I understand that point, but I don’t think the comparison to deafness is exactly apropos… Hearing is an objectively useful ability for the survival of a species. Not having it is an objective disadvantage, whether they’ve built a community around it or not.
On the other hand, autism and neurodiversity has been a boon for humanity. Individual cases at the top end of the spectrum aren’t ideal, of course, but the vast majority of people on the spectrum are able to generally be productive members of a society that was not built with them in mind.
And more than that, they’ve often ended up becoming some of our most well-loved scientists, inventors, artists, etc.
Even if you don’t want to say that it’s a good thing for humanity, you cannot deny that it’s neutral at the very least.
Personally, I do not think there is a “cause” beyond just natural genetic diversity within a species. Which is healthy.
I understand that point, but I don’t think the comparison to deafness is exactly apropos… Hearing is an objectively useful ability for the survival of a species. Not having it is an objective disadvantage, whether they’ve built a community around it or not.
On the other hand, autism and neurodiversity has been a boon for humanity. Individual cases at the top end of the spectrum aren’t ideal, of course, but the vast majority of people on the spectrum are able to generally be productive members of a society that was not built with them in mind.
And more than that, they’ve often ended up becoming some of our most well-loved scientists, inventors, artists, etc.
Even if you don’t want to say that it’s a good thing for humanity, you cannot deny that it’s neutral at the very least.
Personally, I do not think there is a “cause” beyond just natural genetic diversity within a species. Which is healthy.