"Outgrowing" Asperger's Syndrome?

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Give it time, you may have a relapse. Seems to happen to some more than others, but I've definately experienced it myself, and I've seen many others talk of it. Personally, I was glad of it - I felt like I'd been losing track of myself as time passed. Becoming too dependant on others. Nice to feel a bit more like 'myself' again.

I agree with most of the people on this thread, I don't think that I've outgrown my aspiness. I've grown calmer as the world of NT's has become less mysterious and I've become able to function well in most social settings. I've also learned techniques to cope with things that caused me lots of discomfort as a younger person. I'm very comfortable being alone and socialize with a few friends and family, but with less need to be liked or feel like being popular is important. If one doesn't get side tracked by addiction or despair, aspies mature just like anyone else.

I briefly knew an autistic girl that was in the same class as my daughter. There were only about 7 kids in that class so it was easy to sit and observe her when I was visiting the classroom. I was shocked when her mother first told me she had autism. I figured she "just" had Asperger's but no, the mother explained that she was born with severe autism and it took very intensive therapy to get her to where she is today.

I've also read that if Autism isn't dealt with, a child will be left very mentally crippled. But if you work intensely with them, they can improve a lot. So that tells me that Autism CAN be improved. I am reminded of my ex husband who had encephalitis when he was a teenager. He was in a coma for a long time and when he came out of that coma, he had to relearn how to feed himself, how to talk, how to walk, everything. So the brain CAN be trained. From what I understand, the brain may not use the original or typical neuropathways to do things when dealing with an injury or condition of the brain, but rather it learns new routes to take. Like instead of getting from A to B, it might have to go from A to C to B, but it gets there eventually.

Autism/AS will never go away, but with help, it can improve. In the very least, one can learn how to cope better with certain situations.

Well, I don't believe that it is possible to 'outgrow' Asperger's, or any other form of autism, ADD, or ADHD. I do believe, that over time we all learn more about the NT world, gain self awareness and understanding, develop coping strategies, learn how to mimic NT behaviours and to camouflage ourselves at least part of the time - in other words, we adapt.

I also believe that some of us adapt more than others and quicker than others. I often wonder if the main difference between LF and HF is just that HF autistics have been exposed to particular experiences at an early age which have drawn them out of their inner universe and motivated them to engage in the NT world. Maybe certain experiences at an early age have also assisted HF autistics to desensitize a little so that their sensory experience of the outer world is less overwhelming, thus allowing them to adapt more than LF autistics.

Well, I just turned 65. And I've got to say, I think I'm getting - I don't want to say worse - more and more Aspie as each day passes. All of my life since I can remember, I have been in hiding. In a self-imposed institution. Minding my Ps & Qs. And then in April, only 3 months ago, I found out about Aspergers and self-diagnosed, with great confidence that my diagnosis was correct and the only, and at long last, explanation that could adequately explain me and my life. This opened the door of my prison cell and made me a free woman. However, there was a price to pay, as I am learning now. I watch myself with curiosity and amazement, and I don't curtail or police myself as consistently and severely as I once did. It's like I'm making up for lost time. So, perhaps I am not actually growing Aspier, but becoming more free, a liberated Aspie.

I am 29 now and I do not think one can outgrow AS too. I can remember the world and me 10 years ago. Social problems in school were more apparent because one is more or less forced to face difficult to impossible situations, from peer group settings to physical education. When I left school I simply got rid of that because I could and suddenly for a short time life felt a lot easier.

Then I went to university. World has apparently changed and where once was darkness everything got a little lighter and brighter. That was just before I noticed it is hard taking notes during the lecture and impossible to attent lectures without a properly scripted manual. I also learned that my impression about people around me would always know each other quite well was just not true.

That was years ago, university is almost thing of the past, to be finished this year. But a few months ago I had holidays with some friends. For the first time btw, usually I am having holidays for myself.

Somebody wanted to play a stupid ball game in the hotel pool. What do we answer when somebody asks us if we want to join? We cannot be honest and tell them "No, I prefer reading my book because I did not have time for that during the semester at university". That would be socially inappropriate so we answer: "Yes, sure!". Do I have to go any further? Yes, I am absolutely bad (I mean: really extremely bad) at playing any kind of game that means catching or throwing a ball, especially without sunglasses in sunny wheather when the light is reflected by the water allround oneself and people shout at each other all over the place. That was NOT funny and it instantly brought back impressions and emotions I was sure I got rid off many years ago.

So, no. I am sure one will not outgrow AS. I experienced it always coming back. I am sure one can learn to "simulate" socially normal interaction. It might get easier when the expectations of one's social environment change. But I am sure most people I have contact with think that I am an odd and peculiar person. Some of them accept that, others might even like that. Being able to be more selective about who you have social contact with helps here too.

There are people who think that odd people are interesting (that was once new to me but I must confirm that) and others even like people not talking much but only about real subjects. This certainly is something one will not experience in school. So perhaps that might look like AS symptoms wearing off.

I am sorry that I cannot present a more positive perpective here.

You don't outgrow the traits, but you can adapt to mask them when necessary. The Aspie traits are part of how your brain works - those aren't going away. But what you can do is learn some of the things NTs seem to be to learn as infants but we don't.

That said, most NT traits I don't particularly want to learn because I don't want to make random assumptions and jump to conclusions all the time the way NTs do, but the ability to talk to people or hide that you're not making eye contact while you're talking can be useful.

At 40 years old I am not the same as I was as a child.

I am better at many things, how could I not be? Aspies can "grow" and learn and change.

But I do not think that is an indicator of outgrowing Asperger's, I think it is a person trying to adapt and survive in a world not built to accomodate them.

I have learned to avoid eye contact in a way that is not so obvious as it was when I was younger... I constantly "look away in thought"

I now talk more than I did as I have learned some basic chit chat, but still cannot adapt to spontaneous conversation with people... I am left stupified by rhythm it.

I now know not to "stim" (obvious stims) in public although if I enter deep thought I do it without realizing...

I now "catch myslf" when babbling about my personal interests, as I know that "going on and on" about anything is not desired by a listener especially if they could care less about what I like.

Etc... etc...

I have only gained the knowledge of how NT's behave and I have folded to imitation where needed.

I can for brief periods of time feign "nOrMaLiTy" in social situations etc, but I cannot seem to outgrow my asperger's. It does'nt come and go, but if stressed the ability to surpress it does.

I have heard people say that it gets worse when they are stressed, not for me... when stressed I simply lose my ability to hide/surpress it *shrugs*

At 40 I am working on just being me and trying not to over tax myself by pretending to be NT and putting myself into too many situations that are just over stimulating.

And quite frankly... I don't want to "outgrow" it. When I am not trying to live up to NT expectations or imitate them, or try to hide my AS... I am a pretty happy puppy.

Do you have to meet all 6 of those for a dx?

What classes as a "Significant delay in language"?

Chatbrat and violentcloud, the answers you seek may be here:

http://www.med.yale.edu/chldstdy/autism ... definition

It is possible to outgrow I remember when I got diagnosed the phychiatrist told me that as you get older you will outgrow it.