I do. So I feel pretty qualified on this one.

What it is not is a disease or an infliction or something that needs to be cured or prevented.

You may work with autistic people but your post is displaying some seriously retrograde attitudes towards them.

I have at least a dozen friends on the autism spectrum - probably more who haven't identified themselves to me. They are all productive, functional members of society. One is a counselor. A few are in the computer science field. One is in social work - and an elected official. Most are married, or in long-term relationships. I also know (at least) 4 children with autism. Of all of these, one may struggle in life - but it is too soon to tell. He is pre-teen and is still finding his way in the world.

Saying, as Meadowlander - a person with autism - did, that it is part of the normal spectrum of neurodiversity - and that they would not take a pill - if it became available - to make their autism vanish is not the same as saying, "I want my child to be deaf."

I am reacting to the OP's own words. Let me quote them:

We should be focusing on a cure. Sure, autism doesn't affect all people the same way, and many people out there lead fulfilling lives with it.

But that does not erase how many people undergo profound suffering and disability because of the condition.

And this, "Focusing on a cure is somehow mean to people" is a blazingly unbelievable stance.

But maybe not that unbelievable, current online culture considered.

...with DoD, we had some autistic individuals who were analysts, and they were absolutely incredible, once we provided the accommodations they needed, such as office rather than a cubicle, etc.

However, I also have an autistic great-niece, and while I will continue to hope and pray that there are or will be therapies or something that will enable her to live a fuller life, I'm not hopeful that it will come to be.

She needs one-on-one support at all times, and the strain on her family is tremendous. They don't go anywhere with all three of the children because it's just too difficult. The strain on their marriage has been tremendous, and the strain on the other two children has been tremendous as well.

My nephew and his wife love their daughter unconditionally, and I don't want to imply in any way whatsoever that they wish she hadn't been born - that's absolutely not the case. But had there been a way for her to be born without autism (and like you, I'm not implying that today's declaration about Tylenol is that way), they would have taken it in a heartbeat.

Ms. Toad isn't wrong in saying that my job makes it so that I see more profound instances more regularly. There is absolutely a broad span of functionality, but man. We are getting more and more kids with more and more profound manifestations of autism over time. Therapeutic services are getting overwhelmed.

Watching people not be able to live their lives, leave their homes, and struggle to care for their children - or even get something like simple safety supervision - is heartbreaking. It puts entire families on hold. You nailed all of the aspects.

And for someone to just pop in with, "If we focus on curing it, some people might feel bad" made me see absolute red.

I challenge anyone to work with these kids for a week and then bounce in and still say, "We shouldn't focus on curing this. This is totally fine."

Anti-medicine attitudes like RFK Jr's should not be responded to with other anti-medicine attitudes. Full stop.

*however that is defined by them*.

There is no part of me that is not autistic and there is no way to "cure autism" that is not an annihilation of what I am.

That's like saying "being gay makes peoples' lives harder so let's find a cure for being gay" or "let's cure racism by making everyone white".

That's the blazingly unbelievable stance for someone who "works with autistic kids" to be taking in 2025. Basically, that's just eugenics dressed up as concern. And way, way out of step with mainstream autism advocacy and disability rights.

I suppose some with autism might feel similarly(??).

All of them are particularly intense in their endeavors and socially tone deaf. That they are very intelligent is an understatement. All are delightful people to be around and knowledgeable about the world. They are kind. They struggle with friendship though and tend to have one or two close friends and that's it. My extended family on my mother's side are pretty much the same; shy, reclusive, and numbers people. The spectrum thing is problematic because there is so much variety on the spectrum -
owing to our ignorance about the condition and having to define it broadly. I strongly suspect that there have got to be some very serious differences that are qualitative vs quantitative when going from non-verbal autism to those having no intellectual disabilities. We just don't know what those qualitative differences are yet. While some are excited about an autism cure - all should take care and distinguish between conditions that prompt head banging and those that got us to the moon. One of these things is not like the other.

numbers of diagnosed cases of autism is the complete lack of or ignoring that, like all other major advances in medical science, the ability to recognize and diagnose autism has grown and advanced as well. Medicine has come so far just in my lifetime alone. Of course there are more diagnosed cases of autism. Not because of any systemic cause, but because medical professionals now have more knowledge and tools to be able to recognize and diagnose the condition.

Last edited Tue Sep 23, 2025, 12:17 AM - Edit history (1)

and thank you for sharing - we always seem to be medicating away the genius.

Mark Zuckerberg is one of them.