A child who is born with disabilities should be helped.

Deafness is a disability that can be cured, sometimes. But there are deaf parents who refuse this treatment for their children saying that then their child will not be part of their cultural group. I think this is wrong.

However, I do not think anyone should force the parents to take the treatment. I think that adults have lived their lives and should have a choice. If they do not want to change it, if they are afraid to change it, I do not think anyone should make them.

Then what happens when we have a treatment for something which a person can take but they do not tell us they don't want it? Autistics are being trained, as much as we are able, to learn the cues which allow them to fit in. If they learn these, then they will know that sometimes we don't want to know what a person thinks, even when we ask. Also, some people may not have the ability to recognize what the treatment will mean.

I have a friend with an autistic grandson. He has to be supervised constantly and he is strong. He can hurt you just by patting you because he doesn't see that his “patting” is like a hard strike hitting you. I do not think Alex would be able to say whether or not he wanted a treatment which could heal him. Also, if there were such a treatment, would the treatment include re-training? I think this is an important point.

Some of this is future thinking. But some of it is a question now for parents and children.