As the administration focuses on autism, many in the community say they need support, not a ‘cure’

Aspiritech co-founder Moshe Weitzberg works with employees at the nonprofit enterprise that specializes in finding software bugs, in Highland Park, Illinois, in 2011. Aspiritech works with people who have autism or who are neurodiverse to help them find employment. M. Spencer Green/AP

At a very young age, Maxwell Huffman knew that he absorbed the world around him differently than most of his classmates.

He was diagnosed with autism as a teenager, and nearly 20 years later, Huffman is an executive at Aspiritech, a Chicago-based nonprofit that works to find meaningful employment for people who have autism or are neurodiverse.

“If you gave me a button right now that I could press that said ‘you’re no longer autistic,’ I wouldn’t press that button, because I like who I am,” Huffman said.