Content Warning: Ableism, Abortion, Eugenics, Bigotry, Bigotry Against Autistic People. This is probably the heaviest post I ever wrote in terms of subject matter, so if that’s not for you it might be an idea to give this one a miss.
I’ve talked before about how when most autistic people are asked, most do not want to be cured of their neurotype. I’ve talked before about how if this happened to me, it would be one of the worst things that could happen to me, because I wouldn’t be me anymore. I’ve done another blogpost on how the majority of autistic people, when asked, do not wish for a cure, here’s that:
But now I’d like to address an important point, which is that while the majority of autistic people don’t want a cure, the amount that do is not zero. And that’s what I’d like to talk about today.
So let’s say technology has advanced to the point where autistic people if they so choose, can be made not autistic anymore. Should they be allowed to do so? My simple answer is yes, as a matter of basic civil liberties, if such a procedure is available, they should be allowed to avail of it. But there’s a bit to unpack in this topic, and by a bit to unpack I mean a lot, and by a lot I of course mean a tremendous amount.
If such a technology were to become available, there would have to be massive safeguards in place to make sure an autistic person genuinely consents to it. Many autistic people are non-vocal, or lack the ability to speak, so a problem could arise where their parents or relatives want them to be “cured” but the autistic person does not want it, and because they cannot speak their needs are ignored. A common problem is assuming that just because some autistic people cannot communicate “normally”, that they cannot communicate at all. I think there would have to be an absolute certainty that the autistic person does not want to be autistic anymore, if there is any reason to believe that the autistic person does not want the treatment, then it should not go ahead.
Another thing I like to think about is, what would it even be like to be autistic all your life, and all of a sudden become neurotypical? Well, here’s what this would involve. It would mean your sensitivity to the world would all of a sudden change, sounds would be perceived as louder, or quieter. Colours or light would be perceived as brighter, or dimmer. And this is just senses. It would mean your ability to pay attention to things would all of a sudden change. Your emotions would all of a sudden change. Perhaps valuable life skills you developed over decades would suddenly vanish as your brain is completely rewired. I’m not just saying you wouldn’t be you anymore, I’m saying a completely different neurological makeup that you have absolutely no familiarity with whatsoever would suddenly be thrust upon you.
Am I arguing then that the neurotypical skillset and overall type of brain is worse? No I’m not, but that’s not really the point. Neurotypical people have had the same brain their entire lives. What would happen if I, as a 36 year old, all of a sudden became neurotypical? We do not know. It’s completely uncharted territory, it has never happened before. The only point of reference we have, and I’ll grant it’s not the same, is when a blind person all of sudden gains their sight as an adult. (Something not all blind people want.) Having sight all your life is obviously fine, but gaining sight as an adult, is beneficial to some, but not others. Here is a podcast that talks about this very subject. There are very few cases of adults suddenly gaining sight, but Sidney Bradford after gaining sight found it to be an extremely difficult experience, while Mike May found it to be an extremely positive experience.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b00tgd1g
Still, it’s a big dice to roll. A cure for autism would be a complete step into what is currently unknowable.
But we’ve been talking about hypotheticals, fantastical situations where an autistic person can easily become neurotypical. The reality is, we are no where near developing the technology to do such a thing. So, should we aim for it? I believe we should not. Most autistic people do not want it. Those autistic people that do, it’s entirely possible that if society treated them better they wouldn’t want to change. If an autistic person is miserable, creating a society that makes them less miserable or not miserable at all while still remaining themselves will always be an easier task than making them not autistic. We have no cure for being gay, and it’s horrible that such a thing was ever sought, and we are no where near it technologically, but simply treating gay people with the dignity and respect they deserve requires no technological increase at all.
And if these kind of technologies are persued, I don’t believe the first thing that will be invented will be a way for currently living autistic people to shed their neurotype for one they believe will better suit them. Think of it like this, can we cure Down syndrome? No. (And it’s important to note not all people with Down syndrome would want this.) What we do have the technology to do is abort a fetus if it has Down syndrome. Most of those who want a cure for autism are not autistic. They are interested in getting rid of a group of people who they do not wish to understand, if they were interested in understanding us, they would have listened to the majority of autistic people who want no cure, and the most efficient way to get rid of us is to eliminate us before we are even born.
So, could I support a search for a cure for autism, specifically for those individuals who are certain that autism causes them nothing but misery, and completely consent to such a treatment? Even with the very important caveat that the search would always have to be led by those who feel their autism causes them nothing but misery, and never by organisations run by neurotypical people with few if any autistic members, my answer is still no. If the technology already existed, as already stated, I think as a matter of basic civil rights any autistic person who wished to avail of it should be able to do so.
But the problem is, I don’t see a path towards a cure for adult autistic people that bypasses developing the ability to abort autistic fetuses. Part of this cure would surely involve an ability to detect the parts of a person’s brain that make them autistic, and once that is achieved, they can surely do so with the unborn. In fact, getting rid of an autistic person before they are born would be far simpler. With an autistic adult, you would have to figure out how to convert them into a neurotypical person without leaving them with severe brain damage, or killing them, but with an autistic fetus, that is the goal. Now I don’t want to be misunderstood here, I am pro-choice, and voted to legalise abortion in Ireland and would happily do so again. But this does not mean I support the development of technologies that could be used to abort fetuses in the womb for being autistic, same as I would be horrified at the thought of aborting fetuses for being gay, trans, dyslexic, for having ADHD, and I am horrified that the technology exists to abort a fetus for having Down syndrome. If there was a way to give those autistic people who wish for a cure what they want without going down this path, I would be the first to support it, but unfortunately, I don’t think that is possible.
Are there autistic people whose neurotype has only bad sides, and no good? Perhaps such people exist, there’s no way to know for sure, but perhaps there are also neurotypical people who are like that. However, feeling that way about your brain and skillset does not necessarily mean you would no longer want to be autistic. Even if it could somehow definitively be proven that my autism gives my only disadvantages, and no advantages, I still wouldn’t want a cure, and that’s what I’m going to talk about in my next autism related post.
Ponderings Of An Autist 
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