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I was reading something my friend posted on Plurk the other day, about scientists creating autistic mice. I had read about this in the paper, and wasn’t really convinced by the whole thing. However, I do find any and all research into autism worth at least listening to.
{It’s ok, I’m not going to get into an ethical debate about the rights and wrongs of creating autistic mice – or even how you diagnose a mouse with autism, when diagnosing a human seems to take forever and be completely hit and miss. Do the mice stim? – this post is not about the mice. Although I am sure they are very sweet mice.}
Anyway. The Plurk. Right.
So, I was reading this Plurk, and the responses to it, and something that one of my friend’s contacts said caught my eye. The conversation had kind of veered onto the ‘how to cure autism’ side of things, and she had responded to that.
This is what she put: “My brother sent me that link (to the mouse article). He’s fascinated, but does not want to be ‘cured’.”
“Protein found in brain cells may be key to Autism. Just the same, I don’t want to be cured. I’m happy the way I am.”
That one sentence was really powerful, and stopped me in my tracks as I was reading. Now, I have been aware before about the different schools of thought as far as autism is concerned. I know that where some advocate the education of others in autism awareness, others are pushing for a cure. There are those who think it’s ok to be autistic, and those who would sell their soul to be free of the condition.
Also, it should be remembered that autism is called a spectrum condition for a reason. There are degrees of autism, and many different manifestations that impact a person with the condition’s ability to function. If Chipmunk was lower functioning, or had some of the learning difficulties that may go along with autism, maybe I would look at things differently. It goes without saying, of course, that I can only speak for myself here. My opinion comes from being an adult with probable HF-ASD who has a son with diagnosed HF-ASD/Asperger’s. So my thoughts are my own, ok?
“Autism is not something I have. It is integral to who I am. Eliminate the autism, and you eliminate me. When you say you want a cure, you are saying I should be put to death. Think about it.“
~ Parrish S. Knight
I’m not sure I would phrase it quite that strongly, but my reaction when I sat and thought about what a cure would mean – really mean – for Chipmunk and I was certainly along these lines.
To me, autism is an integral part of Chipmunk
