Can Autism be cured??

I f*cking love this. Sorry for the swearing, I am a bit mad right now. But also for some people it just isn't but I love this optimism. F*ck Yeah.

Can't "fix" something that's better.

Yellow tree 118 said:

I have also read on conspiracy news sites

I’m generally a reasonably tolerant person but I would happily support life jail sentences for the people behind conspiracy sites.

They do incalculable damage.

I have also read on conspiracy news sites that autism is caused by the live measles virus in the MMR vaccine. This live measles virus supposedly gets stuck the intestinal wall of individuals with a weaker immune system causing inflammation of the Ileum (entrance to small intestine). The small intestine is where the vitamins and nutrients nessacary for the production of neurotransmitters are extracted from food being ingested. This inflammation in the small intestine causes the food to be malabsorbed which then causes the imbalance of neurotransmitters which causes autistic symptoms.

I can’t deny that it is all interesting stuff and a pretty impressive theory. However to be quite frank with you I just don’t know what to believe anymore. I trusted the government throughout the lockdown and got all the jags and then it turned out they were partying in Downing Street whilst they were telling us all to stay isolated in our homes. I will go on the side of vaccines don’t cause autism though until it is definitively proved that they do. 

I just want (always have) to just get along and not be a social misfit.

It seems a more reasonable and in terms of overall energy and disruption more "economic" proposition to change the way I am, rather than to change the way everyone else is. 

Apparenlty the issue with me always has been that I am insufficienlty obedient (particularly towards "the latest thing" at least until  I have tested and evaluated it in my own time) and I'm definitely "difficult to control" indeed one complaint I have about me is how difficult I find me to control at times. 

(I'm my own boss these days in a way that many can only dream of being, and I have a plan, but getting me to stay on track and implement it is nigh on impossible! Even before we factor in external events which also result from my flavour of Autism, which make things difficult).

AND another thing: I've been accused many times as a child of "being mad", (I bet I am not alone in this experience) And I (long ago) looked into what being "Mad" AKA "insane" really is, and what to look for in myself.

So I finally get told one day in my late fifties "you might have asperger's" and the test I subsequently  take says "Oh F*** Yes you have! Mr Sperg"

Naturally enough (not knowing of this place I head off to "reddit" to see what the chattering classes have to say about Asperger Syndrome, A.K.A. Adult Autism...

They report literally what appears to be the whole DSM book of symptoms and issues. 

I think "Jesus! I don't to to have this", and Jesus, having spent 30 years trying to steer us right only to get nailed up for it, remains silent... I can imagine him wearing a mysterious half smile though.

*snips a load of talking about God* in the edit...

pining over something that can't ever exist.

Is one way of looking at things, sure.

BUT we live in the 21st century where you can change your entire gender! 

SURELY curing autism is a far smaller and less involved undertaking?

How can a cure "never exist" when we can change our very sex?

Is this like a "space travel can never exist" sort of proposition?

Well the group that seemingly most disagrees with me the most it seems does support the very first post I made when I came here, calling for us to raise an Autistic army, subdue those uppity normies and seize power!

I Sperg said:

How about in one's child?

If one had a chance of choosing a "cure" for their child and letting them avoid a lifetime of miscommunication and bullying and argument over every stupid little thing, should one refuse to do that? 

If you look at the mixed responses here I think that's where the answer lies.

100% agree. My first reaction on learning that I was autistic was to feel grief for the life I might have had if I’d been given appropriate help and guidance as a child.

How about in one's child?

If one had a chance of choosing a "cure" for their child and letting them avoid a lifetime of miscommunication and bullying and argument over every stupid little thing, should one refuse to do that? 

But yeah, I'm all for choice.

I'm glad that society and my circumstances gave me a choice (barely) not to take the vaccine.

I'm not so sure they will next time... 

No, but an early diagnosis would help to approach life in a more manageable way. Going through life not knowing is a living hell. Raising awareness and educating the medical professionals has to be the priority

Also, we need to bear in mind that there are autistic people who are much more negatively affected by their autism than others so there being a 'cure' available might lead them to living a much more fulfilling life

I agree Debbie and felt aware of this in my response above. 

Also, if we go about curing people, we could lose some brilliant minds and thinkers. Also it could be personal choice but I wonder if all people have the agency to decide. Either way for me it is a pointless discussion so here endeth my piece.

