Opinion: Do We Really Need Cure for Autism?

Does autism need to be cured? I am forever reading articles, mainly on American sites, that claim they have found a 'cure' for autism. These are observed when scrolling down my Twitter feed or conducting online autism research, I mainly look for interesting news stories and new interventions, ways in which I can help my child. I use the word 'help' rather than 'cure' as this word sits uneasy with me.

Opinion: Look at the Person, Not the Disability

Peter Ripley

Peter Ripley wrote this column for the Peninsula Daily News. Ripley, 52, has arthrogryposis, a congenital joint disorder that makes him unable to walk. 

 As we commemorate National Disability Employment Awareness Month this month, we need to reflect on far we've come, and still need go, to overcome barriers to employment for the disabled.

My story is about how I overcame adversity, the challenges I was born with ­— and the challenges which were placed on me by others because of underestimation and ignorance of not knowing how to treat someone with a disability in regard to employment.

Labels: Autism

Piece by Ariane Zurcher of Huffington Post.

Labels are useful. They're shorthand for what we want to communicate and yet, they often obscure what is really being said. We say things like, "oh, he's schizophrenic," "she's bipolar," "he's an alcoholic," "she's anorexic," "he's blind" and the meaning seems to get conveyed, but does it? After all, that's not all the person is. It's something they have been diagnosed with, perhaps struggling with. It's a medical term, but it does not encompass who and what that person is in their entirety.
When I hear someone describe another person as "autistic" I understand that person has been given a diagnosis of autism, but I don't presume to know much more about them.

Labels: Autism

Labels are useful. They're shorthand for what we want to communicate and yet, they often obscure what is really being said. We say things like, "oh, he's schizophrenic," "she's bipolar," "he's an alcoholic," "she's anorexic," "he's blind" and the meaning seems to get conveyed, but does it? After all, that's not all the person is. It's something they have been diagnosed with, perhaps struggling with. It's a medical term, but it does not encompass who and what that person is in their entirety.

When I hear someone describe another person as "autistic" I understand that person has been given a diagnosis of autism, but I don't presume to know much more about them. For example, I won't know if this particular person diagnosed with autism can speak, read or write. They may have other issues, physical impairments or other diagnoses added. These may further illuminate, but the labels begin to overwhelm the actual person.