“But I still don’t think I could describe what I think my main contribution to society is, or what anyone’s main contribution to society is. To me it is like we are all pieces of something larger than even human society and each piece has a definite and exact place, and the shape of that place is the shape of our lives, which even we can’t totally understand.”

I think this is quite possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever read. What an amazing world we could live in, if all of humanity shared your clarity, Amanda. Thank you for being here!

People normally consider me HF but I consider the label gross =P and inaccurate. They also question me calling myself an autistic, rather then an aspie.

This might seem strange, but I have noticed that a lot more of the people who associate themselves away from the plain label “autism” also tend to not see the problematic aspects of organizations like Autism Speaks and the use of cure and fix language.

I don’t care if you can speak or not and in the information age with ready access to texting and internet chat, who needs to be verbal as long as they can type! If you can hold a conversation, tell jokes and are an interesting person, who cares about the other stuff? I certainly don’t and people who think they are somehow better then others with the same diagnosis simply because they can speak, are full of it. Sure Temple Grandin may have contributed to more humane treatment of cattle, but she doesn’t do anything to help with the more humane treatment of those who share her diagnosis and she should be ashamed of herself for that.

My problem with what she said has nothing to do with rudeness. It has to do with casual dismissal of the idea that people with intellectual disabilities actually have things going on in their brains — in other words really offensive prejudices. Your attempt to defend her by pointing out the existence of intellectual disabilities as if that explains everything, really doesn’t work. At all. I’ve spent more than half my life in programs alongside people with intellectual disabilities and they have as much going on in their brains as anyone else. I can’t even believe I’m having to say that. Makes me wonder what you guys think an intellectual disability is.

Also, to the vegetarian, you are hoping to realize a utopian dream where slaughter houses won;t have to exist, but this reality will never actualize. As long as there are people in the world who love meat (and there are BILLIONS), there will always need to be huge conglomerate corporations to “get meat to the masses.” Temple Grandin is trying to make the process more humane. She is all about “respecting the animal,” which is a much better solution than saying “we should justget rid of the entire meat industry.” That is NEVER going to happen. No matter how much you want it to happen. We NEED meat to function and anyone who says we don’t is dead wrong. We get vitamin B12 from meat, and there’s no other way to get it other than eating MEAT. We have two canine teeth; the purpose of canine teeth is to TEAR MEAT. Obviously the propensity for eating meat has evolved within homo sapiens and is something that we need to survive. Our brains are so large, most likely due to the protein we got from EATING MEAT. Meat is here to stay, sorry to burst your bubble.

Improper Grammar: “I do not think that most AS folks do share in it.”

Correction: “I do not think that most AS folks share in this elitism.”

Improper Grammar: “What does ‘Autism Speaks’ mean when it suggests a cure?”

Correction: “What does ‘Autism Speaks’ mean when this organization refers to a ‘cure’?”

Shalom Aleichem,

I have noticed that *SOME*, not all, but *SOME* of my fellow AS have adopted the elitism that you describe. That is unfortunate. I want you to know that I do not share in it. I do not think that most AS folks do share in it.

Now, as for the cure vs. anti-cure issue, my problem with the “cure” faction is that they never define what they mean. Do they intend to identify the genes responsible for autism and then to terminate pregnancies based on gene detection? Do they intend to make such terminations *MANDATORY*? What does “Autism Speaks” mean when it suggests a cure? The ethical issues are tremendous, and the “cure” party does not tell us what they mean by the term. They make it impossible to have an honest discussion.

Let me be clear. I oppose eugenics. That is a form of evil that the world should have eschewed in 1945 at Nuremberg.