Cheryl: You have brought out an interesting point here!

I found out that to be true too! you wrote:
>>It might help for instance when those of us who have children who cannot speak, or dress themselves ect speak of wanting a cure for autism>>
YES> It is because, it is a life long term disability. The whole family is affected by having one person taking my 99% of the time and energy, esp when very young!

>>and the people who are on the other end of the spectrum who are really just "different" who get hurt and offended thinkin we want to cure them>>
This is NOT exactly how they react when the SDs tell them that your child does not need an aide (One to one help to be in a class room)because he or she is HF!! Why is it so?
If my son was HF I would never bother to do any research or fight for cure! Can you believe it? It is true. Of course, the HF people do have some unique problems when they get to be a teen like Bipolar Depression or generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia etc. But still they are not same as in a child's
case w "Infantile autism" w an IQ of only <35.

In either case, I think it is okay to look for a cure. That is my opinion. HF people may not need the same amount of med or same meds even, as a low functioning kid w autism.

ASD is a perfect term, as parents do want to think their kids are autistic, even if they are "autistic like", as proposed by current medical research/events.
They get upset, if you tell them that your child is not a "classical case of clinical autism". Delay is not a word that applies to my son, but impairment in speech/lang does very well.

If they were to use the NIDS Dx then they do become NIDS cases and not a devtl disabilities. It will be considered purely as a medical Dx, like the child w HIV infection or Herpes infection! Though it is certain only certain viral load can damage the human genome, it is best to identify those genomic aberrations first and try to find "molecular meds to correct or supplement their proteins". WE need more protection from naturally occuring pathogens of our current modern times. That is for sure.



I have talked to so many people on the opposite end of the spectrum from daniel, who are such unique and wonderful people who definetly dont need a cure, and seen them get hurt by those of us who say we want a cure for autism, that a distinction would be great.