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Would you use a cure for autism?

Would you use a cure for autism?  

194 members have voted

  1. 1. Would you use a cure for autism?

    • Yes, for my child
      84
    • No, for my child
      56
    • Yes, for myself
      17
    • No, for myself
      37


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If i could cure the severe anxiety/depression and mental health problems associated with my Aspergers then i would.

 

i don't wish for my aspergers itself to be cured as to me that would be cheating, i wouldn't be overcoming my "inappropriate"

behaviours i would just get a quick fix. It depends on what the term cure means.

 

Im chelating and using dietary intervention to get rid of the negative aspects of my aspergers only.

 

Alexis

 

 

A question: What do you consider to be the positive aspects of AS - and how do you know those are AS traits and not your NT personality?

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A question: What do you consider to be the positive aspects of AS - and how do you know those are AS traits and not your NT personality?

 

A question back.......how can an Asperger have an NT personality? ive got an asperger/dyslexic personality but not an NT one.

 

1, recognising songs within a few seconds of hearing the intro before they started singing, my record is 3 sec for a keane song (brother tested me).

 

2, being able to tell you the 1st line of a song before you hear it (as it starts)

 

3, being able to explain autistic needs to newly diagnosed autistics and their parents

 

4, being able to stitch items quickly using embroidery despite not being able to read the instructions and getting the symbols on the charts muddled up

 

5, being able to tell folk about star trek and name most episodes from a description without looking them up

 

6, being able to relate easily to children as i can understand their confusion

 

7, you know where you stand with me, if im asked a question i can answer i wont dress it up in pretty flowers

 

HTH

 

Alexis

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A question back.......how can an Asperger have an NT personality? ive got an asperger/dyslexic personality but not an NT one.

 

1, recognising songs within a few seconds of hearing the intro before they started singing, my record is 3 sec for a keane song (brother tested me).

 

2, being able to tell you the 1st line of a song before you hear it (as it starts)

 

3, being able to explain autistic needs to newly diagnosed autistics and their parents

 

4, being able to stitch items quickly using embroidery despite not being able to read the instructions and getting the symbols on the charts muddled up

 

5, being able to tell folk about star trek and name most episodes from a description without looking them up

 

6, being able to relate easily to children as i can understand their confusion

 

7, you know where you stand with me, if im asked a question i can answer i wont dress it up in pretty flowers

 

HTH

 

Alexis

 

 

Sorry - by "NT personality" I meant the personality you would have if you took the magic pill that "cured" the AS. Or maybe the personality you would have had if you had been born NT. Obviously the two would be slightly different as your life experiences have an affect on personality.

 

Thanks for explaining. I agree some of those are due to the AS - certainly telling it how it is, although I would think that can be both a good and bad aspect of AS:) But some, such as the memory may be your unique mind regardless of the AS. the magic pill would not necessarily take that away. Part of the problem with this question is that it is impossible to know which parts of someone's behaviour/personality/mental health is ASD related :rolleyes:

 

When I look at my kids, the youngest is almost exactly the same as the oldest in personality and inteligence, but without all the anxiety issues, social problems and obsessions. If the ASD was cured, I do not think he would lose anything "positive" and would gain all the things he so desperately wants - friends, a social life, less anxiety, more happiness.......

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This cure for autism is only a small component in the concept of creating genetically perfect humans by eradicating genes which produce undesirable outcomes. At one end of the scale are serious medical conditions including Huntingdon's Chorea or an increased likelihood of heart attacks. At the opposite end of the scale are cosmetic issues such as big ears or ginger hair.

 

If the technology exists to produce genetically perfect humans on a commercial scale then should it be used and natural reproduction discontinued? Opponents will say that it's playing Frankenstein or playing God. Proponents will say that if it creates happy successful people whilst eliminating many of the world's problems and reducing taxes then it has to be the lesser of the evils.

 

I'm convinced that genetic defects contribute to many of the world's problems including crime, poverty, obnoxious politics, and wars.

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A question: What do you consider to be the positive aspects of AS - and how do you know those are AS traits and not your NT personality?

 

The thing is, there isn't an 'NT' person hiding inside each autistic person.

 

We are who we are, and our autism is no more separate than our gender IMO.

