I get asked about my views on Neurodiversity every so often. Yes, I do believe it's wonderful that there can be different kinds of human brain wiring. The world would be a pretty boring (and unproductive) place if we didn't have different kinds of minds. However, I don't agree that we should just label Autism a "wonderful difference" and end the conversation.
We live in a world where sometimes Neurodiversity gets in the way. A child who has no way of communicating needs help. We can still value his/her differences while teaching him/her ways to communicate with others. Perhaps through speech therapy or ABA. If it isn't hurting the kid, I don't oppose treatment for those things that prevent somebody from having a good quality of life. Yes, the kid may be happy at the moment, but 20 years down the road, it would be terrible if the kid was now an adult in an institution because somebody decided "hey, he's neurodiverse, let's not change a thing". A kid who is self-injurious or hurts others presents a problem and NEEDS help for their sake and their family's sake. It's just not reasonable to "let the kid be" in a case like this.
There's a fine line between helping somebody and trying to make them somebody else, so it takes a bit of thinking on what to treat and what is just "quirky".
And surprise, there are people with Asperger's who WANT treatment. I don't want a treatment, I feel happy where I am. But it's not my place (or anybody else's) to deny a person the right to seek treatment for what they feel impairs their quality of life.
I do however want to point out, I greatly dislike snake oil salesmen and people suggesting dangerous/unproven "cures" for Autism. No, it's not okay to put anybody's life at risk to treat Autism. Please do plenty of research from valid sources before trying anything.
On that note, make sure you read this if you are trying OSR#1, it is NOT safe: http://www.latimes.com/news/health/sns-health-illegal-autism-therapy,0,747838.story
Some resources to check out treatments before using them:
Alternative Medicine (MayoClinic)
Autism's Alternative Therapies
25 signs of a Quack
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7 comments:
There seems to be some confusion here about what "Neurodiversity" actually means. It's simply a philosophy about human brain development that considers 'autism' to be a natural variation on a wide spectrum, as opposed to a disease that ought to be 'cured'. It does not - repeat, DOES NOT - say that we shouldn't address genuine issues that prevent us from achieving quality of life. Of course we should seek help for these problems. But we don't consider ourselves broken or diseased simply for being what we are.
I understand what the definition of neurodiversity is; however in this world, which is geared towards neurotypical people; it CAN be a disorder, a disability. Which some people may choose to "cure". If the world was geared towards people on the spectrum, then it would be a disorder to NOT be autistic.
There's nothing wrong with being happy the way you are though. I'm happy with myself. I do acknowledge in this world, now, Asperger's/Autism is a disorder.
I apologize for offending you or confusing you, I consider you to be a friend of sorts.
Nice take on the subject.
My son is funny, delightful and has some artistic talent, all characteristics I do not attribute to his autism so a cure would not change who he is as a person. It simply would allow him to live an independent life.
I will never understand how the mere thought of a cure evokes such strong emotion with visions of an assault on individuality.
I love what you have to say on this subject. I'm tired of people feeling that it has to be either/or. I feel that I'm firmly in the neurodiversity camp, but I also think my son needs help with communication to ease some of his frustrations (he's only 4). We're sick of the snake oil salesmen too. Early on, we tried just about everything. Now that we're less scared of the A-word (because we understand it a LOT more), we're focused on making his life as rewarding and his progress as enjoyable as possible.
We're all wonderful, in our own ways. We each have our talents and our skills, we have all achieved and will go on to do so again, and we are all human. The wires may be a little misplaced in some of our neuro-makeups but that's all it is, and there are many ways to access support. As for a cure, it doesn't exist. Not unless we decide to replace our brain with another, and personally, I love my daughter just the way she is.
Great post, well written.
CJ xx
DR WILLIAMS CURED 7 YEARS AUTISM
I am sharing this testimony for my daughter who suffered autism for 7 years. I am doing this, because I was her mother and caregiver during her dark days and am very happy to share it so that others can be helped through DR WILLIAMS HERBAL MEDICINE. It was a tough a battle for her; I was not actually the one who hard autism, but bearing the burden makes me understand what parents whose children and love with autism go through.
