Autism Movement Seeks Acceptance, Not Cures, by Joseph Shapiro

High-functioning autistics have reported the “comfort” they felt upon being diagnosed. “Finally an explanation, finally a sense of why and how,” wrote a man diagnosed with Asperger syndrome at age thirty-six, shortly after his four-year-old son was diagnosed with the same disorder (Shapiro 2006). 

Ian Hacking (2006) has noted that “many misfit adults now recognize themselves as autistics, or so they say. It really helps to be able to put a label to your oddities. It brings a kind of peace: so that is what I am.” Judy Singer (1999, 62) expounds on the “benefits of a clear identity,” and Jane Meyerding (2003) speaks of the “aha! moment” when she discovered autism as an explanation.

Vidal, Fernando and Ortega, Francisco. Being Brains: Making the Cerebral Subject (Forms of Living)....

Shapiro, Joseph P. 2006. “Autism Movement Seeks Acceptance, Not Cures.”

Hacking, Ian. 2006. “What Is Tom Saying to Maureen?” London Review of Books 28 (9).

Singer, Judy. 1999. “Why Can’t You Be Normal for Once in Your Life? From a ‘Problem with No Name’ to...

Meyerding, Jane. 2003. “The Great ‘Why Label?’ Debate.”