How to deal with differing politics?

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I'm creating a workshop about being in special ed with someone else. I don't really agree with all of her politics. She believes in the social model of disability and doesn't believe in cures. I'm more of a curebie. I believe in cures, but I really don't believe in treating people with disabilities differently. I brought up the concept of spoons, but she thought I was being "too medical". What can I do?

Say this is a major controversy and present both sides. Anything else would be a whitewash.

I think most people aren't going to take psuedo science and "natural remedies" seriously, so long as that's not how you see curing, I think you two can still get along. You might not see things the same but you can both come to agree that you can improve one's mental state and try to give them the best life possible despite disability, not necessarily "curing" it - as you can do with asperger's syndrome in the same light of teaching empathy and eye contact, etc..

The person who has the lesser qualifications (degrees, training, et cetera) should defer to the one who is better qualified.

If no one has any relevant credentials, then it's a toss-up as to who wins and when the effort is going to fail.

There's no reason you can't get along. Just present your arguments with supportive evidence and allow her to do the same. It is unlikely that you will reach agreement on this issue, but that's okay. Make sure your workshop allows access to information on both sides. You don't have to convince people of anything, just present your case and leave them to think on it, or better yet, express their own feelings on the issue.

These ones coddle you, and dance around the issue.

You do realise that 'curebie' is a pejorative, right? It's something that's on par with bigot, homophobe, intolerant, etc etc. Well, similar, yeah? It's a bit strange that you would describe yourself this way. Perhaps you're applying 'curebie' to something that has nothing to do with Autism and Asperger's? 'Curebie' is used within the context of Autism and Asperger's, and to come to the conclusion that we need curing, you have to first think that we're sick or diseased, or perhaps think that we're broken somehow.

I'm not sure, but it appears as though you're not open to the possibility of cures being abhorrent. That you might want to change your friends mind on the topic. There is a risk of alienating your friend, if you for example, repeatedly push the topic, or keep trying to change ones mind about this. Perhaps your friend is Aspergian, or perhaps they know a family member that is, either way, it's already unnerving enough just being around people that think you or someone you know is a disease or a sickness, so I would be very careful about it, and if it's a must, I would raise the issue as carefully as I could.