 

Bid :)

 

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This cure for autism is only a small component in the concept of creating genetically perfect humans by eradicating genes which produce undesirable outcomes. At one end of the scale are serious medical conditions including Huntingdon's Chorea or an increased likelihood of heart attacks. At the opposite end of the scale are cosmetic issues such as big ears or ginger hair.

 

If the technology exists to produce genetically perfect humans on a commercial scale then should it be used and natural reproduction discontinued? Opponents will say that it's playing Frankenstein or playing God. Proponents will say that if it creates happy successful people whilst eliminating many of the world's problems and reducing taxes then it has to be the lesser of the evils.

 

I'm convinced that genetic defects contribute to many of the world's problems including crime, poverty, obnoxious politics, and wars.

 

 

There are genetic conditions that put people in endless pain and misery, we have to ensure those gentics issues are a priority, and not just 'because some people are different'. There are no perfect humans, what would be the criteria ?

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The thing is, there isn't an 'NT' person hiding inside each autistic person.

 

We are who we are, and our autism is no more separate than our gender IMO.

 

Bid :)

 

The NT person inside you is the one you would be if you took the cure:) Both are totally ficticious concepts......

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I wouldnt change him, but I would change the world for him.

xxx

 

The best answer on the whole thread.

 

It's the rest of the world that needs to challenge its own preconceptions and approach. It could well be for the majority of us with an ASD that we'd be blissfully happy in a more accepting and aware world. We see our ASD's as part of an identity that just needs to be recognised. If that's the case, why make it worse by proposing more intolerance and seeking to 'get rid of the problem'? Why assume that we're a problem that needs to be cured? Why make sweeping assumptions that we're a drag factor to the health and happiness of a neurotypical society?

That's simply a part of the intolerance that is actually the real 'problem' itself.

 

This is something that can only ever be judged on an individual basis and should never take an institutionalised approach. We'd be generalising all of us who are happy as we are into something that needs to be corrected. Personally I'd sooner see the efforts going into developing a more supportive and accepting society.

 

There are some that call the alternative 'backdoor eugenics', and I'd be loathe to mention the nazi's on this thread.

 

Oh damn, I just did ;)

Edited by Loop

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The NT person inside you is the one you would be if you took the cure:) Both are totally ficticious concepts......

 

Sorry, but that doesn't make sense to me.

 

If I wasn't autistic, I wouldn't exist...in the same way that if I wasn't female I wouldn't exist. There isn't a male person inside me and there isn't an NT person inside me!

 

Bid :)

 

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I'm convinced that genetic defects contribute to many of the world's problems including crime, poverty, obnoxious politics, and wars.

 

I find this a pretty offensive sentiment.

 

Bid :(

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Sorry, but that doesn't make sense to me.

 

If I wasn't autistic, I wouldn't exist...in the same way that if I wasn't female I wouldn't exist. There isn't a male person inside me and there isn't an NT person inside me!

 

Bid :)

 

The thread is about taking a cure for ASD. If you were cured of your ASD, you would be NT. The two are mutually exclusive. So the NT person inside is the fictitious person you would be if you took the ficticious cure, that you may or may not decide to take.......

 

Imagine that the "cure" only worked for 24 hours. Would you give being NT a try - just to see what it's like? I would certainly try being AS for 24 hours to help me understand better. You wouldn't cease to exist for that 24 hours and become someone else - you would be the NT version of you, now. I would be the AS version of me, now - it wouldn't change all those awful parts of my NT personality that make me so difficult to live with, although it might make me tidy up a bit and put some things away properly* LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

* this is supposed to be a tongue in cheek and deliberately superficial explanation of ASDs - please don't get sidetracked slating me :whistle:

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The thread is about taking a cure for ASD. If you were cured of your ASD, you would be NT. The two are mutually exclusive. So the NT person inside is the fictitious person you would be if you took the ficticious cure, that you may or may not decide to take.......

