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Lenny Schafer, editor of the ''Schafer Autism Report'', rejects outright the current characterization of mild social retardation (such as "Asperger's syndrome") as forms of autism.  He notes that autism is a disability, and if a person is not disabled from participation in society by their condition, in such areas as being able to hold a job or communicate, including communication over the Internet, they are not autistic and should not be diagnosed as such.  He accordingly rejects that there can be such a thing as autistic self-advocacy, as anyone who is truly autistic would not have that ability.<ref>http://www.sarnet.org/</ref>

Lenny Schafer, editor of the ''Schafer Autism Report'', rejects outright the current characterization of mild social retardation (such as "Asperger's syndrome") as forms of autism.  He notes that autism is a disability, and if a person is not disabled from participation in society by their condition, in such areas as being able to hold a job or communicate, including communication over the Internet, they are not autistic and should not be diagnosed as such.  He accordingly rejects that there can be such a thing as autistic self-advocacy, as anyone who is truly autistic would not have that ability.<ref>http://www.sarnet.org/</ref>

All four of the above theories are denied by (and often disparaged by) [[liberal]]s, who have been promoting autism and the milder variant "Asperger's syndrome" as one of their latest variants on [[identity politics]], even going so far as to claim autism should not be cured because autistics were "born that way" and it is "who they are".  As with various theories of the causes of [[homosexuality]] that do not fit with the politically correct notions of "born that way" and "who they are", [[liberal]]s attack and disparage any theories of autism -- frigid mothers, thimerosal, inherently different male and female brain types -- that do not fit with their standards of political correctness.  Just as they insist that homosexuality is not an illness and does not need a cure, they are now insisting that autism does not need a cure either (and they are insisting the same thing with numerous other diseases, including deafness<ref>http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/458tonjc.asp Allen, Charlotte. "Identity Politics Gone Wild", ''[[Weekly Standard]]'' volume 12 issue 28</ref>).  ''Wired'' magazine has gone so far as to promote autism as a "geek syndrome", or essentially as a form of identity-politics-for-computer-nerds.<ref>http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers_pr.html</ref>.  At the fringe those favoring this interpretation of autism have coined new terminology, including "neurodiversity" (trying to make autism part of the currently fashionable "[[diversity]]" buzzword), and "neurotypical" (their cheeky, disparaging term for those without autism.)

All four of the above theories are denied by (and often disparaged by) [[liberal]]s, who have been promoting autism and the milder variant "Asperger's syndrome" as one of their latest variants on [[identity politics]], even going so far as to claim autism should not be cured because autistics were "born that way" and it is "who they are".  As with various theories of the causes of [[homosexuality]] that do not fit with the politically correct notions of "born that way" and "who they are", [[liberal]]s attack and disparage any theories of autism -- frigid mothers, thimerosal, inherently different male and female brain types -- that do not fit with their standards of political correctness.  Just as they insist that homosexuality is not an illness and does not need a cure, they are now insisting that autism does not need a cure either (and they are insisting the same thing with numerous other diseases, including [[deafness]]<ref>http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/013/458tonjc.asp Allen, Charlotte. "Identity Politics Gone Wild", ''[[Weekly Standard]]'' volume 12 issue 28</ref>).  ''Wired'' magazine has gone so far as to promote autism as a "geek syndrome", or essentially as a form of identity-politics-for-computer-nerds.<ref>http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aspergers_pr.html</ref>.  At the fringe those favoring this interpretation of autism have coined new terminology, including "neurodiversity" (trying to make autism part of the currently fashionable "[[diversity]]" buzzword), and "neurotypical" (their cheeky, disparaging term for those without autism.)

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