Is Autism a Disease or Difference?
Good piece in Wired on Autism.
Autistics like Baggs are now leading a nascent civil rights movement. “I remember in ‘99,” she says, “seeing a number of gay pride Web sites. I envied how many there were and wished there was something like that for autism. Now there is.” The message: We’re here. We’re weird. Get used to it.
This movement is being fueled by a small but growing cadre of neuropsychological researchers who are taking a fresh look at the nature of autism itself. The condition, they say, shouldn’t be thought of as a disease to be eradicated. It may be that the autistic brain is not defective but simply different — an example of the variety of human development. These researchers assert that the focus on finding a cure for autism — the disease model — has kept science from asking fundamental questions about how autistic brains function.
The Truth About Autism: Scientists Reconsider What They Think They Know
Find Out More:
Books:
- The Well Balanced Child: Movement And Early Learning (Early Years)
- My Friend with Autism: A Coloring Book for Peers and Siblings
- Engaging Autism: Helping Children Relate, Communicate and Think with the DIR Floortime Approach
- Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior
- Songs of the Gorilla Nation: My Journey Through Autism
February 27th, 2008
Autism
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