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Liliana Lutin
Professor Batty
ENGL 113B
7 April 2016
Autistically Gifted
A disease is a condition in a living human or animal that affects them negatively due to
their illness. A disability is a special condition that can limit a person from being capable of
performing certain tasks, such as autism. Autism is a mental disability that makes individuals
have difficulty communicating and complete repetitive movements. More than 3.5 million
Americans have autism in the United States and more than 604,000 in the United Kingdom
(Ostrow). Every autistic individual is different and singular in their own way. A disease and a
disability are two different things that are not compatible to each other. Throughout society,
people have labeled what is normal and what is different. All around the world, every single
human being is different than everyone else. For years now, individuals have mixed autism as
being a disease because it does not fit the norm. There has been several issues stating that autism
should be cured rather supporting a different way a human can be. A controversial issue that has
been present in society is if autism is a disease that needs to be cured or whether its a state of
being. Some have said that autism is a disease that needs be treated because its a different
normality than what the norm is in society and everyone should be completely the same.
However, others have said that autism is not a disease because it is a unique and distinctive way
a person can be. Although some have proclaimed that autism is a disease that needs to be
curable, autism is a state of being because its a mental disorder that can not kill you and can not
be treatable, it is another way a person can be unique, and it is a lifestyle a person lives.

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To begin, differencing a disorder with a disease is quite different and unconventional.
Autism is a mental disorder that can not kill you. Autism is a disorder and not a disease. For
example, in Autistic Advocacy: The Significance of Semantics: Person-First Language: Why It
Matters, Lydia Brown who is an autistic person who is an ASAN intern proclaims,Cancer is a
disease that ultimately kills if not treatedthere is absolutely nothing positive, edifying, or
meaningful about cancer. Cancer is not a part of a persons identity. Autism, however, is not a
disease. It is a neurological, developmental condition; It is lifelong. It does not harm or kill of its
own accord. It is an edifying and meaningful component of a persons identity. In other words,
autism is not disease that can harm you like any other illness. Its a mental disorder that lives
with a person throughout their whole life without any issues. Its not harmful, contagious, and
can not be affective towards anyone else. Autism is a neurological condition that is present in
different individuals because they happen to be gifted. It is a mental disorder that is a natural
state of being. Additionally, in The Jigsawtree: Why Autism Should NOT Be Seen As a
Disease., states, Autism is not a rare condition, around 1 in 88 people are autisticwhen
people say Autism is a disease, they are basically putting it in the same category as HIV, Ebola,
cancer etc. It perpetuates the idea that its something that needs curing. That is, synthesizing
autism with a disease is inaccurate because it is not some disease that needs to be cured. For
example, comparing autism to different kinds of diseases such as HIV is nonsensical because
they are two different things that are in no way related. HIV is a disease that can not be treated
however, autism is a special gift a person simply has. Autism is no way near as horrible as HIV
because autism is not a disease. It is a way a person is naturally due to how they were born.
Autism is not an illness, rather a natural gift.

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Additionally, being different is a great trait of a person. Autism is another way a person
can be unique in their own way. Autistic individuals are distinguished differently than individuals
who dont have autism. Uniqueness is a state of autism that regulates a way a person can be. A
person with autism is still a human being that simply has a disability. For instance, in Daily Mail:
People With Autism Show 'Unique Brain Patterns', say Scientists Who Believe Discovery May
Help Earlier Diagnosis., written by Madlen Davis, declares, People with autism have brains
that are uniquely synchronised, with the degree of connectivity between different areas varying
from person to person, a study foundThose with autism tended to display much more unique
patterns, each in its own, individual way. To put it in another way, it has been stated that autistic
people have unique brains unlike any other individual. Autistic people have their own particular
way of being that should be accepted. Simply because autistic people are not what is expected to
be normal, does not mean they cant be a spectacular human being. A person can be unique and
different in their own way and thats how autistic people are. They are all different with unique
skills. Autism is no different, it may be challenging, but its a beautiful way a person can live
their whole life.
Moreover, a life with autism is a beautiful way of living. Having autism is lifestyle a
person can live. Its not a disease or an illness, its a culture and a way of life for some people.
For example, in Autism as a Lifestyle as Seen Through The Eyes of an Autistic Adult, written
by Kassiane Sibley, explains, Autism is not a disease, a disorder, or something holding me
prisoner in a shell. Autism is a culture, a lifestyle, and a way of being. Autism, like Deafness, is a
valid counterculture. To cure us would be to stamp out our whole way of life. Sibley is an
autistic woman who genuinely loves being autistically. To paraphrase, autism has shaped
individuals to love who they are because they are living a different life than anyone else. Autism

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is not a life everyone lives and thats genuinely incredible because then life would be boring.
Being divergent and having a different lifestyle is not an atrocious matter that should bother
anyone. In experience, I have witnessed several different autistic individuals who live in my
building. These autistic individuals seem so full of joy and seem to love their life. They might
seem a bit slow and more cautious however, they dont seem like they are any different. They
never seem miserable or as if they have an illness because autism is not an illness, its a lifestyle.
Autism is a culture several individuals love and live in because they are unique living an
extraordinary life.
Although people have contemplated that autism is a disease that should be treatable, it is
in a matter of fact, misunderstood. Autism is not a disease or an illness, its a mental neurological
disorder that people live with. Its not a disease because it is not hurting anyones health and
should definitely not be cured. Despite the fact that autism may be challenging for some, an
autistic person is still a living human being. Some have said autism is a hard way to live as but, it
is a unique way a human can be because they are extraordinarily different than everyone else. If
everyone was completely the same then the world would be boring. They are spectacular humans
who have unique brains and live a unique life that no other human can experience. Its a lifestyle
autistic people have to live with throughout their whole life that they adore. Wanting to treat a
disorder that is not a disease because they are different is completely wrong because autistic
people are living like everyone else.
To summarize, autism is a different way of living. It is a neurological condition and a
unique way of living. Autism is not a disease that needs to be treated because it does no harm to
anyone. Having a mental disability is not a counterfactual thing. Autistic people have a unique
way of being different and astonishing that everyone should accept. Living an autistic lifestyle is

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a wonderful thing autistic people can be able to experience throughout their whole lifetime.
Autism should be admired and supported because its a marvelous way a human can be and
society should be able to accept autistic people as the way they are.

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Works Cited
Brown, Lidia. Autistic Advocacy: The Significance of Semantics: Person-First Language: Why
It Matters. Autistic Advocacy. 15 July 2015. Web. 28 March 2016.
Davis, Madlen. People With Autism Show 'Unique Brain Patterns', say Scientists Who Believe
Discovery May Help Earlier Diagnosis. Daily Mail. 12 March 2014. Web. 28
March 2016.
Ostrow, Nicole. Autism Costs More Than $2 Million Over Patients Life. Bloomberg. 9 July
2014. Web. 28 March 2016.
Sibley, Kassiane. Autism as a Lifestyle as Seen Through The Eyes of an Autistic Adult. What I
Think. 22 September 2014. Web. 28 March 2016.
The Jigsaw Tree. Why Autism Should NOT Be Seen As a Disease. Jigsaw Tree. 21 March
2014. Web. 28 March.