What should really be "cured?"

Upon receiving a text from my mom today about going to lunch with her brother and a friend of theirs, my thoughts have turned to thinking of what is a "truly tragic" condition. This friend of theirs suffers from Alzheimer's disease, which isn't something that even my asshole Indigo self would wish on anyone.
I know a few people now that have loved ones struggling with Alzheimer's-now that's something truly tragic that we should turn away from autism and focus on eradicating instead. From what I've heard, Alzheimer's doesn't just affect the individual suffering from it-but their loved ones as well. As a matter of fact, I'd say in most ways the loved ones of the one afflicted suffer even more.
My roommate is, as a matter of fact, one who has to watch a loved one deteriorating from this-in her case, her mother. And her mom isn't getting better. She's not going to get better. Not only her, but someone who I serve with in the OHMR also is dealing with this with his father. Hearing him talk to people about his dad-this isn't anything that I would wish on anyone. And like my roommate's mom, my battle buddy's dad isn't going to get better.
Why do we focus all our time on trying to eradicate autism, which is simply a different neurotype full of gifts and abilities that "mainstream" brains rarely possess? Don't people realize what "truly" tragic conditions are? In my not so humble opinion, we're wasting time attempting to "cure" autism-when, as a matter of fact, we should be focusing on truly devastating conditions. Not just Alzheimer's, but cancer, AIDS, Ebola, and the like. 
And when a cure for these afflictions is indeed found...mark my words. It will almost certainly be an autistic person that discovers the cure.