 

Imagine that the "cure" only worked for 24 hours. Would you give being NT a try - just to see what it's like? I would certainly try being AS for 24 hours to help me understand better. You wouldn't cease to exist for that 24 hours and become someone else - you would be the NT version of you, now. I would be the AS version of me, now - it wouldn't change all those awful parts of my NT personality that make me so difficult to live with, although it might make me tidy up a bit and put some things away properly* LOL

 

* this is supposed to be a tongue in cheek and deliberately superficial explanation of ASDs - please don't get sidetracked slating me :whistle:

 

i would only take a cure if it got rid of the anxiety and depression and negative sides of my ASD. i wouldn't want the cure to be forced upon me to be taken though as it would cause riots similar to the "X Men the final stand".

 

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I find this a pretty offensive sentiment.

 

Maybe you do.

 

There is certainly scientific evidence that genetics influences personalities and abilities. For a start, great athletes are born rather than trained. Some people have the genes for first rate athletic ability whereas others don't and will not become great athletes no matter how hard they train. Another trait that is almost certainly genetic is the skill at playing politics - whether it be government politics or office politics. Entrepreneural spirit is probably influenced by genetics but I'm still researching this. Every now and then an individual comes forth from a lower class background, often in an economically depressed area, and becomes a very successful businessman. Could it be that they are lucky to have the right genes as a result of a mutation or recessive genes surfacing?

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The thread is about taking a cure for ASD. If you were cured of your ASD, you would be NT. The two are mutually exclusive. So the NT person inside is the fictitious person you would be if you took the ficticious cure, that you may or may not decide to take.......

 

Imagine that the "cure" only worked for 24 hours. Would you give being NT a try - just to see what it's like? I would certainly try being AS for 24 hours to help me understand better. You wouldn't cease to exist for that 24 hours and become someone else - you would be the NT version of you, now. I would be the AS version of me, now - it wouldn't change all those awful parts of my NT personality that make me so difficult to live with, although it might make me tidy up a bit and put some things away properly* LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

* this is supposed to be a tongue in cheek and deliberately superficial explanation of ASDs - please don't get sidetracked slating me :whistle:

 

Er, since when is expressing a different opinion 'slating' anyone?? I expressed my opinion in a perfectly polite manner.

 

Bid :unsure:

 

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Er, since when is expressing a different opinion 'slating' anyone?? I expressed my opinion in a perfectly polite manner.

 

Bid :unsure:

 

 

It wasn't aimed at you, or anyone else, just a general comment - I just didn't want the thread to be hijacked off onto a different tack. I have not had any problem with the way you have expressed your opinion:) sorry if that was not clear.

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You know after getting over the worst aspects of behavioural difficulty without any form of medication, just mediation of many kinds, I'm quite certain I wouldn't want to use a cure for it.

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You know after getting over the worst aspects of behavioural difficulty without any form of medication, just mediation of many kinds, I'm quite certain I wouldn't want to use a cure for it.

 

i feel the same.

 

Alexis

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This is quite an interesting question: - like saying, if you could live your life over, would you do it the same way again?

 

Obviusly that would be impossible. I once hitch hiked to Morocco, in Spain I met an englishman called - lets say - David, hung around for a few days and then we parted. 5 weeks later I was in Fez, in Morocco and bumped into him on a street corner. The odds are astronomical for that to happen, looking at it in a logical way. One the whole if I could have been born without Aspergers, I'd say "yes", but there again AS has made who I am. So who would I be ?? Perhaps parralell universes do exist...... and every choice we make, changes our universe to fit. This is all speculation and philosophy.

I'm waffling a bit.

Ok, yes is the probable answer I'd give. I have a younger brother, who doesnt have AS. He has a degree in Math and has made a fortune writing programs for business computers. But to me, he has no soul, no pizzazz, he's a calculating machine. He may be wealthy, and I am not. But I do notice things that others pass by, and to me, a sunset, or sunrise is beautiful beyond compare. Nature, life, is free - doesnt cost a penny.

Perhaps ppl with AS dont need all the material so called wealth afterall. Perhaps I'm happy as I am.

