It may be that the social deficits which are the cornerstone of an
autism spectrum diagnosis tell us far more about the person who made
them markers for such a diagnosis than about the child whom he observes. -Lucy Blackman
The Internet (or at least the parts of it I frequent) is abuzz about Ari Ne'eman's interview in Newsweek. I am glad Newsweek chose to publish the article despite John Best's threats, but I am not going to use this post to rehash Mr. Ne'eman's points. Instead, I will use his interview as the opening of a lesson in unintended consequences.
Sickle cell disease is devastating, but those who are capable of passing on the gene for it but don't have the disease themselves have a significant advantage in many parts of the world: they are resistant to malaria. If genetic testing for the sickle cell trait became commonplace worldwide and the population of carriers eventually eradicated, humanity would lose not only a good deal of genetic diversity, but also a potential avenue for malaria research. If a genetic therapy that reversed the sickle cell trait were developed today and distributed globally, a large portion of the world's population would be vulnerable to a disease they could have resisted before. It would improve the quality of life for carriers not at significant risk for malaria, but it would dramatically reduce it for people who previously had a good chance of outliving their "healthy" peers.
In this case, to borrow an idiom, sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander, and the principle remains the same with autism.
Many of the so-called "deficits" of autistic people become valuable assets when they are harnessed properly. The same single-mindedness that prompts us to talk incessantly about geology or spend a whole day observing patterns in a carpet is what makes autistic people valuable in highly specialized jobs and industries. Put an autistic person in a position where he enjoys and is good at what he does, and he will never do a job halfway. The same sensory oversensitivity that often leads to meltdowns and overstimulation is what makes autistic people also leads to autistic people being the first to notice things that are wrong, from loose hinges to gas leaks.
It is impossible to eradicate only the negative aspects of autism without also eradicating the positive ones, as they are simply different parts of the same traits. Eradicating autism, ADD/ADHD, and other social deficits in the name of conformity will deprive humanity of valuable traits. Denying vaccines based on unfounded fear of a link between vaccines and autism kills people and saves no one.
To borrow another idiom, it's like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole when a square hole. Change the shape of the peg, and not only will the newly rounded peg never quite fit correctly, but there will always be an unfilled hole.
(Images courtesy GreenFlames09 and sfllaw)
