The autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a controversial subject that impacts an increasingly large community of interesting and unique human beings. ASD is a complex developmental condition involving individualized challenges in communication, social interaction, and behavior. The severity of symptoms ranges vastly from individual to individual. ASD diagnoses have grown significantly in number and currently, about 1 in 54 children have been identified with ASD according to the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network. As awareness of ASD increases, varying opinions on models and treatments have emerged as a response. The neurodiversity movement emerged in the 1990s and rivals the medical model of autism. Applied behavioral analysis has proven to be one of the most influential treatments of autism, however, should be questioned as ethical regarding neurodiversity and the oppression of autistic individuals' natural form of expression.
The major difference between the neurodiversity model and the medical model of autism is in how autism is viewed. The neurodiversity movement believes there are many different variations of human functionality and each variation is deserving of respect and acceptance. The medical model of autism believes in the possibility of a “cure” for autism and focuses on treatments and preventable causes. This large difference causes a lot of offense taken by many ASD individuals who do not see their differences as a disease but that of a difference.
Neurodiversity refers to the idea that neurological differences in humans are a natural occurrence and differences should be celebrated, and people should not be forced to conform to the status quo. Judy Singer, an ASD sociologist, came up with the term “neurodiversity” in the late 1990s to reject the idea that autistic people are disabled. Singer was a firm believer that her brain just simply worked differently than other peoples’. Other activists and self-advocate ASD individuals embraced this term and began the battle of inclusivity. There is no single standard for the human brain. There is no way to decide what makes a brain normal or abnormal and our society has taken it upon itself to make the distinction. To John Robison, an autistic man, “neurodiversity is the idea that neurological differences like autism and ADHD are the result of normal, natural variation in the human genome.” Every ASD individual is unique in their own way and their levels of disability and combination of symptoms vary tremendously. ASD individuals prefer to refer to themselves as autistic and reject the term “person with autism” because their brains are “wired” in an atypical way. The term “person with autism” implies that they are a person inflicted with some type of disease and labels like “autistic” and “aspie” are adopted by ASD individuals because being autistic is a part of their identity, and they are not separate from it.
The supporters of the medical model of autism’s long-term goal are to find a cure for autism through research and intensive therapies. One of the most popular therapies used to treat autism is Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). It is important to understand that ABA is not a therapy for autism but instead a science using a range of techniques to help people with a variety of behaviors and diagnoses such as autism. ABA therapies usually focus on the areas of development, such as cognition, communication, physical motor skills, adaptive skills, and social skills. ABA therapists give ASD clients tasks to accomplish and often use a reward system to enforce “good behavior.” A 2013 study on parent’s experience with ABA showed a significant positive impact on the lives of ASD children particularly with communication, challenging behaviors, independence, and the family as a whole. Parents occupy a large part of the medical model’s community. In 2007 the New York University Child Study Center launched a publicity campaign that successfully frightened parents of autistic children. The campaign painted autism in a light that made it seem like autism abducted these parents’ “normal” children and that underneath every autistic child is a “normal” child. The campaign supported the idea that autism is a disease that needs to be cured and received a lot of backlashes.
The issue in ABA therapy lies in the oppression of the natural way of life for ASD people. ABA attempts to reduce or eliminate ASD-related behaviors that may be useful or even necessary to autistic people and replace them with more socially acceptable behaviors. ABA therapy attempts to reduce or eliminate “stimming” in ASD children. A “stim” refers to behavior that is not culturally acceptable. Stimming can look like hand flapping, pacing, rocking back and forth, and many other individualized behaviors. Stimming aids ASD individuals with managing emotions and overwhelming sensory input, releasing energy, and feeling comfortable under stressful situations. Attempting to remove an ASD child’s stim can be detrimental to their well-being and should be left alone unless their stim is harmful to themselves and others. ABA therapy may put ASD children at an increased risk of bullying and sexual abuse. ABA teaches ASD children to hide their discomforts, stifle their personalities, and be more obedient than neurotypical children. If a child is unable to communicate their discomforts and taught to suppress themselves, they could end up in a harmful situation. ABA therapy emphasized on communication trains children to repeat socially acceptable phrases on command creating a “robot” response. These kids often do not know what they are saying, just that they have to say it.
Those in support of the medical model of autism and society as a whole needs to accept that autism cannot be cured. There is a natural variation in genetics that proves neurodiversity in humans is natural. At the genetic level, about 5-15% of the variance in autism can be attributed to rare genetic variants and 10-50% of the variance in autism can be attributed to common genetic variants. It is also crucial people understand that autistic people interact with the world differently. A 2019 study, “Treatment for Whom? Towards a phenomenological resolution of controversy within autism treatment,” by Themistoklis Pantazakos proposed a life-world view of autism. The way people view the world is subjective and Pantazakos proposes that ASD individuals see the world under a different lens neurotypical people do. ASD individuals perceive properties of thoughts, the physical body, and time differently than neurotypical people do, therefore they interact in a different life-world view that is hard for neurotypical people to understand.
Neurodiverse people add a great deal of value to society. An abundance of great minds throughout history have been ASD individuals. Some of these great minds included Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Charles Darwin, and Bill Gates. Neurodiversity can be seen as a competitive advantage for businesses. They can bring about new perspectives to create or recognize the value of a company. Other positive aspects in the workplace include quality improvement, innovation, productivity gains, and an increase in employee engagement. ASD people have also been known to thrive in understanding technology, mathematics, computer language, and other varying topics that are of interest to the individual.
Neurodiversity and the medical model of autism may have the opportunity to coexist in society. Instead of trying to put autistic people in boxes, people should take the time to understand the wants of needs of autistic people. Parents, schools, and administrators tend to compartmentalize expectations for autistic youth and expect them to reach what they believe is their full potential. Parents, therapists, and self-advocates all share the same common goal of improving services for people with ASD. They just go about it differently. Any sort of treatment process should try to accommodate ASD individuals and not attempt to normalize them. Treatment of autism needs to be a joint effort between society’s acceptance of the natural differences and further research being done to fully understand autism.
ASD is a complex disorder that impacts individuals, families, and communities. Autistic people are people too and it is society’s job to learn to both accept our differences. One may not be able to understand the complexity of an autistic person’s mind however, autistic people are deserving of the same respect and kindness you would show to anyone. Neurodiversity is necessary for showing this respect. All humans are different, we think in different ways and view the world differently. Autistic people are no different and should be given the support they need to succeed in their own degree of achievement. Some treatment may be necessary for providing this support however, no treatment should seek to change the individuality of the person to conform to a society that is not built to support them. Autistic people do not want your pity, they want to be treated as equal.
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