Working in Movement

Many people diagnosed as autistic exhibit seemingly odd social behaviors. Behaviors, like rocking, hand flapping or difficulty with eye contact, are seen as undesireable, particularly in school settings. Though there is no "cure" for the condition, some approaches to dealing with it involves therapy that teaches appropriate social skills. But not everyone buys into this sort of approach. How About Not 'Curing' Us, Some Autistics Are Pleading reports on a new New York school for autistic teens that takes a radically different approach:

The new program, whose name stands for Autistic Strength, Purpose and Independence in Education - and whose acronym is a short form of Asperger's - is rooted in a view of autism as an alternative form of brain wiring, with its own benefits and drawbacks, rather than a devastating disorder in need of curing.

It's approach is unconventional, to say the least:

But unlike many programs for autistics, this school's program does not try to expunge the odd social behaviors that often make life so difficult for them. Its unconventional aim is to teach students that it is O.K. to "act autistic" and also how to get by in a world where it is not.

This approach, of course, is not without controversy.

For many parents, however, the autistic self-advocacy movement often sounds like a threat to the brighter future they envision for their children. In recent months, the long-simmering argument has erupted into an online brawl over the most humane way to handle an often crippling condition.

But those who champion this alternative approach seem steadfast in their opposition.

The autistic activists say they want help, too, but would be far better off learning to use their autistic strengths to cope with their autistic impairments rather than pretending that either can be removed. Some autistic tics, like repetitive rocking and violent outbursts, they say, could be modulated more easily if an effort were made to understand their underlying message, rather than trying to train them away. Other traits, like difficulty with eye contact, with grasping humor or with breaking from routines, might not require such huge corrective efforts on their part if people were simply more tolerant.

The effort to cure autism, they say, is not like curing cancer, but like the efforts of a previous age to cure left-handedness.

Websites mentioned in the article include neurodiversity.com and autistics.org.