes. Does he try me daily? Absolutely. Is he one of the most amazing children I have met? Without doubt....and it is because of AND in spite of his disorder that he amazes me. Because he is himself...
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I'm seeing it in every post that demands we NOT look for a cure. The logic is "I am fine" or "my child is fine" therefore no cure is needed or wanted by autistic people or their parents.
There is absolutely no consideration for those of us who have children on the spectrum who sit in a corner all day. Isolated, self-harming children who would benefit greatly from a so-called "cure". Many people on the spectrum go right back to that old 1960's mentality that we, as parents, haven't done enough or jumped through enough hoops- and that's the reason our 16 year old daughter is still "that way".
The ignorance and intolerance is everywhere, and I am saddened that it seems to come (very often) from people on the spectrum.
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There is no 'Cure' for autism, there is ways to help someone with it but no one can be cured of Autism by a Doctor or the sort. It isnt a disease or Illness of any kind.
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I understand what you're saying, about the more high-functioning people on the spectrum who adamantly (and often belligerently) oppose the idea of a cure, and I agree that they sometimes come off as antagonistic. As someone with Asperger's, I am myself skeptical of the notion of a "cure"-- but it is not my intention to antagonize low-functioning autistics or their loved ones either. I wish to-- respectfully-- shed a little light on my perspective.
I cannot say I blame you for wanting a cure. I believe your intentions are the noblest, and I will readily acknowledge that some autistics, particularly on the lower end of the spectrum, would benefit from such a cure. However-- the reason I am opposed to a cure, or at least wary of it, is because I believe that, were such a cure to really exist, it would be used-- in some cases against the will of the autistic person in question-- as a eugenic measure, to try to eliminate the spectrum altogether. It is my fear that, should a cure be developed, neurotypicals with little understanding of the complex nature of autism would simply force it on the whole community, including those of us who take pride in being ASD.
My biggest issue is exactly the issue addressed with this stamp: the debate about autism isn't really an open dialogue so much as it is a one-sided argument dominated by the widespread preconcieved notion that "autism = bad". It is a gross over-simplification, because there are some positive aspects of autism, and of having different thought patterns, that go largely ignored. Some of us have creative or computational talents from which the world could really benefit. What you are seeing, when you speak of intolerance from anti-cure autistics, is self-preservation instinct, and a desire to be accepted for being different rather than to be forced to conform to society's idea of a norm. Unfortunately, sometimes these people can come off as intolerant or rude-- but it's usually because they are also afraid of being marginalized.
I admit, this is a very complex issue. Some autistics would be better off if a cure were developed, but a whole other section of the community feels it would be used forcibly against them. In my opinion, the only option that will satisfy everyone within the community is for neurotypicals to be made more aware of the whole picture, so that, should a cure ever really arise, it would not be forced indiscriminately on all of us, but rather, used on an individual basis only for people who really want or need it. However, until the world at large is educated and is truly willing to accept us and listen to us, I still respectfully believe, despite how much good it would do low-functioning autistics, that a cure would do high-functioning autistics and Aspies quite a bit of harm.
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Thank you so much for this very well thought out insight. My son is three and a half, and we've grown with him over the past two years.
He's now receiving some ABA and is in preschool. he is doing so well, I am more than content at this point to let him just be who he is. I see that he has some difficulties, but who doesn't? He's beautiful and funny and has a very unique and fresh perspective on the world. I am fully confident that he will grow into someone who is perfectly capable of making his own decisions- even if our communication is through typing or sign or some other method than speech.
When I take him to therapy though, I still see the huddled and sad parents of children who can only rock themselves or moan and I can't ever bring myself to begrudge them the desire to have their children in a better place. To want to know whether they are in pain, what they need.
it's always my hope that people will be allowed an individual choice with regard to something like autism cure and treatment, and all we can really do is hope for the best- and hope that ethics will dictate that a "cure" should be something carefully employed to those who actually want it.
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I certainly cannot begrudge anyone wanting a cure for a disorder...and from my research about spectrum disorders, there are many DAN! doctors out there who are doing their damndest to find one, or at least do what they can - chelation, vitamins, diet, etc - to help children (and adults) who need it. There are, of course, many people who think these methods are complete and utter bullshit...I don't share that opinion. I've talked with too many people with children on the spectrum who have kids who have, at the very least, been helped by these methods.
I'm not completely sure what you mean about "Many people on the spectrum go right back to that old 1960's mentality that we, as parents, haven't done enough or jumped through enough hoops- and that's the reason our 16 year old daughter is still "that way"." I would expect that a parent do everything in his/her power to find ways to help their child - I'm not judging, because what is in one person's power is not necessarily in anothers - and to keep looking for ways to help. I'm just not understanding, I guess, what you are saying or getting at.
What I'm saying is that I love my kid for who he is, not who society wants him to be.
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If you're not opposed to a cure altogether, then my argument is not with you.
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No-one knows how to cure Autism, How it is caused, or how it was "created". I hate it how I write backwards and talk in a wrong order... D:
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That is so true, I mean without people that have aspergers, autism and the like , the world would only think inside the box.
So just to say it, I'm proud of being aspergers.
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What the above said. Including the AS bit. And I yoink this stamp. *YOINK!*
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Is yoinking a good thing? LOL
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I was waiting for someone else to realize this. We are declared suffering from our autism because we can't communicate like others can. But at the same time, many of those same people choose to ignore us instead of helping us. And now they want to get rid of us. What's frightens me more is that a growing number of people are not aware of this issue and lean towards the cure movement.
I have Asperger's Syndrome, and I find nothing wrong with myself.
We are in a real predicament here. Will the world ever realize what we really suffer from?
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autism is fucking disgusting and you need to be shot on sight
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You're right. But everyone suffers, so why don't the scientist just call "life" a disease and leave everyone alone. I digress. People with Asperger's and Autism usually tend to be geniuses that can influence and help society in ways normal people ever thought possible, because we think differently, like Einstein. I think everyone has prejudices against them due to ignorance, but in the future I think the world will really realize what's going on. We just have to be confident within and love ourselves for who we are and be understanding and not ignorant like the people who just want to put a label on something and then forget about it because they're rushing around with too much in their lives, trying to do nothing, but please everyone at the same time. Worrying doesn't help anyway. 
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