Lesia now 19 and was diagnosed with autism at the age of twelve, for seven years, she fought against her diagnosis. I must admit it was never easy for us as a family; we had to constantly watch her, and answer questions that we couldn’t explain. On several occasions, she asked if she will ever stop having speech delay and get well like her school mates and be the best swimmer she dreamt of becoming. She was a very happy child; and had a ‘normal’ childhood and there was no suggestion that she would later on develop autism.
She refused to accept defeat and fought autism. She religiously kept to her medications in spite of their side effects. We all wanted a cure, so that she can chase her dream and live a normal life like every other child. But the more she takes these medications, the more her school grade drop. She couldn’t concentrate and we noticed that her memory was being severely adversely affected. Each time we went back to the hospital, her medicines were changed to a different one. Seems like, each change of drug brings about change in side effects. After about 6 years on Abilify , Geodon , and other medicines, it seemed the autism started to increase in frequency. I had to make effort to reduce her medicines with plans to eventually stop it all. We found an alternative treatment in homeopathy, which was better than her English drugs. Gradually, I reduced her drugs, and her autism were no longer as frequent as it was as when she was on conventional drugs.
With our little breakthrough with homeopathy treatment, we made further search for natural cure. Fortunately we saw testimonies about herbal medicines which cure autism. We saw a lot of claims though, contacted them and didn’t get a useful reply. Lucky for us, we finally got a reply from Doctor Williams, he directed us to his blog where we saw a lot of information about his herbal medicine . Without further delay I made a purchase for her, I switched her over to it. We had great breakthrough, that in 3 weeks, her autism reduced. After 1 months as Doctor Williams promised , all autism symptoms stopped. It was like a miracle for us. since all this days now Lesia became autism free. Her story is quite lengthy, I hope it also help someone out there.for more information you can email Dr Williams on drwilliams098675@gmail.com
DR WILLIAMS CURED 7 YEARS AUTISM
I am sharing this testimony for my daughter who suffered autism for 7 years. I am doing this, because I was her mother and caregiver during her dark days and am very happy to share it so that others can be helped through DR WILLIAMS HERBAL MEDICINE. It was a tough a battle for her; I was not actually the one who hard autism, but bearing the burden makes me understand what parents whose children and love with autism go through.
Lesia now 19 and was diagnosed with autism at the age of twelve, for seven years, she fought against her diagnosis. I must admit it was never easy for us as a family; we had to constantly watch her, and answer questions that we couldn’t explain. On several occasions, she asked if she will ever stop having speech delay and get well like her school mates and be the best swimmer she dreamt of becoming. She was a very happy child; and had a ‘normal’ childhood and there was no suggestion that she would later on develop autism.
She refused to accept defeat and fought autism. She religiously kept to her medications in spite of their side effects. We all wanted a cure, so that she can chase her dream and live a normal life like every other child. But the more she takes these medications, the more her school grade drop. She couldn’t concentrate and we noticed that her memory was being severely adversely affected. Each time we went back to the hospital, her medicines were changed to a different one. Seems like, each change of drug brings about change in side effects. After about 6 years on Abilify , Geodon , and other medicines, it seemed the autism started to increase in frequency. I had to make effort to reduce her medicines with plans to eventually stop it all. We found an alternative treatment in homeopathy, which was better than her English drugs. Gradually, I reduced her drugs, and her autism were no longer as frequent as it was as when she was on conventional drugs.
With our little breakthrough with homeopathy treatment, we made further search for natural cure. Fortunately we saw testimonies about herbal medicines which cure autism. We saw a lot of claims though, contacted them and didn’t get a useful reply. Lucky for us, we finally got a reply from Doctor Williams, he directed us to his blog where we saw a lot of information about his herbal medicine . Without further delay I made a purchase for her, I switched her over to it. We had great breakthrough, that in 3 weeks, her autism reduced. After 1 months as Doctor Williams promised , all autism symptoms stopped. It was like a miracle for us. since all this days now Lesia became autism free. Her story is quite lengthy, I hope it also help someone out there.for more information you can email Dr Williams on drwilliams098675@gmail.com
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