- Comment by Neurodiversity Blogger Kev Leitch of LBRB on the recent paper indicating that children have been compensated for what, based on an analysis of the symptoms, appear to have been autism disorders.
Neurodiversity, to the extent that it has any meaning at all, opposes the medical model of behavioral and intellectual disorders. Kev Leitch of LBRB has been a prominent Neurodiversity autism blogger. It came as a pleasant surprise to me to see that Kev does in fact accept that autism is a medical disorder despite his ND leanings. Kev has always been solidly in the autism is a gift ND Camp ( Or as Estee Klar argues autism is a joy):
To cure what? Good question. Some believe that autism and its attendant comorbidities are interchangeable. That constipation and a different way of looking at things are the same thing. That dyspraxia and a lack of imaginative ability are the same thing. Others believe that the two things are quite separate. That the comorbidities that are attendant with autism in some people cannot be used to define autism. That the condition of being autistic bequeaths gifts as well as troubles (and it does bequeath troubles, lets not pretend it doesn't) and that keeping the troubles is a small price to pay for keeping the gifts.
It is difficult for me to rationalize the view that autism is a gift with the concept that autism is a medical disorder for which one must receive a medical diagnosis before being considered autistic. Admittedly I lack Kev's intellectual flexibility. He might well be able to reconcile these diametrically opposed concepts but I can't do that. I can't embrace two diametrically opposed concepts as both being true. I have always viewed Neurodiversity ideology as inherently irrational.
If autism is a gift why does someone have a medical diagnosis? People don't seek medical attention because they have a gift. We sought medical attention for our son 14 years ago because, even at 15 months of age, it was clear that he was not developing ordinary speech for a child his age and was not even acknowledging our presence when we tried to play games like peek a boo with him. We were not seeking an autism diagnosis for him, I did not even know what autism was. We wanted to know if he had medical issues. Ultimately after observation and testing he was diagnosed with an autism disorder. Our son is a gift. We enjoy our every minute with him, even the challenging times. But his autism disorder itself is not a gift. It is a medical disorder which limits very seriously his ability to enjoy an independent life or to understand the world in which we live.
I can not reconcile the concept of a medical disorder, obtained because of serious functional and developmental limitations, with the concept of a gift. Perhaps ND ideologue Kev Leitch is finally moving away from his embrace of the contradictory mess known as Neurodiversity. Perhaps.
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