I remember way back when I was more involved in autism activism (particularly in regards to people peddling fake cures) a lot of parents of autistic children felt that I had no place criticising so called "curebie" parents because I allegedly couldn't understand the desperation and sadness these families were going through.
And y'know what? I don't know what they're going through. I can't possibly know because I don't live their lives. I know that the prognosis is better for me and I know there are fears about the future that my parents didn't necessarily have for me. So I know that what these people are going through is rough and I can appreciate how hard they have to work to have even a modicum of stability.
That doesn't mean that your pseudoscience is curing your child. In fact, it's probably harming your child!
Just because you feel sad and desperate, it doesn't make it a fact that a cure exists for autism. Just because you want chelation or HBOT or serotonin injections or bleach enemas to be the thing that helps your child, it doesn't make it so. And just because I don't personally know what it is like to be a desperate parent or to have severe autism it doesn't mean that I'm wrong.
These "cures" are untested, dangerous and unscientific crap peddled by psychopaths who only care about pocketing your money regardless of what harm they cause. So forgive me if I don't give a s**t about your feelings when you are literally killing your children.
I hate that when it comes to discussing this crap I have to constantly walk on eggshells incase I hurt the precious sensibilities of someone who is literally abusing their child.
You HAVE to accept that your child is autistic. This is nothing to do with pushing this idea that autism makes you a special snowflake or that it shouldn't ever be cured. It has everything to do with the fact that denial is literally harming children, bringing back preventable Victorian diseases and giving money to an industry that has no basis in science or ethics. By denying that your child will always be autistic, you are depriving them of the things they actually need to function and that is abhorrent.
And I mention this now because this is still happening and we act so limp wristed about it to protect people's egoes.
I refuse to be nice about it. Pseudoscience is dangerous, end of story.
12 Jul 2016, 9:32 am
