The medical model is one way to view autism and other autism spectrum disorders, but there is emerging a new viewpoint – that of people who are autistic – and it's a very different view than the one that we currently see through the eyes of the medical establishment. This viewpoint is promoted by organizations and groups of autistic people who have created web sites and written letters, who challenge the commonly held view that there is something `wrong' with people who are autistic.
Learning about Autism and listening and reading about it has made me very angry until I found this site. I have always felt broken and I don't want my son to feel that way. Why must everyone label different as wrong? Why is that? Why can't we just accept different?
NO! This is not who or what I am! I don't want you using my image
this way, I will not be portrayed as lesser, and I will not have my
life medicalized this way so you can fund the elimination of autistic
people from the planet.
i think 'high functioning' should be redefined as, 'the ability to pretend to be "normal" for long enough periods to escape being remarked.' we're all faking it to try to get along and survive. i love how we're supposed to strive to be 'normal' even when it results in many/most of us getting sick and disabled in other ways from the stress and loneliness.
It is also allowing me to finally accept that she is who she is and will never be "cured" of her differences. I can focus on supporting her as she is instead of trying to find a way to "fix" her.
– http://books.dreambook.com/gettingthetruthout/main.html
These are voices from the other side of the puzzle, from the web site www.gettingthetruthout.org. It's one of many sites founded and written by adults who are autistic – who identify being autistic or being `Aspie' as part of who they are in much the same way that a black person identifies himself as being black and a woman identifies herself as being a woman. To many of them, the race for a cure for autism is a condemnation of who they are, a desire to eradicate people like them from the face of the Earth.
This is a side of autism that few people ever see, unless they are dragged there. It is a side of autism that I, as the mother of an Aspie son, believe should be required reading for any parent facing a diagnosis of autism, Asperger Syndrome or an of the disorders on the autism spectrum. For me, reading those words and the words of other people who live with autism and are defined by it validated what I see in my son – not a child with a disability that needs to be cured, but a person with unique views and interests and contributions to make to this world.
If you are autistic, have a child or grandchild or brother or sister who is autistic – seeing the other side of the spectrum is something that you owe both them and yourself. You'll find many links to sites that present the other side of the autism spectrum at:
http://www.ventura33.com/notamiracle/
http://www.gettingthetruthout.org/links001.html
http://www.aspergianpride.com/Portal/index.php?page=8&sid=f6f64971d010864a69d00c1ac3623b91
=> Recommended Autism Resource: Autism, Aspergers, Asd – Help And Advice For Empowering Parents
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