Anti-prejudice, not anti-science

The Autism Institute at the University of San Diego recently presented a conference entitled "Work With Me, Not On Me." Conference participants -- including parents, professionals, and representatives of the autistic self-advocate community -- discussed how to provide appropriate education and positive supports to the autistic population, with respect for autistics as a guiding principle. This conference, and others like it, are providing a valuable dialogue on the ethical issues associated with autism.

Dr. Oberman, to the extent that your "life's goal" consists of bringing about greater scientific understanding of the autistic brain and its workings, autistic self-advocates (such as myself) are not necessarily opposed to it. Indeed, many neurodiversity proponents would like to see more studies done in areas that can benefit the autistic population, such as cognitive research, educational research, development of low-cost augmentative communication devices, et cetera. Self-advocate groups such as the Autistic Self Advocacy Network strongly support autism research that has the potential to enhance communication and other skills.

Autism research can get into murky ethical waters, however, when -- as a result of failure to critically examine the biased assumptions that pervade our society -- the primary goal is to force conformity on a minority population. I believe that researchers have an ethical obligation to consult with autistic individuals to determine their preferences, while respecting the validity of the autistic culture.

There are many biased assumptions that often go unnoticed, as Cliff Schumacher pointed out in his comment. When a capable, well-educated autistic person cannot get a job because today's hiring managers prefer applicants who do not appear autistic in the interview, this is just as discriminatory as a refusal to hire applicants who belong to any other minority group. It should be dealt with by improving the scope and enforcement of anti-discrimination laws, not by altering the brains of autistic people to make their speech patterns and body language become more acceptable to the intolerant.

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