 

capt slog

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I'd take the cure for my child as well. Not for myself or his Mum but for him. Autism has robbed him of meaningful interaction with life.... He will never marry, is not some 'rain man' perhaps never have a friend or a girl friend, will always have to rely on others, I cannot understand anyone wanting to preserve an disablement as serious as that if a cure was available. Ignorance isn't bliss , it is cruel. It depends I suppose on which end of the AS spectrum your child is... Genetics are an personal bag, I can understand the fears about ridding society of disabled people and those disabled angry at that, but I can accept it if it means it can prevent it in the future. Let's face it, regardless what the UK thinks or feels there are other countries (The USA e.g.), who are quite prepared to offer any cure they think they can find, and many willing to pay the price too. Once the gates are opened many will just flood through, we would just be left behind with the moral high ground.

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Would I use a cure for autism?

 

It would have to depend on what the cure involved. If the side-effects were worse then I wouldn't. If the cure had no side-effects and these had been tested 100% then I would jump at the chance.

 

I read a book called Human Givens some time ago and it opened my eyes in the realms of psychology and it offered insights that the likes of Freud could only have dreamed of. Did you know for example that the Ancients knew more about psychological healing than what is officially known today? OK it wasn't called "psychology" back then but the wisdom shared thousands of years ago (little of which was ever written down and is only partially known today via word-of-mouth and few ancient scrolls) was able to deal with a lot of ailments that exist today without resorting to medical means.

 

One such Ancient people were called the Sufi. I think I read up to chapter 2 of Shah, I (1968) "The way of the Sufi" which really is a book of story-led education which actually has the power to transform the way one thinks and I soon felt myself feeling uplifted and feeling more positive about the world. There was just something about the way I saw things; it changed my perception on things.

 

And when you think that autism is about a difference in 'perception' that says a lot. If a book can alter one's perception on things (via stories and fables) and make one feel better about themselves and the world around them then who needs medication that can potentially damage things like the liver?

Edited by Mike_GX101

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It's not just 'perception' or even acceptance or awareness, some of the issues our children face are very basic like toilet/dressing/washing/relating to people with extreme behaviour, that that cannot be glossed over by everyone turning a 'blind eye' to. Try pushing the acceptance angle when your child is screaming 24/7, it just is not going to happen or be made more 'acceptable'. It surely cannot be an autistic 'lifestyle' choice. These kids are in pain they don't cope it shows, it is not an cute 'rain man' approach we can just all go along with. Are they going to make all disabled issues part of a culture or something ? I wouldn't want my child hurt by any cure either, but any alleviation to make him at peace... I wouldn't be there demanding nothing changes to fit some 'fashion' for acceptance..

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No, because this is who I am, I have lived with myself for 44 years now and worked out a lot of my problems, I am pleased with my progress, so why would I want to change myself to become something I might not like ?

 

But it could be interpreted that adults that want to cure their kids, want better kids and so what they have is not good enough, are they sure they will like what they get when their kids are cured, or will it be some other reason that needs a cure to make them the ideal they see in their mind's eye ?

 

Despite autism, despite NT, we are all individuals, not one of us is alike and so we must accept what we have as who are comparing ourselves and our children to, maybe that ideal doesn't exist ?

 

Or is it what aspie kids are now are what the psychologists and special needs educators have made them without first looking at all those late diagnosed adults who have made it in their respected fields of expertise without their uneducated brain washing.

 

I do believe everyone of us came into this world with a use to society, we all have a part to play and the disorders and disabilities says more about society than it does those affected, but we forget, not one of us is perfect, but if we used all the power available to us through all the diverse forms of thinking, who knows what great strides humanity will make.

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But it could be interpreted that adults that want to cure their kids, want better kids and so what they have is not good enough, are they sure they will like what they get when their kids are cured, or will it be some other reason that needs a cure to make them the ideal they see in their mind's eye ?

 

 

I think for many parents it's about making life easier for their children. Nothing to do with their child not being good enough but if you have a child on the extreme end of the spectrum that can't engage, aren't continent, can't form personal relationships, are constantly distressed - that's not really living is it? Just existing. It's about giving your child a better life. There are many children like that and I can understand why parents would want to change that.

 

Personally I don't know if I would use a "cure" for my son - there are certainly aspects of his life that I would like to make easier, but I love him for who he is. I get a lot of feedback from my child though, he is incredibly loving, funny, and he is making progress. If we had a cure, would he be better or worse? Who could tell, and I'm not sure I'd want to find out. I do understand why some parents would though.

