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First things first. I hate to upset the People First Language crowd, but no one “has autism,” because to do so would imply that you have a disease. And if you have no disease, then there would obviously be no cure.
So, looking at this logically, which is the only way my autistic brain knows how. Amazon was completely in the right for pulling books suggesting cures for a disease that doesn’t exist.
I find it strange that in the autistic community there are some who celebrate being the way we are and others who are upset by it. I get that. I guess.
People want to be normal, but what’s normal?
What people, including some that claim to be autism experts, don’t understand is that there’s nothing “wrong” with us. Are we different? Yeah. Is that a bad thing? Nope.
Some are calling it censorship while others refer to it as social responsibility. As a writer, I can see the argument for the censorship argument, but as a person on the spectrum and as an autism advocate, I completely see this as social responsibility.
Look at it this way. Would you want to see book after book for sale basically selling snake oil? Telling you how to cure something that doesn’t exist or at the very least telling you that it’s possible to cure that something that doesn’t exist?
Am I telling you that autism doesn’t exist? No. I’m saying it’s not a disease and therefore has no cure.
I’m proudly autistic and nothing will ever change that.
Let’s play Devils Advocate for a moment and pretend that it’s not autism but rather being LBGTQ. Would you want books telling you that there’s a cure for being gay?
Absolutely not!
Why? Because being part of the LBGTQ community isn’t a disease and doesn’t need a cure.
The bottom line is that you can’t cure people of being who they are. I was born autistic and I’m going to die autistic and that’s the way it is.
You can’t cure something that’s not an illness or disease and anyone who says they can is straight up lying to you. If you’re on the spectrum I hope that you don’t fall for the cure conspiracy because there is absolutely nothing wrong with you.
I do feel bad for the writers that took the time to write and publish their books only to see them pulled from the world’s largest bookstore, but when those books promise something that they can’t deliver, they need to be pulled.
The bottom line? I’m not sick. I’m on the spectrum.
J.R. Reed is a published author, adult autism advocate, blogger, speaker, nerd, owner of an award-winning purple goatee, and proud Aspie.
Diagnosed at age forty-six, he grew up most of his life, “Off the Spectrum.” as he talks about in his blog, Not Weird, Just Autistic. He's also a proud contributor to The Mighty.
J.R. Writes the columns Not Weird Just Autistic and Life With a Side of Disability for Good Men Project and does a weekly Not Weird Just Autistic podcast with co-host Shannon Hugghes.
The author of An Asperger’s Guide To Dating Neurotypicals, J.R. works with those high school age through adult to help them live better lives as well as educates NT’s on who we really are. He’s currently working on two books, Not Weird Just Autistic, along with the novel Diary of a Modern Dad, which features a main character with Asperger's Syndrome.
Connect with him: On Twitter @nwjautistic, on Facebook, Linkedin, on Instagram, and via his Website,www.NotWeirdJustAutistic.com
So, looking at this logically, which is the only way my autistic brain knows how. Amazon was completely in the right for pulling books suggesting cures for a disease that doesn’t exist.
