The Autism Acceptance Project – Rejecting Reality

The Autism Acceptance Project is one of the more recent rhetorical adventures of the anti-cure, autism is wonderful, movement also known as neurodiversity. If I sound cynical it is because I am. With a son with classic Autism Disorder who is profoundly autistic I, unlike the TAAP people, can not afford the luxury of wishful thinking. I am not seeking help for my son’s many positive attributes. I am seeking help for his negative attributes, the very serious, even life threatening deficits, which impair his quality of life, and will lead to a life of being cared for by others, just as they do for many other lower functioning, inarticulate autistic persons who are not represented in the Neurodiversity discussion groups. The TAAP folks object to candid description of unpleasant truths.

They react hysterically when parents seeking help for their own autistic children speak the truth. Witness the verbal abuse heaped by them on the parents of the Autism Every Day video. I will not stop speaking the truth while the TAAP and neurodiversity crowd write pseudo-scientific critiques dismissing evidence based standards of treatment for autism and condemning truthful portraits of classic lower functioning Autism Disorder.

If the neurodiversity crowd wants to paint a more positive picture for art galleries and society teas fine. Let them petition the American Psychiatric Association to change the names of higher functioning autism disorders to some other labels so that they do not have to be associated with the lower functioning classic Autism Disorder people like my son. That should ease their acceptance goals considerably. They can feel good about themselves and their friends in the neurodiversity movement. Those of us fighting for real help for our autistic children can do so without the annoying sounds of Autism’s sirens singing in the background.