 

Lynne

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I don't know how you can cure a person of his/her characters. autism is not a diesease,its a condition which affect's brain neuor typical development. There is so much that as humans we don't know and so much to learn.Autism should be embraced as a human difference,like being of a different race.There is a lot of ignorance out there amongst our society and more autism awareness needs to be made so that professionals in areas of our society.And for parents to accept the difference too,some just don't which is a shame because their child has so much good potential all it needs is to be discovered and encouraged.

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no i would not want a cure for my child , he would not be thomas to me it is not something that he decide to start havin it is something that he has always had and thats what make him thomas , it would make life easyer for him

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It is about pain (Mental), most parents want an end to that. The frustrations the mental anguish and everything that goes with it, it is not about making things easier for me to handle but making his life a lot less stressful. If his personality is based on stress who would want that to continue ? Maybe we would have an happier albeit different child.... happy does it for me.

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There is a cure for some forms of ASD already, it's marked by the transition from a seventeen year old to an eighteen year old, when a child becomes an adult. For as an adult those affected may come to notice interest in their care suddenly fall away, suggesting you don't need the care anymore or in other words you are cured.

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I think for many parents it's about making life easier for their children. Nothing to do with their child not being good enough but if you have a child on the extreme end of the spectrum that can't engage, aren't continent, can't form personal relationships, are constantly distressed - that's not really living is it? Just existing. It's about giving your child a better life. There are many children like that and I can understand why parents would want to change that.

 

It's a bit more sophisticated than this. You are broadly correct in the cases of certain variants of ASD which are likely to exclude all possibility of a reasonably independent life. However, a considerable proportion of parents of kids with AS and HFA favour a cure simply on the basis that it will eliminate most of the problems they have at school therefore resulting in a 'normal' life for all the family. I have over the years encountered many home educated kids with AS and HFA, and so far, not a single parent has wanted them to be cured of their condition.

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It's a bit more sophisticated than this. You are broadly correct in the cases of certain variants of ASD which are likely to exclude all possibility of a reasonably independent life. However, a considerable proportion of parents of kids with AS and HFA favour a cure simply on the basis that it will eliminate most of the problems they have at school therefore resulting in a 'normal' life for all the family. I have over the years encountered many home educated kids with AS and HFA, and so far, not a single parent has wanted them to be cured of their condition.

 

Just a question based upon what you have written here;

 

Us late diagnosed aspies all went to a normal school and well, we have got this far in life, granted, it's not fab, but whose life is, but many of us have held jobs, been married and had kids, so what are you saying here suddenly there are children that learn differently or is it teachers are not as good as they used to be ?

 

My schooling was a nightmare, I don't look back on it with any amount of fondness for I was bullied throughout and not just by the kids, and the only time I fought back I very nearly got expelled, but school for me was well, I was the butt of everbodys jokes, the moving target to beat up, the ideal person to play practical jokes on because I never got it, school was complete dog eat dog and that is being nice.

 

But all us later diagnosed went through it all and later went on to live as normal lives as we could, in accordance with societal expectations so where exactly is the difference between kids now diagnosed with aspergers and the rest of us who were late diagnosed ?

 

Oh and something else, primary school an astute teacher told my parents she believed I had autism right back in the 1970's, but my father rightly kept me in school as what was school for the autistic back then, the so called special schools were nothing but holding pens for the heavily medicated as people that went in those actually deteriorated.

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Us late diagnosed aspies all went to a normal school and well, we have got this far in life, granted, it's not fab, but whose life is, but many of us have held jobs, been married and had kids, so what are you saying here suddenly there are children that learn differently or is it teachers are not as good as they used to be ?

 

The information was revealed through meeting parents at support groups over the years. ASD has been described sometimes as a learning difference and the system of mainstream (and many private) schools teaches using styles geared towards middle of the road NT kids. At the same time, most schools do not effectively provide services and support that kids with ASD need because they are rarely required for the middle of the road NT masses. This combined with difficult social relationships between kids with ASD and their classmates creates a whole raft of problems that the parents have to deal with.

