Respecting Autistics and Preventing Autism: Exploring a Tension in the Allocation of Public Resources

摘要

It has increasingly been argued by proponents of the 'neurodiversity movement' that society should change to accommodate autistic individuals - autistics - rather than trying to prevent or cure autism. Underlying this is a movement to re-conceptualise autism as neurodiversity, rather than as a disorder requiring a cure. In this paper I consider the tensions that arise in the context of people who oppose the claims of the neurodiversity movement - and seek to prevent and cure autism - in terms of the allocation of public resources to address autism. These tensions are difficult to neutralise or navigate. I examine two possible strategies to address this tension. The first involves narrowing the scope of the re-conceptualising to include only high-functioning autistics (HFA) and individuals with Asperger's Syndrome (IAS), excluding low-functioning autistics (LFA). The second proposes addressing the co-occurring symptoms of autism, while leaving its essential characteristics untouched. The aim of this paper is to see if a space exists between the two extremes of rejecting the claims of the neurodiversity movement, or completely removing funding for the prevention and cure of autism. Hopefully, the difficulties of finding such a space will enable a fuller appreciation of the costs involved in the re-conceptualization of autism.