re: Autism Speaks?, etc.
[…] dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism […]
If they are deeply concerned with the prevention, treatment and cure for autism, they are inherently anti-autism.
If one wants to prevent/fix/cure/eradicate Something, in this case autism, they are anti-Something, in this case anti-autism.
The same goes for people who wish to ‘cure’ deafness. They are anti-deaf & pro-hearing.
People who wish to fix homosexuality are anti-homosexuality.
Sure, people want to “cure” deafness. Are those people anti-deafness? Sure. But does that make them anti-people-who-are-deaf? Obviously not. Just ask all the deaf people who cry with joy after being able to hear for the first time.
You may be “high functioning” enough to view Autism as nothing more than a part of your personality, like your sense of humor, or your taste in music. You’re lucky to be able to have that view. My son isn’t. Other people, most certainly parents, are often faced with the fact that Autism is something that is causing our child’s life (not to mention our own) to be far more difficult than we would like it to be. Any decent parent wants the best for their children.
You can’t compare people working to “treat” or even one day “cure” Autism as an enemy looking to eradicate you. Should I not send my son to speech therapy because I am forcing him to act more “neurotypical”? If that’s your stance, well I can just agree to disagree. I will do every thing I can to help my child communicate and give him as many tools as possible to navigate the world with.
Keep in mind that all the bullying, and separatist behavior that parts of this community partake in is an option that people like my son don’t have available to them. You seem to really enjoy using your ability to communicate your thoughts, and I bet you’d feel pretty frustrated if it was taken away form you. I bet you would want it back, even if you had to go to some treatment performed by those pesky neurotypicals to get it.
(Source: babyshibe)
