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Welcome to the nexus of ethics, psychology, morality, technology, health care, and philosophy

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

The Autism Paradox

Kathleen K. Miller
AMA Journal of Ethics. April 2015, Volume 17, Number 4: 297-298

Through the process of researching this issue, I became fascinated with recent research on neurodiversity as it applies to autism. To oversimplify vastly, neurodiversity is the idea that neurological differences (including autism) are the result of normal variation. In other words, we may be creating pathology where there is none. Should we consider autism a disease? Or is it a variation of normal? This question has been the source of heated debate, with many autism advocates arguing that autism should not be considered a disease or disorder.

As a pediatrician, this is a question I struggle with. I support autism advocacy and the rights of people with autism. I believe we need to adjust our mental framework and see people with autism as more than their diagnoses.

The entire article is here.