Can Autism be cured??

As I am not a Catholic and have zero intention of converting to Catholicism, I don't have an issue with many of the things the Catholic Church seems to frown upon.

You have your beliefs. I have mine. Other members have theirs.

No offence to you (or anyone else), but when I feel other people are trying to project their religious beliefs onto me, I see it as a waste of their time and mine, and it just winds me up. It is not that I am intolerant of anyone's religion because I feel they ALL offer something positive.

Not criticising, just genuinely interested in other people’s belief systems when it comes to religion…

does this mean that you wouldn’t take any medicines for colds/flus, no antibiotics, no treatment for cancer, no medical intervention at all? Where do you draw the line on what you believe your god would accept as not altering his design? 

On balance, we have a lot of common ground with the LGBT community who as Lady Gaga sings, we are “born this way” and there is evidence for the existence of a “gay gene” 

Dawn said:

"Cure" anyone of their given brain type and humanity at large ultimately loses out

Very well said, not just this bit, but all of your post. Thanks for writing this, it was very inspiring!

God! I hope it can NEVER be cured!  It's bad enough that society oft tries to pressurise us into masking and behaving like NTs, without them trying to force a cure on me.  What if that had been done to me as a kid when I'd no say in the matter?

Anyway, all brain types have their strengths and weaknesses, I wouldn't want the gifts of my autism "cured out of me", even if there are down sides.  Anyway, most of those down sides are only downsides because society does not accept difference, not because I was born in any way defective.

Even my sensory differences that cause mayhem in trying to access healthcare wouldn't be as big a deal as they are, if they had been known about by medics treating me as a kid and better respected in those contexts now.

Should we try "curing" non-autistic people of their "deficiency" in being non-autistic?  After all, not very logical are they?  Waste a lot of time with "small talk" and following fashion, and some of them invest too much importance in social status and hierarchy and other assorted silly prejudices, and poor things not very good at sustaining intense interest in a single hobby, are they?   

OK, I'm taking this to silly lengths now and I don't mean to be mean to non-autistic people, but you gather the point, I hope.  Both autistic and non-autistic people were created to knock about the human genome for a reason, - both have something to contribute.  "Cure" anyone of their given brain type and humanity at large ultimately loses out.

I think that the world would be a better place if it contained more people with a tendency to be honest, loyal, kind, say what they mean, do not want to manipulate or dominate others and who seldom have hidden agendas.

I don't think there's much "ringing" going on from any pulpits now.

Any sort of Christianity is a bit niche in our current society. It is currently being predicted that Islam will fill the void for most "spiritual" people in the not to near future. 

It's hard to refrain from upvoting everything you write, to be honest, and you are WAY better at what I try to do, but I will refrain from total sycophancy...

and surgery is expensive plus brain surgery often carries too much risk to even allow when its needed... so that will never happen.

although the private sector pushing into the idea of brain chips could change that..... with brain chips they could perhaps do anything, but we would no longer be human if we accept brain chips... we would become robots and the big business and government would control and read and edit our every though and idea.... and probably flood our brains with adverts too!

I wouldn't cure my autism. It makes me who I am - I'm not looking for a cure, I'm looking for more support, and so far it appears to be non existent.

If the world spent less time trying to cure us we might get a little more support which would make a huge difference for so many people like us.

people who arelike this wouldnt want to be changed or cured though even if you could magic it away.... because it is experience, experience that shapes who you are. your personality and being is a culmination of your lifes experiences and growth. to want to change that is to cast aside your life and your lessons, to throw away the results of your hardships.

no... its a personality type (i said type because i know alot of people dont like its classification as disorder)

you cannot change or cure a personality.

you can prevent the traits and development though and prevent it.... by changing how you raise a kid in their development... any kid can become autistic if you smother them and hold them back from social development by keeping them away from other kids and locking them up. thats pretty much how you cause autism personality, by smothering and locking your kid up a bit too much. which makes it so they cant socially develope, which then theres a window for that and once you miss it you cannot actually socially develope later in life and you will always have autistic traits... or so was explained by certain phycologists to some degree, i kinda agree with it. and autism is called a social developmental issue and any help is focused on children because that is the only time you can prevent it by ensuring the social developmental time for the brains growth isnt impeded. 

so no, if the damage is done its too late. but it can be prevented in kids by ensuring they get the correct social development in their social development growth window.

Wisdom and grace are catalysts for embracing the self and others. And your sentiment is reverent, but isn't the same being said of the Human Condition ringing from every pulpit? But I'd suggest for those who want to join, church communities have been know for rejecting the Autistic and ADHD. While one is accepted by a Divinity, just as "a body without soul is dead, a soul without a body is a ghost". So, too, the individual without a community. 

