"if you have anything half way decent to add to this thread, about autism"

I think the link that Ruth made to the well written piece by Jonathan Mitchell (a writer who suffers from a mild autism spectrum disorder) is an excellent 'dissection' of the post-mortem 'diagnosis' of autism made about people like Eistein and Jefferson.

His conclusion about Norm Ledgin's book is that this kind speculation is not helpful.

"It will only lower the self-esteem of those whose handicaps might prevent them from achieving what they want, let alone what the above-named individuals were able to do.
It also places undue expectations on those who are expected to measure up.
Worst of all, it provides fodder for the special educators, special education attorneys, ABA therapists etc. to legitimize their profits and to encourage the false hope and tears for toasted snow that so many parents of these children have."


He believes sincerely that people who use historical figures like Einstein and Thomas Jefferson and Isaac Newton to claim autism is something great and should not be cured are attempting to 'present an argument for persons who take offense at the thought of eradicating autism to mitigate suffering'

He is 'pro cure' and observes the 'strawman argument' put forward by some people

".....that cure and prevention are in reality code words for abortion and one offensive cartoon on the web page autistics.org implies this line of thinking.
The only reason that genetic research is done on autism is the intent of deliberately finding a way of aborting autistic fetuses."

But replies,

"Of course it would never occur to them that someone might want to find a way to delete or insert certain genes to avoid the effects of a mutation that would cause the child to have grave harm throughout their life"

Neurodiversity: Just Say No

Certainly the overwhelming opinions posted on this thread, including those of parents of autistic children who have actually been diagnosed with the condition, would seem to agree with his wish to eradicate autism.