There's a thing in the disability "community" called "internalised ableism" which kinda pisses me off. It's a way to basically guilt people into thinking they're shitty for wanting to not be disabled. If an autistic person doesn't like the idea of just acting autistic, like they want to mask and try to appear completely neurotypical, they are said to have internalised ableism because they should accept their differences and not change themselves to suit society's expectations.
What pisses me off about this is that how you act, or how you see your condition as a whole is completely your experience. If you wish you could cure your condition, there's nothing wrong with that, but the online communities have pushed this narrative now that if you want to be "normal" then it's just that society has conditioned you to feel that way and you need to address your own internalised hatred instead. I've worked with special needs kids who were severely enough effected by their conditions to need to go to special school, but not so much that they had no awareness of how they were different to others. Some of them felt really embarrassed by the struggles they had socially, for example. Not being able to always follow a conversation because they couldn't get jokes or understand certain cues really bothered them, and no amount of societal acceptance will change the fact that they have those struggles. Yes, people can adapt situations to try and make sure others can fit in, but the fact is that the conditions are a thing because someone has difficulties that others not effected by said conditions don't have difficulties with. Most people day to day are not gonna be thinking about how hard it might be for someone with a (neurological) condition to interact/take part in something- most people would struggle to even understand what it would feel like to experience the issues an autistic person has, because social cues and things like that don't have an explanation. You just know what they are.
I'm not autistic, but have other health issues in my life and I can say for 1000% sure if someone offered me a magic wand that would cure me of everything and I could have a normal healthy life, I would take it in a heartbeat. Even if it would just cure one out of the few things wrong. That's not because society has told me it's bad to be sick, it's because I want to live a life that feels good for me. Yes, discrimination against disabled people is a real issue, I've experienced it myself, but I wouldn't want a cure just to not experience it ever again- I want a cure so I can feel happy and that's all that matters. Someone else in the same position as me might say no- and that's fine as well. It's your life to live. But don't tell others that they shouldn't feel a certain way about their own personal experiences.
