Now that you've read my quick summary of what autism is, from the context of curing autism, I'll give the quick answer.
No, autism can't be cured, because there's nothing to be cured of. At least we can say that we don't know what we are curing. So in short, autism is not a disease, so there is no cure.
I'll expand a little on the idea that autism is not a disease. In many cases, autistic people are brilliant. They see the world in a new and amazing way. They are just what this crazy world needs.
Why do we see this as a problem? Even worse, why do some people see it as a disease to be cured of.
Well, it often has something to do with the 'weird' traits and behaviours that people with autism have. Because they are different, some people see it as a problem that needs to be cured.
There are, however, deeper levels of autism where the brilliance cannot get out to be expressed. This means that the world doesn't see the brilliance. When parents like us see this in our children, we want to act. Rightfully so. We certainly acted with early intervention which helped our son's brilliance emerge.
To ensure the brilliance emerges to be seen, our focus needs to shift away from curing autism. Think more about supporting our children so that the brilliance can emerge.
If you want to develop yourself into being a world-renowned actor, athlete or scientist, you do things to improve your body, mind and spirit. Okay, most stick to the body and mind, but I thought I'd put it out there. People work in their health. They reduce inflammation and improve their immune system. They improve their energy and work on brain health.
Autistic children are no different. To let the world see who they are, they need health strategies and early intervention that work on some of their challenges.
So, our focus should not be on curing autism. However, it should be on improving health and using strategies to help overcome their challenges. The earlier this is done, the easier and more effective the strategies will be.
For more, please read our dedicated post exploring the idea of
curing autism.