Thanks for you comment. I was only splitting the spectrum into the two broadest categories for rhetorical simplicity.
Of course I also agree that society needs to become more accepting and supportive of all types of people. To put it simply, we should not become a bioengineered dystopia. We can do two things at once though.
>I think that this type of research is unnecessarily lumping intellectual disabilities with the traits in what you call neurodiverse people.
This is an unfair and unsubstantiated view that you are projecting onto the researchers. I give benefit of the doubt that these professionals have a far better understanding of the science, sociology, and ethics of the topic than any of us. We need better understanding and improvement in all the areas right now.
The medical system has a history of mistreating marginalized groups (of which neurodiverse people are definitely an example), and there are a huge number of people who fund and perform research aimed solely at eradicating all forms of autism. Autism Speaks is one such group (which is an ironic name since the views of the organization differ greatly from those of most autistic people), and they are quite active in autism research and well-funded. As such, I do not think that giving the benefit of the doubt is reasonable. Furthermore, even if the researchers have an excellent and completely ethical view of autism, many people reading about the research will not so giving such a perspective remains valuable.
If can be easy to say that we should simply explore all avenues of research, and in an ideal world this would be true, but we do not live in an ideal world. There are two concerns with this type of research:
- it has an opportunity cost of research that might be more effective (for example medical treatments that could help with sensory hypersensitivity under an informed consent model could be a good result, or research that helps us understand what, exactly, leads allistic people to hate autistic people so much so that we can improve communication in both directions)
- it creates new abilities for those who would do eugenicist harm, even if they are well-meaning
Of course I also agree that society needs to become more accepting and supportive of all types of people. To put it simply, we should not become a bioengineered dystopia. We can do two things at once though.
>I think that this type of research is unnecessarily lumping intellectual disabilities with the traits in what you call neurodiverse people.
This is an unfair and unsubstantiated view that you are projecting onto the researchers. I give benefit of the doubt that these professionals have a far better understanding of the science, sociology, and ethics of the topic than any of us. We need better understanding and improvement in all the areas right now.