If There Were A Cure...IAN Poll

IAN POLL

IAN (Interactive Autism Network) recently put a poll on its website. As of the minute I write this post, here are the results:

Adults with ASD: If there were a cure, would you take it?
(total votes: 255)

Yes
8%
No
81%
I'd wait and see what happened to others
5%
Don't know
4%

Is it really shocking to any of us? Well, at least to any of us who ever spend anytime with adult autistics? And, once again, yes Jenny & Larry, they do exist! I've yet to meet an adult autistic who says they'd jump at the chance to be cured. The overriding thought is without autism, who am I? Autism is a deep-rooted part of an autistic, just as brown eyes are to me. Yes, they say, living with autism can be very difficult. But, along with the difficulties come great gifts. All of the adult autistics I know fear that if a cure existed, what would be lost along with the negative aspects of Autism? Who would they be?

I think all parents need to remember that. I think parents damage their children's self-esteem and self-worth when they speak of curing their child or ridding them of autism. I fear to think of what a child must feel when their parent constantly refers to autism about the evil thing, how much they hate it, how it really is an ass-kicking. Unfortunately, most of those same parents feel their child is lost, has been kidnapped, is without a soul, etc. They feel their "damaged" child is incapable of having feelings, either for themselves or others. If their child is nonverbal, they typically think he or she is closer to a zombie than a human being. So, how do we ever get through to these people? I do not know, but I hope I find the answer one day.

These same people will look at a poll like this, and completely disregard the results. They'll come up with some type of crazy conspiracy of who completed the poll and why it's a bunch of b.s. But, for those of us who see and treat autistics as people, due all the same civil and human rights as the rest of us, we will see the obvious truth in that 81%. In fact, I see it rising to even much higher than that. If you have doubts on this poll's results, go speak to adult autistics (on all areas of the spectrum). Get ready to have your eyes opened WIDE.