I do know a few theologians trying to change how Autism is perceived in the church at large. I don't for a second agree it's a condition, there is one condition, being human, and we're just another design of that human. :) 

As a Catholic myself, the idea of a “cure” for autism does not sit right with me either, as the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church has always been that “all human life begins from the moment of conception” and as I get older, I am much clearer on the concept of being pro-life compared to my teens in the 1980’s when we had the abortion debates in Ireland which I never really understood - many recent scientific and technological “advances” that are out there, in some cases being misused by mankind for evil purposes and that seek to usurp or replace the role of God in the story of human life and creation are things that I can never agree with, such as test-tube babies, egg/sperm banks, artificial insemination, artificial wombs, artificial eggs/sperm, DNA editing prior to conception, are all things that I cannot agree with, as mankind does not have any right to alter God’s designs and our autism comes from the Hand of God, if we are to be “cured” of our autism, only He by His Divine Hand can do this 

I haven't read the article, but my thoughts on the topic of an Autism cure...

If it was possible to eradicate what I perceive to be my negative ASD traits, whilst ensuring my positive traits remained, then that is something I would be in favour of. After all, I'm over the age of 16 and legally old enough to make my own decisions about "medical" matters.

However, if when I had been pregnant with my son, I had been told, "Your son will be autistic", would I have embraced the prospect of a "cure" if it had been offered? No!

Why? Because I would not have known when I was pregnant how ASD would affect my son. Therefore, why cure something that might not cause him severe difficulties in his life? Also, the thought of me "playing God" with his life wouldn't have sat comfortably with me.

We need to stop looking for a cure for Autism and simply accept the Divine & Holy Will of God as He in His Infinite Wisdom has given this condition to us - we need to bend down deeply into the priceless waters of prayer to ask God to help us to bear our Cross of our condition and join our own sufferings to that of Christ on the Cross as for many of us, our condition is a trial sent from God 

...I have to admit, you do have a great point. 

If autism could be cured, sign me up! But it’s too late for me, so I’m happy I can medicate in a similar vain to I sperg but now legally. It’s the only thing that has helped me calm down and limit my meltdowns. It helps me to accept who I am and be cool with it, to a certain extent. For many years I’ve struggled with not being able to form friendships, and even after thinking I’d found someone who I got on with, always ending up being hurt or driving them away. I’ve been able to pretend to fit in for a limited time before having to practically run away from that environment because I couldn’t cope with it anymore. And/or being so burnt out by engaging in ‘normal’ every day activities that I end up deliberately pushing it away. And to add to that, even at my age I still don’t understand how to act to form relationships. I’ve been in very dark places in the past due to this, as well as struggling my entire life with working full time and being able to mentally and physically cope with that. That in turn means I have money struggles because I’ve never been quite able to make something of myself. Even still I pretend to any acquaintances that I am a fully working, everything is grand type of person. If I could have had a cure all those years ago I would have definitely tried it. 

You make a lot of good points. It is so true that people often try to ‘fix things’ or ‘normalise’ rather than accept someone the way they are and accommodate their differences. 

I don’t think autism is curable or that we should try to cure it. There are differences in brain development, including with respect to developmental timing. There is likely to be a critical period during which any intervention could impact relevant aspects of brain development. 
There are so many papers on autism and brain development being published recently- it does irritate me- I understand that from a purely basic biology perspective it is interesting to study differences in brain development related to autism (eg how does an autism risk gene affect brain development) but what really gets to me is when they then mention treatment etc. This kind of research will not improves the lives of autistic people. It’s interesting from a basic biology perspective but I am concerned that is not the only reason it is being conducted. It also contributes to misconceptions and negative portrayal of autism- as it is being referred to as a ‘disorder’ and any differences in brain development in autism as ‘defects’. Sorry for the rant. This is something that is on my mind a lot recently- especially as my coworkers keep presenting papers on autism in journal club ….

It's a thought provoking question. I noticed my name up there LOL. So, here's some thoughts!!!

My conclusion is we're all born with a set of qualities and circumstances. Heal the trauma first. Emerge from survival mode. I think this is what needs to be cured for most of us who weren't raised in supportive, middle class environments. 

And then hopefully, to whatever degree, learn new, healthy ways to become the 'best self'. Help instead of hurt. Appreciate manners, assert and afford boundaries, learn to properly invest and grow a friendship. Chose a new family if we wish, focus intensities on to things, ideas (rather than people) and allow for the difficulties of others. There's nothing wrong with being kind, valuing ethics and aesthetics and calling out cruelty. Personally, it's just taken me a LOT longer to understand these things and there needs to be specific education plans for Autistics and other divergent thinkers as we mature slower. My mother should've never expected me to just change costume and suddenly appear adult, the day I turned 18.

The bigger problem I run up against is a Mad society, completely Desensitised to stuff that is Really Unhealthy. 

___

Historically humans have always been looking for a cure.

In the history of psychoanalysis, there is the continual problem of Neurosis. And according to Freud, "we're all a little Neurotic" and "Sick... sick of ourselves" And so, "psychoanalysis, the discourse of bad conscience and guilt, always rises up and finds its nourishment—what is called being cured."