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Controversies in autism

There exist many controversies concerning autism, which the topics beneath should cover well. However, these are primarily contemporary issues; for a bitter historical controversy in autism research see the notes on Bruno Bettelheim on the autism page.

Controversial 'treatments' for autism spectrum disorders

Parents who are desperate for a "normal" child may agree to all sorts of treatments, including electroshock therapy, neuroleptic and antidepressant medication, and Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), -- which at its most extreme appears barbaric, to say the least. presents open letters from parents on this subject, also see its subsection below. Such efforts to change neurological function by controlling behavior and appearance result in "normal-looking" frustrated, even raging, teens and adults who have not been taught to use their considerable strengths to offset their deficits.

There are many purported treatments, or even alleged cures, for autism that, if anything, achieve only conformity on the part of the subject. Many "treatments" are aimed at making the autistic person act in a superficially normal manner, and end up conditioning the autistic person to simulate desired behaviors (such as eye contact) without giving them any social understanding or making them any more comfortable with the behavior, or even making the behaviour functional for them. Others, such as the particularly cruel "holding therapy", achieve only the benefit of the parent(s). Some autistic children have died under such treatment. The fallacy with these treatments is in assuming there is a normal child locked up inside the autistic one. However, training an autistic to act like a neurotypical individual is the same as training a cat to wag its tail and saying that it is now a dog.

There are also chemical treatments, drugs routinely prescribed to autistic individuals including children. Few of these drugs have ever been licensed for the treatment of autism spectrum disorders, and most of them, if given improperly, have dangerous consequences. Some of these include antidepressants, while others include lithium, and Ritalin, both of which are controlled substances with dangerous side effects and high potentials for abuse, that are routinely being prescribed to children across the world.

Applied Behaviour Analysis

Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), has been analysed in Michele Dawson's . A key feature of this site is the academic-level proof that ABA was constructed from the earlier model of "correcting" homosexuality with electroshocks as a means of making non-homosexuals comfortable. This proof comes from Lovaas' own works no less, including his orthodox-christian values as justification. Dawson goes on to show that strong aversives are the inherent effective ingredient of ABA; that the opportunity to use strong aversives is directly related to the job satisfaction of the professional who uses it on the autistic (not necessarily out of sadism; therapists like successes better than failures); that ABA doesn't only address the dysfunctional side of autism but also enforces social norms so that non-autistics feel better around autistics in the stated goal to remove/hide autism entirely. This position has been softened by ABA in discourse, but not in always in their actions.

It is not surprising that autistic adults feel outraged by 'orthodox' ABA, its treatment whose techniques were originally developed as a way to 'treat' Homosexuality, and which is still practiced on them, using its original methods. Those methods are simple, punishing people for behaving in the way natural to themselves, and harmless to others, and conditioning behaviours more comfortable to society.

ABA itself makes no distinction of what should be enforced with strong aversives, what shouldn't be enforced with strong aversives, and what is a grey area. Therapists have historically drifted toward more and more punitions because they wanted results, or because it improves their job satisfaction (for reasons unspecified in the study on job satisfaction -- sadism may not be the motive, but the complete lack of industry watchdogs makes ABA very easy to abuse).

One example of ABA's perfectly valid, peer-reviewed science is listed in the PUBMED medical index; this is a study that asks which electroshock pattern is the most painful. This is a year 2002 article, and despite ABA's denial of punishment as necessary the research oriented toward finding maximum punishment possible is useful in areas like prevention of automutilation in Kanner autistics. The Stanford Prison Experiment. Consider that these autism treatments have been going on for decades without watchdogs. Many autistics are much easier to manipulate than neurotypical prisoners. Even the most capable autistics aren't allowed to be present in the decision-making process even as silent witnesses. Very ordinary random individuals use punishment without therapeutic goals for their personal enjoyment if allowed to, and the Stanford study showed that no one was willing to stop them (one third of the "guards" in the experiment went way out of line). Consider what Stanford reveals about what human nature becomes when left unchecked.

The autism rights movement

Controversy exists as to whether autism is a disorder at all, or simply a variation in neurological wiring. Many autistics do not lack language skills and desire to speak for themselves about their experience. Also, some mute autistics such as Jasmine O'Neill write very well. They do not desire a cure, but rather to be given opportunities to use their unique skills and perceptions in useful ways. Websites such as and present their view.

The controversial organization Cure Autism Now (CAN) is good example of an organization which while well meaning, represents the exact opposite of these views and opinions.

CAN is most often cited as portraying an image of autistics as being helpless individuals in need of a cure, and not unfairly since the name itself states the need and goal of curing autistics. However while the suggestion that autistic people are sick and need treatment and curing offends and saddens these people, it's important to state that this isn't what drives the current flood of autism advocacy. Often one gets the impression that CAN, and other organisations who share their view of autism do not seek a cure aimed at fixing issues causing individuals pain or suffering, but a social cure for the problems currently presented by what they coin "an epidemic of autism". Treating autistics with traditional methods and thinking is expensive, and the numbers of autistics seems to be steadily rising, causing a proportionate growth in the already huge costs to society in dealing with them.

Knowing that such a cure to this social problem could simply involve preventing the birth of autistic persons by using prenatal screening techniques horrifies those autistics who feel they are simply different and not afflicted with a terrible condition.

These concerns are spoken of because they provide the current frenzied motivation of the fast emerging hoards of autism advocates. There is nothing like the threat of extinction to kickstart a minority into fighting for equality. However, this new army of advocates (whose views and attitudes can be referenced from the sites above) are not the first.

The first autistic persons advocating the view that the autistic condition was not a negative affliction they either needed or wanted cured, of whom one of the most famous is Jim Sinclair, were diagnosed in a time when autism was a decidedly unusual diagnosis. The growing threat to existence of persons with autism, combined with the growing number of diagnoses however has made such views common place among a substantially large number of autistics. Thus, it should not lightly be assumed that autistic people presenting this point of view represent a misdiagnosed group, as once seemed plausible.

Indeed, many of these traits run in families, evidence interestingly of autism's genetic aspect, meaning individuals with this view are often found in twos or threes. Brothers and sisters, parents and children, each having individually been diagnosed with the same traits and related conditions, and increasingly commonly sharing these once rare views on autism.

Clearly most of the autistics who feel this were, have not been misdiagnosed, are not simply shy or introverted "geeks" with a few social quirks.

Of course these people experience the severe problems assosciated with autism in their day to day lives. They would also be quick to point out they are commenly blessed with the remarkable intellectual abilities and gifts that are common among autistics.

In any case for these people the issue of what autism is, is irrelevant when it comes to the notion of curing them. For they know that what is labeled their autism is an intrinsic part of themselves, that the autism could not be eradicated without causing them to be someone else, no longer themselves.

For these people a cure to autism would be a cessation of their self; for these individuals a personal cure would be death, much as the social cure would be the death of the unborn.