 

The parents therefore (rather naively IMO) believe that if their kids were cured of ASD then they could fit in at school like most of the other NT kids and not cause any problems for themselves, the teachers, and their other classmates. Parents often compare themselves with other parents and their kids with other kids. One parent even quoted that if her son were NT then she would be spending the evening at a restaurant rather than the support group like the parents of the NT classmate who lives next door. Another parent stated that AS has degraded my child's life and her own life.

 

so where exactly is the difference between kids now diagnosed with aspergers and the rest of us who were late diagnosed ?

 

The straightforward answer is that the kids diagnosed with AS today are diagnosed with AS. Adults who were late diagnosed were usually misdiagnosed as having another condition or a behavioural problem whilst at school.

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Schools always did teach in a style that was geared towards the majority so nothing has changed there all that has changed is a condition has been recognised named and applied to some individuals and schools have decided they can't teach those named individuals for whatever reason where in the past they did before they knew of the condition as in the past no one was diagnosed or misdiagnosed with whatever disorder, so I am understanding here that schools are in actual fact welching out on their ability to teach, they are not as good as they once were and so teachers are not as good as they once were. As the mark of a good teacher is one that can teach anyone not a select few without a diagnosis.

 

All we had in the past was children that were named as difficult, disruptive, lazy and day dreamers, but as I said only one teacher mentioned autism to my parents at primary school level and no one after that, so I was not diagnosed just suspected by one teacher and back in those times we did not live in a diagnostic paradise where everyone who was a bit different had some condition applied to them, yet they still attended mainstream school and swam or sank as was their ability along with others who had no condition to be diagnosed but were just not clever enough or could not retain information or could not concentrate because they had a difficult home life.

 

Personal research I did myself a few years ago to try and understand my failings pre diagnosis I looked into the left/right brain thought processing theory as I was at that time at art college and discovered schools teach in a way aimed at a certain predominant hemisphere, I forget which, but all those that occupy the opposite hemisphere tend to be the artistic and in schools the most troubled and so as school progresses and teaches one hemisphere of thought, it ignores the other hemisphere and so individuals with the 'wrong' thinking start to fail and in the end fail school and fall out the bottom with no useful qualifications and so become unemployable leading to other problems crime and such.

 

So as society denigrates such people for being criminal they never really understand why, but one thing of the criminal mentality, is that look at them, most of them are highly creative, natural born artists but they have been pushed down all their lives because the school system was not geared to their thought processing.

 

School is solely and totally responsible for what we become as they take us in our formative years and attempt to teach us and now we have schools trying to escape their responsibility to teach children because they have a difference in thinking, so what is it really, we don't have natural teachers anymore just a bunch of people who never left school and become teachers because they passed an exam ?

 

There is far more to teaching than the ability to pass an exam.

Edited by Sa Skimrande

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Schools always did teach in a style that was geared towards the majority so nothing has changed there all that has changed is a condition has been recognised named and applied to some individuals and schools have decided they can't teach those named individuals for whatever reason where in the past they did before they knew of the condition as in the past no one was diagnosed or misdiagnosed with whatever disorder, so I am understanding here that schools are in actual fact welching out on their ability to teach, they are not as good as they once were and so teachers are not as good as they once were. As the mark of a good teacher is one that can teach anyone not a select few without a diagnosis.

 

I'm of the opinion that the system in primary schools nowadays is better for kids with AS than that in most primary schools back in the 1970s and 80s. Secondary school might be slightly worse with the dumbing down and the style of the curriculum after O Levels were replaced by GCSEs.

 

All we had in the past was children that were named as difficult, disruptive, lazy and day dreamers, but as I said only one teacher mentioned autism to my parents at primary school level and no one after that, so I was not diagnosed just suspected by one teacher and back in those times we did not live in a diagnostic paradise where everyone who was a bit different had some condition applied to them, yet they still attended mainstream school and swam or sank as was their ability along with others who had no condition to be diagnosed but were just not clever enough or could not retain information or could not concentrate because they had a difficult home life.

 

In the past kids with AS were more often than not misdiagnosed as having some other problem - such as EBD or schizophrenia - resulting in the wrong solutions being offered to them which almost always made the situation worse. Even though schools still fail kids with AS, rarely will they be misdiagnosed because of advances in knowledge.

