Few things will rile up a good debate like the old "cure" debate.

Basically - some people and organizations use the word cure to describe their mission. They will cure autism. Some very suspicious purveyors of snake oil will also tell you they've found a cure. There are parents who are convinced they've got this neurotypical child that has been "stolen" by autism and that if they find this cure thing, they'll get that old child back. 

Autistics on the other hand (and the word is used intentionally. I'll do another post on person first language) often feel that the idea of being cured is like saying that they'd really look more lovely with a lobotomy. First off, they grew up this way and got rather used to it, so not being autistic would be like switching their personality out with someone else's. Secondly, it's a not so sublte message that they're not valuable the way they are.

So, we've got two sides who react very violently to each other (and sometimes that's not just a metaphor.) And some of this is misunderstanding. Well, a lot of it probably is.

Is there a cure?

No. No such thing at this point. It's entirely possible there will be at some point, but the search for it is largely pointless. Why is it pointless? Well, we haven't cured diabetes, asthma, Down Syndrome, PKU, or AIDS. There are a lot of things we haven't cured. We may be able to prevent some of them. We may be able to treat some of them, but they're not cured. Not the same way as a case of strep throat is cured, anyway. You never "recover your health" from those things.

A lot of people think of autism as something along the PKU lines. A heavy genetic component with possible environmental triggers. PKU is genetic and certain proteins trigger brain damage. You get a test as a baby, and then if you're positive, you avoid those proteins for the entire rest of your life. Hooray. However, that knowledge won't help you if you were not tested and you drank a six pack of Nutrasweet-laced diet Coke. The damage is already done, and you will not ever cure your brain damage back with all the dietary changes in the world.

Since we now know that signs of autism can be seen in babies as young as six months, and that autism causes brain overgrowth at that point, which may account for a lot of the behaviors, and the symptoms of autism improve over time. That seems to me to be an argument that whatever triggers autism - it already has happened by the time you get a diagnosis.

So... rather than piss off people by using the word "cure," why not focus on treating troubling symptoms. Isn't that what most of us really want? If all our kids grew up to be Bill Gates, we wouldn't be worried that they still won't be potty trained when they're twelve.