/u/hrbuchanan 's autistic sister here. Boy, are you ignorant.
quoted text But this is literally the case. It would in fact, be better to have that aptitude and not be autistic then to be autistic and unable to function in society at large because your brain doesn't work right. You clearly don't realize that if an Autistic person were able to remove their autism (they can't), they would be removing who they are as a WHOLE (this is something I didn't realize when I used to want a cure). So an autism cure would not just take away the flaws, but ALL of the good, interesting, and unique traits that make up who we are (which EVERY autistic person has). If you did know that though, then what you are saying is that it would have been better if all autistics were born as totally different people without autism than as who we are now. Also that because autistic people on the severe end of the spectrum all can't contribute to society (which is actually untrue), none of them have the right to LIVE. Oh and I LOVE your opinion that an autistic brain "doesn't work right." Not only is it wrong though, but it's ABLEIST. The Americans with Disabilities Act also begs to differ, since it quotes that "disability is a natural part of the human experience." Glad to know what you'd really think of me if ever we were to meet though.
quoted text Literally 90-99.5% of autistic people don't get any benefit from autism; within that 0.5-10% is all the people with amazing trivia abilities, my cousin Darron who can literally quote any movie he's seen word for word(but will never be able to live on his own because of the severity of his autism), as well as those people who have done amazing things, despite their handicap. sigh Where to begin here... You clearly haven't met many autistic people at all if you seriously believe that 90-99.5% of them don't get any benefit from autism. Because of that, you really should subscribe to the subreddit r/autism as well as google Boycott Autism Speaks and I guarantee you will find many autistic people who say otherwise. And I know what you're thinking, but no; those groups are NOT just made up of mildly autistic people. There are also severely autistic people speaking up as well (yes, severely autistic people who speak up for themselves and have opinions DO in fact exist). What you're doing is focusing on what certain things autistic people can't do and ignoring what they can do, which, again, is ableist of you. In fact, you are actually a PERFECT representation of what's wrong with Autism $peaks. You clearly believe that autism is nothing more than a tragedy, you got inaccurate statistics, and you ignore positive things in autistic people. Yep, you would actually be PERFECT for a job with the organization since you meet all of the criteria. You'll just fit RIGHT in. As for your cousin, I'll bet he can do A LOT more than just quoting any movie word for word and you just don't see it. Many autistic people (especially ones on the severe end of the spectrum) are very underestimated by their families, and whoever just takes one look at them and immediately decides "that poor kid. They'll never amount to anything." You really never know what's going on in an autistic's mind until they can learn to express it someway. Too bad you don't seem to be willing to see what hidden unique ability your cousin or any other autistic individual might have because I'm telling you, you'd be surprised. Don't believe me? Then you should read these articles by Amy Sequenzia, a nonverbal autistic woman on the severe side of the spectrum who would STRONGLY beg to differ with EVERYTHING you just said. Also, not only has she been labeled as "low functioning," but also as "mentally retarded", and - according to a doctor - "has no human feeling or dignity." SPOILER ALERT: He was wrong. http://www.shiftjournal.com/2012/01/11/non-speaking-low-functioning/ http://www.goldenhatfoundation.org/about-us/blog/157-i-define-myself-by-amy-sequenzia http://ollibean.com/2012/08/03/amy-sequenziadear-mainstream-media/ http://ollibean.com/2015/04/21/being-comfortable-in-my-skin/ And she's just ONE autistic person from the severe end of the spectrum who found a way to express her very brilliant thoughts. You can seriously learn so much from her and people like her (I seriously hope you do since you're lack of understanding is scary).
quoted text So for the majority of actual sufferers, it is literally better that they would be born without autism. Okay FYI, I, along with MANY other Autistics, find you referring to us as sufferers to be very insulting. The one thing that almost all of us suffer from the most is from how society views and treats us (kind of like what you're doing).
quoted text Hell, for some of that 10% or less group, it would be better to be born without autism. Everything I've written before pretty much explains why this claim is inexcusably absurd.
quoted text As for trying to diagnose people from before most of us on reddit were actually alive: That is purely romanticizing a disability. That's exactly what that looks like. "Well, we can't know for sure, but we'll damn well imply it's true!" Again, here you are only viewing autism as a travesty that none of those famous people could've had because they've actually done stuff that was useful to society. I know you didn't say that but I know that's what you're implying. Hopefully you've read the articles that I posted and at least take them into consideration because you need to do some SERIOUS research ,dude. And no offense, but people that think like you do are the reason that many autistic people are scared of non-autistic people, have depression, and are/were suicidal (me included).