> Asperger's and full-blown autism are very different things. This is like comparing a common cold with a life-threatening case of pneumonia.
They're really not.
> I worked with autistic people for six years. In the best cases, they weren't able to care for themselves, but they had few enough behavioral problems that they could go on brief 'outings' in the community with staff never more than a few feet away. In the worst cases, they were violent, engaging in serious self-harm, as well as attacking others. I had to take assault response training and use it on a regular basis.
I have lived in a number of 'mental healthcare' institutions in the Netherlands for a few years. One of them was (supposedly) specialized in 'autism spectrum disorders'. My experiences do not match what you are describing at all. I'd argue that almost half of the people living there would have been able to care for themselves, had it been necessary - and these were mostly people under 18, so that's a lot. The (rare) case of violence or self-harm derived from other mental issues that weren't in any way related to autism, and frequently a result of their living in the facility.
> They spent little or no time with their families, had no friends, and usually hated the other clients in their group home. It was not a good life, despite the best efforts of the staff.
This doesn't surprise me. By far the biggest harm to these people is done by the staff, who appear to be completely oblivious to how people actually think, and try to fit them into a 'treatment' programme. I have seen multiple people break down completely as a result of their living in said facility, who would not otherwise have significant problems - hell, I've been one of them.
Not having friends doesn't surprise me either. The facility that I've lived in - and, from what I've heard, other facilities as well - essentially put you into social isolation. It's near impossible to maintain social contacts with anybody outside the facility, and staff appears to be so blind for what's actually going on that you have no trustable person to talk to either. Little contact with family doesn't surprise me either; the reason people ended up in those facilities was usually because their parents were unable to understand them. Of course you're not going to have a healthy relationship with them.
Here's a blog post I wrote a while ago, that gives you the perspective of a 'client': http://cryto.net/~joepie91/blog/2014/04/07/depression/
For a bit more context, not elaborated on in that blog post; for over a year after I left that particular facility, I've been unable to experience any emotions other than anger and sadness.
These kind of facilities destroy people. They're more often the cause of problems, than they are a solution.
> tl;dr: yes, in my experience, beating autism is highly desirable.
You need to understand that some people simply think or behave differently. As long as it gets them through life in a sufficiently happy manner, there's nothing to "beat" or "fix".