I lived for 15 years without having a clue about my autism. It was only after a series of life-threatening mental health crises- and my parents writing down pages upon pages of possible autism symptoms of mine—that anyone was willing to screen me for it. Even after all signs pointed towards autism, I still had to fight to get any kind of a diagnosis for almost two years. My diagnosis was a liberation, but figuring out what it means to be disabled has been painful, too. Before, I had supposedly gone through hardships because I was “weird,” but now the realities of systemic ableism are right in front of me. It has also become excruciatingly clear that many people are only willing to embrace my autism when it comes to the “superpowers” it gives me, but not when I am overwhelmed or can’t function like an allistic person. Feeling like a burden is a strong part of my autistic experience. And I’m not alone.
Finding a way to “cure” autism has been on the frontlines of autism-related discussions for decades. Since science hasn’t been able to find a reason or a cause for autism, there is no scientifically proven way of “curing” autism. Parents desperately trying to cure their autistic children is still a thing, but upon closer inspection, many have shifted their views. Maybe autism doesn’t need to be cured. Maybe finding the cause or causes of autism would result in more harm than good. And finally, maybe the need for a cure or reasoning behind autism is all rooted in ableism and eugenics.
To find out whether the efforts to cure autism could lead to something good, we need to establish what autism and the autism spectrum truly are. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder, just like ADHD, Tourette’s Syndrome, and dyslexia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines developmental disorders as a group of conditions present from the developmental period which may impact a person’s day-to-day functioning. These conditions are usually life-long. Despite decades of scientific research, no one has been able to find the cause of autism. According to psychologist Len Abbeduto, around 100-1000 genes may play a role in whether or not a child will be autistic. But there is neither one autism gene mutation, nor has a virus or bacteria been pinpointed as the cause.
These days, most if not all major medical organizations recognize that autism ‘’cures’’ are fake. Many of these so-called cures can cause mental and physical harm. A recent trend has been special diets, which are based on the idea that certain nutrients in food cause autism or its symptoms. Gluten-free, casein-free, and ketogenic diets have gained popularity among self-described ‘’autism moms’’ (dedicated mothers with autistic children), as well as wellness influencers. Another, mostly harmless way of trying to cure autism is through vitamins and other supplements. Everything from iron to vitamin D to fish oil has been claimed to cure autism by some. More sinister ways of trying to cure autism include drinking bleach, medicines meant for the treatment of other disorders, and even exorcisms performed by religious leaders.
When science and society as a whole have a strict focus on what is acceptable—wanting to find a cure for autism—there is a clear message behind this way of thinking: The world would be a better place if there was no autism or autistic people. Not only is this mindset inherently ableist, it also creates immeasurable pain for the autistic youth that hear it. Even if it’s not being said directly, a disturbing undertone comes across: We’d rather have you not exist.
Over 50% of autistic people have experienced depression and our chances of contemplating suicide are nine times higher than that of allistic people. Knowing the not-so-subtle messaging behind wanting to cure autism, this shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. All forms of trying to cure a child’s autism have the same effect: making a child feel like they’re unwanted, faulty, or not good enough.
Millions of dollars are being spent on ableist autism research.Think about the positive change in autistic mental health that might occur if these funds were spent to guarantee support for every autistic person. Or spent on researching symptoms in underdiagnosed populations, especially AFAB individuals and people of color.
Detecting autism earlier and earlier—even during the first trimester of pregnancy—is an issue that has been the subject of many conversations in the media recently. Again, detecting many other disabilities during fetal development is easy because there is a clear cause and a set of physical abnormalities that can be detected. That is not the case for autism. One has to critically think about why some are so eager to detect autism as early as possible. It is not a simple curiosity or desire to find out more about human development. Perhaps it’s a desire to detect an unwanted condition as early as possible and then eliminate it. The message behind both fetal autism screenings and curing autism is the same: eliminating autism and autistic people. The world would be better without us as we are a burden to the neurotypical world.
Even after encountering ableism and eugenics, reclaiming my disabled, autistic identity is the most healing and empowering thing I’ve done in my whole life. I love being autistic and I have no desire to change my neurotype—and that is the biggest middle finger one can show to ableism.