 

School is solely and totally responsible for what we become as they take us in our formative years and attempt to teach us and now we have schools trying to escape their responsibility to teach children because they have a difference in thinking

 

Under the 1996 Education Act it is the parents who are responsible for a child's education. Not the school.

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I'm of the opinion that the system in primary schools nowadays is better for kids with AS than that in most primary schools back in the 1970s and 80s. Secondary school might be slightly worse with the dumbing down and the style of the curriculum after O Levels were replaced by GCSEs.

 

 

Yet primary school taught all, all future diagnosi along with the NT and despite one teacher who also went on to say to my parent that I would never amount to anything, I did well at primary school, top of the class in most subjects, but small classes you see, better tuition, but it was the fact I used to like to draw that caught attention as I was drawing in three dimensions incorporating light and shade, I could see it, others couldn't but I tried to teach others it way back then. It was only at senior school it all went wrong with a school that had 1600 pupils and classes twice the size, where bullying was part and parcel of every day life, pure dog eat dog.

 

 

 

In the past kids with AS were more often than not misdiagnosed as having some other problem - such as EBD or schizophrenia - resulting in the wrong solutions being offered to them which almost always made the situation worse. Even though schools still fail kids with AS, rarely will they be misdiagnosed because of advances in knowledge.

 

 

 

Under the 1996 Education Act it is the parents who are responsible for a child's education. Not the school.

 

That is more legal double talk, parents comply with the law to send their children to school or make other arrangements, they rely on the school to do it's job and so we have schools failing their pupils, is that the fault of the parent or the school ? Then there are parents who believe their child is not doing well because of some disorder or maybe even it's the teachers saying that, but daily we hear of parents struggling to get diagnosi for their children so they may be able to access services to ensure they receive a good education but I understand with rate at which children are now being diagnosed with ASD someone somewhere is going Whoa hold on a minute and there now appears to be a reluctance to diagnose where before the concerned were all for it. Children and parents are being failed and it's the parents fault, give me a break.

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However, a considerable proportion of parents of kids with AS and HFA favour a cure simply on the basis that it will eliminate most of the problems they have at school therefore resulting in a 'normal' life for all the family. I have over the years encountered many home educated kids with AS and HFA, and so far, not a single parent has wanted them to be cured of their condition.

 

What utter rubbish, what on earth do you base this statement on?!

Oh, and for the record, I home educated my AS child and I DO want him to be cured of his autism, so there, you can say you do know of one parent!

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What utter rubbish, what on earth do you base this statement on?!

 

Real world experience with other parents, although it may not be representative of the true situation nationally.

 

Oh, and for the record, I home educated my AS child and I DO want him to be cured of his autism, so there, you can say you do know of one parent!

 

I was already aware of that from previous posts as an exceptional case although I have never met you nor your son in real life.

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At the moment in "Life" I would say yes, I don't know much about my condition and have never had any support with it, just kind of struggled through life feeling awkward and alone.

But maybe when I understand Aspergers a little better and find my strengths I won't want to find a cure.

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At the moment in "Life" I would say yes, I don't know much about my condition and have never had any support with it, just kind of struggled through life feeling awkward and alone.

But maybe when I understand Aspergers a little better and find my strengths I won't want to find a cure.

 

Yes and good on you for that, because of what we are, what we have grown up with, what everyone and ourselves have become used to that is us our personality and to cure what we are what are we curing and when cured will we have to learn to live again, even go back to school to learn to be a different kind of human.

 

There are a lot of positives with AS, it is just people don't like to see the positives and always prefer to dwell on the negatives as that is just the way we are, look at our media for example, it's all bad news.

 

But Awkward and alone is a common feeling, but NT's feel that too as society has changed, the family units have broken up and we are now all individuals living our separate lives often alone.

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A cure for ASD can only be developed if people with the condition are willing to voluntarily go forward and submit themselves to research and experiments that could result in permanent damage or death. Who exactly is going to carry out this medical research? If NHS doctors are unable or unwilling to do it then it will end up in the hands of people who are not doctors or qualified to practice medicine, such as biochemists, working in backstreet laboratories rather than in hospitals. If such practices are made illegal in Britain then they will move to countries where medicine is less regulated. Would you entrust a biochemistry graduate with no medical training in a third world country or former Soviet state?

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