Autism Medication, why havent they developed a drug for us

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I'm not sick, so I don't need one.

There are no drugs to treat neurological disorders, just as there is no surgery to treat them (it wold require nanoscale surgeons, which are at least two tech levels beyond our world thus far). If you are experiencing physical symptoms of one or another disorder, those symptoms can be treated, but this by no means "cures" the underlying condition. (For instance, my wife is chronically depressed; her symptoms can be managed with the use of Paxil and talk therapy, but as little as two days without her medication quickly reveals that she is not "cured".)

It should be noted that there is no set of consistent physical symptoms of autism/Asperger's; many autistics have what are referred to as "comorbid disorders", which sometimes do have physical symptoms, but that's the other disorder, not the autism. For instance, pensieve cites stimulants to treat a general logy feeling, or "slothfulness"; as can doubtless be attested to by a number of people here, sloth is not necessarily characteristic of autism. (Were it, my daughter would probably be a lot easier to deal with... )

I'm sorry you're having such severe self-esteem issues, Corp. Not to sound like a broken record, but have you considered looking into therapy to help you deal with this?

It's called Risperdal, and it's a really bad idea because it won't actually make you NT. Just tired. And possibly less likely to hallucinate (or more likely; crazy stuff can happen). I wouldn't recommend it if you're not psychotic (AS is not psychosis, but you could also be psychotic).

Risperdal made me feel great. I was happy, energized, full of ideas and new projects. It was like being unfrozen. I had no side effects. But the downside was that the effect only lasted about two months. (And I am not psychotic.) Different drugs have very different effects on different people.

Since autism affects so many areas of the human brain, and since each person's brain is different, it doesn't seem likely that a single drug will ever control all of the symptoms of autism. Also, a drug that works well for one person may not work as well, or at all, for another. Complete symptom control may eventually come to pass, but it will likely involve a cocktail of different drugs that will be different for everyone. As a previous poster mentioned, no amount of drugs will cure an ASD condition. A cure for an ASD would necessarily involve a surgical rewiring of the human brain, which is something we are incapable of without a much better grasp of brain function and nanotechnology than we have at present. - LJS

Marijuana always helped me with my social anxiety. When I was on it I was more tolerant of touching someone and being touched. I so wish they would legalize medical marijuana in New York state. If I ever decided to go back to school I would really like to do it in California where I could get one of those marijuna cards.

Marijuana made me paranoid and twitchy. Never again will I smoke it.

When people say a cure will change them completely I don't buy that. Yes I'm against curing autism but I've also thought that I'd be changed by taking SSRI's, stimulants, and even having sensory therapy. But some changes are for the best and I'm still my normal nerdy self who needs shoes to help me to stand up properly. SSRI's did make me less obsessional but I got that back after they completely wore off. The anxiety came back too. Anyway, I'm just saying just because you think you'll be a completely new person that don't make it true.
We fear change even if it means easing our symptoms.

There's actually a project called Connectome where scientists study every area of the brain in detail to find out more about disorders, so one day they may also target specific areas to treat.

I'm currently undergoing the actual TMS treatment at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne for AS. It's supposed to target the Anterior Paracingulate Cortex (supposedly Brodman Areas 8 and 9) which has some sort of function in interpreting Social Interactions. I've had 2/10 sessions so far, and I haven't felt any significant differences yet. Apparently it's supposed to improve my innate ability to tolerate eye contact and read the body language of NTs.

I've read several posts in this forum and others, and it appears that conservative doses of pure MDMA ("Ecstasy") in the 50-100 mg range would be beneficial for Aspies, as it seems to allow one to develop some sort of warm emotional closeness and love for the people around them when under the influence. The empathogenic qualities are theorized to be due to Oxytocin secretion as a side effect from the full release of Serotonin in the system. Oxytocin is also released in mothers when breastfeeding. Unfortunately due to the greed or corruption of the DEA in America, MDMA is illegal worldwide and currently only legally used in a few trials worldwide for treating PTSD and Anxiety.

There have been Oxytocin trials on Autistic children and it seems to have shown an improvement in their desire to initiate social contact and focus on faces/eyes, however the Intranasal spray only has effects of less than 1 hour I think, which is less than the 5 or 6 hours of MDMA.

Also, Asperger Syndrome is a SYNDROME , so people have deficits and talents at varying levels. It'd be extremely hard to create a drug that tackles all possible combinations of deficits that could exist in Aspies.

Very surprisingly, LSD was actually tested on Kanner Autistic children in the 50's and 60's (before LSD was made illegal) and it made the children lose their flat affect during that period of influence, and they started babbling words!! ! I think the dosages they used ranged from 50-200 micrograms