To me it’s simply speaking that autism itself is a problem when it is a spectrum disorder and not every case is a “problem” it’s the language I have a problem with, not the idea that treatment could be available.

[–] Umbrias 6 points 1 year ago

I promise that they are just speaking clinically. Any given treatments target specific symptoms or properties. Just as treatments for ADHD target things like executive dysfunction in various specific ways, but not on eliminating adhd as a condition, there is no feasible way to "cure" autism as you're inferring from the phrasing. What might help is considering possible rephrasing to see that it's just something English isn't well tooled for.

Researchers almost never have an interest in this concept of "curing" something like autism. The focus is on reducing suffering caused by negative symptoms of conditions, pretty much always to the degree the patient desires.

Reading the quotes from the paper for example where they describe a boon here being identifying possible effects from intervention and to be able to predict the effects more accurately. I.e. better target symptoms with fewer side effects, and better design therapies.