Don’t Cure Autism Now?

I was doing a bit of browsing around yesterday and came across an article called “Don’t cure Autism Now”. This article was at http://home.att.net/~ascaris1/index.html. I was initially a bit shocked when I saw it, but when I began reading I discovered that the site was put together by someone who is autistic. This gentleman’s arguement was one of self love. If his autism was cured….he wouldn’t be the person he is today. While I understand and empathize with this point of view, I look at it a bit differently. I believe that he WOULD be the same person…just without the symptoms that define his autism. You can’t tell me that things such as severe sensory issues, gastrointestinal symptoms and self-destructive behavior are what defines an individual. Wouldn’t it be better to keep the unique and wonderful qualities of the person, but get rid of the unwanted autistic symptoms?