I'm autistic myself. I don't want a "cure" but I would like to have something that could help me reduce some of the harder aspects of life.

Right now I'm on anti anxiety drugs, which whilst mostly affective, have sided effects that kind of suck. I'm lucky my wife and daughter love me very much, and I've always been someone who wanted to push myself a little further to get outside or do new things.. mostly because my daughter is also autistic and I want to be a good example of "small steps" ... But it was so hard with no medication that I eventually had a full blown autistic burnout, where therapy, time off work, and eventually medication helped me get back to work.

Yes I want society to be more accommodating to us, but that doesn't stop the multitude of micro-aggressions I suffer daily just trying to navigate life, relationships, work, etc. If something could help remove those, I'd be forever grateful.

I do not however want the way my mind works to change.

Keep the positive, remove or dull the negative.

I see this sentiment often, but only when it comes to autism. How is this different from other disorders, disabilities, illnesses?

You could make the exact same arguments for blindness. Every day is challenging, difficulties are mostly a consequence of how we've structured society, it's other people who should accommodate those who have different needs, etc.

This narrative seems to originate from, and is perpetuated within online autism communities. I think it's great that people feel content with the way they are but I don't understand the animosity towards a mere suggestion that a cure should exist.

I'm familiar with the history behind it and I'm on high alert when someone ventures into eugenics, however I firmly believe that we should be looking for a cure, just like we do for every other illness and disorder.

i liken it to ADHD medicine. if you give it early in life then people often end up using it and benefitting from it. Later life diagnoses see people not take the medicine because their condition has become their person and changing that feels like it changes them too much from themselves.

Ultimately its all about being able to manage your life. If you run into troubles due to some condition it can cause to want a drug for it, but if you can manage often it can feels wrong to take it.

> If it was possible to fully trust that a hypothetical "cure" would only be used in these severe cases

Isn’t it like the Ozempic? Some take it, some don’t.

The flip side - I don't think there's a single upside to the ASD traits I have, I don't like myself, and I would absolutely love to know what it feels like to not have ASD.