I would paraphrase this question myself to:

'If autism could be cured, would you want it to be 1. for yourself or 2. in general'.

I think that this question is the one most people are answering anyway.

If I could live my life again, and knowingly choose to not be autistic, I'd say 'yes please'.

I'm sorry if this upsets others, but it's a choice I'd make for some similar reasons to your own.

However, I'd not change myself now at this late stage in life.

Also, we need to bear in mind that there are autistic people who are much more negatively affected by their autism than others so there being a 'cure' available might lead them to living a much more fulfilling life.

With regard to giving others the choice, that's fine as long as it remained an educated adult choice.

Who defines what autism is, and which people need treatment? Autism is a spectrum disorder, with many types, (and probably many causes), ranging from very mild to extremely severe, and embedded in a person's genetics. What next, curing red hair and freckles?

Most of the time the issue isn’t the autism itself. It’s how poorly society treats autistic people. There’s nothing wrong with you for having it, it just means you work a bit differently than other people. But instead of accommodating to those differences they make the people that have them forced to shove it down, and it’s hard.

Would the hypothetical cure erase the good bits as well as the bad bits? I don't think I'd trade anything in. Sometimes stuff is harder than for allistic people, but they have their own problems too. I wouldn't want to change how I see the world because it'd be boring A.F. 

I don't think so. The brain is physically different. So any cure would have to be in childhood or genetic which is starting feel like eugenics, if you know your child is going to be autistic how many adults would cure themselves of this problem. I don't like that idea at all. I feel like the search for a cure and the search for a cause or wasting money that is better spent on actually changing society so that neurodivergent people are more accepted and awareness is raised. I feel like looking for a cure is wasted effort it is better spent on accepting yourself for who you are and trying to change your life around that if you can.

Edit: Also you should still trust doctors, that doesn't mean trusting them fully and looking for second opinions and doing your own research and then talking to them about it is still a good idea. They are human, they make mistakes but most of them got into the profession to do some good. You should at least trust doctors more about health then other people you come across. Trust isn't black and white, either you trust completely or not at all, there can be shades to it.

I Sperg said:

There are so many, many, things I'd like to be able to do sucessfully and with grace, without having to stop and roll a joint first...

I think this is dangerous territory where you're pining over something that can't ever exist.

Autism isn't curable. Your brain has developed in an entirely different way to neurotypical people. I don't see the point in wasting time on these hypotheticals and getting down about perceived missed opportunities. It's not like it's a degenerative disease as with ALS patients, for one example.

There are serious limitations, yes, but I prefer to think on the positive side and do what I can with what I've got. The benefit is we live in a more enlightened era than everything before circa 1940 and can get at least some support and understanding for it.

I recommend a book in my bio that I used successfully in my twenties to solve exactly the problem you describe. 

However when you form relationships, then comes the greater task of MANAGING AND SUSTAINING those relationships! (And also learning to cope with the heartbreak when some of them fail as seems to happen to the vast majority of people at some point whether ND or NT...)

I'm literally offering you a solution to your given problem whilst knowing that anyone who takes it will then face a whole new and greater set of problems.. ;c}

An alternative and partial solution is of course to find and care for an animal companion. 

Autism is a "way of being" that confers certain differences on the user that make him or her less able to function in this greater society in which we find ourselves.

I can clearly see where my own Autism has seriously derailed my plans or ambitions on multiple occasions and also caused me or other great pain and misery.

I can understand why a psychotic person would refuse to be medicated, preferring to keep their malfunctioning identity rather than be a different, quieter, but artifical drug induced person, and can transfer this knowledge to considering whether I'd want to be treated for my autism.  

IN my case as soon as I discovered a drug when I was 18 that magically made me more acceptable to others, and stopped me getting into dangerous physical altercations it was a complete no brainer.

4 decades later which included multiple voluntary periods of withdrawal & witholding of the drug. most being short, but due to the half life of the drug in my body some have had to be many months long, I am certain that whatever is wrong with me IS treatable by regular use of a drug, and since that appears to be a thing called "Autism", then hell yes, I want a cure!!

There are so many, many, things I'd like to be able to do sucessfully and with grace, without having to stop and roll a joint first...

That's one reason why some of us might seek a cure. (although life as a pot head isn't so bad, TBH) 

If they could fix my difficulties with forming relationships then I’d jump at the chance. Loneliness is over rated.