What CAN I say?
May 4, 2006 by Kristina Chew, PhD
Filed under Health
Yesterday we received the Spring 2006 issue of Advances, a publication of Cure Autism Now (CAN). Central to CAN’s mission is the belief
- that, with enough determination, money and manpower, science can in fact be hurried so that answers are found sooner rather than later.
As its name suggest, the chief “answer” that CAN funds research for is to “cure autism.” Autistic persons–at Autistics.org, along with many other groups–have responded to this notion of “curing autism” by referencing Jim Sinclair’s essay Don’t Mourn For Us and with this image:
I am no “curebie.” My son has autism are words I say with ease and pride. Nonetheless, all of us autism parents have much in common whatever our views about “curing” autism: We are all in this together and we have to be careful to not let rhetoric get in our way.
In the latest issue of Advances, autism parent Sallie Bernard, who chairs the CAN Board of Directors, notes that early intervention is for “all conditions, at any age.”
While I do not see the goal of early intervention as to “cure autism”–so that, as Ms. Bernard writes, a child might ”lose their diagnosis.” I do think that, with “intervention,”
- “quality of life can be significantly improved when debilitating physical and psychological problems [GI problems, depression, seizures, anxiety, and many more] are identified and properly addressed.”
Ms. Bernard also writes, and I concur, that
- …intervention can occur at any age, with intensive treatments initiated for everyone across the lifespan.
I would rather say “education” than intervention: Charlie, and all autistic children–at all ages and whatever their “condition”–need to be educated, to be taught, to achieve their full potential.
And they need this NOW.
This may be being nitpicky, but when did seizures become a psychological problem?????? Or GI problems for that matter…if autistics have such similar colonoscopies, clearly it’s physical.
Other than that I’m too biased against CAN because they offend me to my very core to say anything worth saying. But Ms Bernard needs an education if she thinks those are in any way shape or form psychological.
I think nitpicky is good—I’m always encourages students in my courses to “close read” to address what someone says (especially if the reader disagrees).
I think Ms. Bernard means that seizures of “physical” problems–in the original text (which I did not quote due to its length) she mentioned the specific “physical and psychological problems” in a separate sentence, but does include seizures and depression in the same list.