Do you approve of MAGA's plan to start a registry of neurodivergent minors?

[meadowlander]

44. I am autistic. I don't "have it".

It's a common (1 in 30) pattern of neurological differences, not a disease. There is tons of research already establishing that it is genetic. Literally everyone else in my family is also autistic. It doesn't need to be "cured" because it is a different way of experiencing and processing the world which is equally as valid as any other.

If people want to volunteer themselves or their underage kids to participate in a study with a defined purpose such as to look at options to improve quality of life for autistic people, then fine.

But that's light years away from requiring all neurodivergent people (which btw includes ADHD, dyslexia, Tourettes, complex PTSD, etc.) to register their identity with the government. Fuck that.

Autism is an identity, not a disease. How would you feel about a national registry of LGBTQ+ people? Or a national registry of black people? Or a national registry of recovering alcoholics and drug addicts? I'm sure they could drum up some tenuous medical excuse for that as well but it would be equally repugnant. Why not a national registry of people who have been diagnosed with clinical depression so we can reduce suicides by limiting their access to firearms?

And even if it was a disease, who on earth would agree to this government making a list of everyone with diabetes or cancer and then keeping it in a probably insecure location where it will inevitably be leaked to insurance companies and prospective employers?

Name one other class of US citizen (other than sex offenders) that is legally required to register themselves on a centralised database.