Curing Autism, Essay Example

Autism is recognized around the world as a rehabilitating disease and the general consensus is that we need to fight to find a cure for these individuals. However, it may not be necessary to find a cure for this disease according to ethical principles. Many of the illnesses that we attempt to cure are rationalized on the principle that doing so would end a component of human suffering. It is difficult to be sure that by ending autism, we would end the suffering of the individuals that have the disease because we cannot be sure that they are suffering in the first place. Even though autism is considered a disease because the individuals that have it have a lower functionality than most people, autism patients seem generally happy, even though they are stuck on their own world. Furthermore, functioning is decreased for these patients in some areas, but increased in others, such as the parts that control creativity. Therefore, it is difficult to argue that autism is a detriment, and is quite possibly a disorder that we should not need to cure.

According to much of the first person literature that has been written on the topic, individuals with autism are normal, and have chemical imbalances that don’t differ significantly from people that we consider to be normal. Society defines a normal person as an individual with the ability to behave and control his or her actions. However, looking at the average person, it becomes apparent that this is almost never completely achieved. Therefore, autism may simply be a symptom of mislabeling a disorder. In Curious Incident, the main character describes himself as a mathematician with some behavioral difficulties. Although he appears to have a higher level of functionality than some individuals with autism, it appears that he leads a happy life. It is therefore necessary to consider his situation and redefine what we consider to be normal.

The main character of Curious Incident is normal in regards to his ability to pick up a hobby and thoroughly enjoy it. In this case, it is math and problem solving. Individual’s with autism are typically able to master subjects of this sort to a higher extent than “normally functioning individuals” because their brain functioning is redistributed towards areas that enhance these abilities. Many individuals with autism have difficulty communicating verbally for example, but are able to compensate with this by connecting with others through use of art or music. It is not that they are unable to express themselves, they just do so differently. Therefore, it is essential to consider that individuals that have autism have the same abilities that everyone else does, they are just distributed differently. It is important to accept that this will be true in some cases, and stop ourselves from denying these individuals on the basis of these insignificant differences.

Today’s Man similarly describes a story of a childhood genius who was diagnosed with Asperger’s, which lies on the autism spectrum. Individuals with Asperger’s are considered to be high functioning, so he was able to achieve great success despite this ability. Furthermore, it appears that he is able to take care of himself despite his inability to pick up on social cures. It is our responsibility as a society to recognize that people can occasionally behave in this manner and avoid feeling offended when we communicate with these individuals. If we are able to recognize that they are chemically unable to realize that their behavior is out of place, we could make great strides in ensuring that individuals with autism will be able to gain a place in society.

While both of these stories dealt primarily with individuals with Asperger’s, it is important to recognize that many other individuals with autism spectrum disorders have lower levels of functioning. As a consequence, their brain imbalances are even more significant, making their behaviors and communication skills worse, but their unique talents and skills better. These individuals often require someone to take care of them throughout their lives because they will be unable to get jobs or care for themselves. While there is no doubt that an individual with Asperger’s is not suffering and could take care of his or her own livelihood, this is certainly not the case for other individuals. Therefore, it is important for us to start emphasizing the differences between the different parts of the autism spectrum disorder. It would be unreasonable to cure Asperger’s, for example, because there is no human suffering. However, if a low functioning individual loses all of his or her family members or their support, it can become nearly impossible for them to survive. Therefore, it may be necessary to find a cure for this particular subset of autism.

In conclusion, a disease should not be cured if there are no instances of human suffering. This is the case for individuals with Asperger’s, who are able to lead a normal and happy life. However, this is often not true for individuals with autism who are lower functioning. Since they require the support of others to be able to survive, it would be helpful to find a cure for this group of individuals.