Optimism and Reality: Goldfish21 Response to me

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Not at all, Goldfish. I don't think there was any malicious intent whatsoever. You believe you have ASD and cured it with a lifestyle regimen. I have a different opinion than you. That's all it is. I also talked directly to you and in a respectful way.

If MOST people with a true ASD do want to get better then why have so extremely few communicated with me about the treatment protocol I've found that works to treat ASD? If that were true you'd think the vast majority of forum members would jump all over an opportunity to learn from what I've done and give it a shot for themselves to see if they can replicate my success in treating & controlling my ASD symptoms in order to live fuller, better, lives themselves. But instead people, for the most part, seem very content in their misery & extremely resistant to change as well as symptomatic in their rigid thinking that treatment options can Only be true if they're spoken from the mouths of career experts in medicine - Doctors - and can't possibly be real if someone who actually Has the condition has learned to treat it himself.

Then there's me. Self diagnosis, but I have arguable done THE MOST to want to treat it. It's still beyond me that others who truly suffer with their symptoms aren't interested in trying to treat them. Further to that, Hell, it's surprising that not One of the greatest skeptics here of my posts & story have decided to Try what I do for a few months simply to say they can personally PROVE me wrong. Instead it's just he said she said BS, me telling the truth, others not believing me. I'd MUCH prefer someone followed my protocol and found that it had ZERO impact on their ASD symptoms & well being and then came back to post such vs. continuing 4+ years of "I don't believe one word you say. I have no logical, rational, explanation for why I don't believe you despite how much better your life is, the fact that you can work and play and socialize and accumulate financial wealth etc, but I simply don't believe you because I don't believe you." That's a thing that still perplexes me. It's VERY inexpensive to do what I do, but oh-so-life-changingly valuable. I'd love for others here to do it, Not so I can say "told you so," but so that bit by bit there's one more sharing their same truth, then another, then another and all of the sudden people realize How ASD CAN in fact be treated and more and more do so for themselves and live happier, healthier, fuller lives for it.

NO ONE is going to take your ASD more seriously than YOU. IMO, the very best course of action is to treat it and be healthier & happier vs. futile attempts to have the rest of the entire very social world magically change to make things easier for those with ASD. That will NEVER happen. The ONLY person you can change is You. In my experience, that IS the way to change the whole world. Changing myself has changed the whole world's reaction to me and made life much more pleasant. It is INFINITELY easier to treat ASD than it is to try to get Billions of people to learn about ASD and be more accepting.

I'm actually not pissed off by their doubts of my ASD and calling me NT. In fact, it's flattering. It's also medically relevant. Honest to Fing God, you guys, if the response from ASD people (EXPERTS IN ASD) is that my recent posts seem far too socially intelligent or w/e for me to be on the spectrum, it's proof positive that what I do to treat my ASD symptoms does in fact work & it even comes through in my posts on these forums. It's encouraging. It keeps me keeping on with my treatments & goals, reminds me of all the new possibilities and opportunities that are now open to me that never really truly were before and that I should not be taking those things for granted.

I've said it so many times here: I'm living a Second LIFE for having done what I've done & daaaaaamn am I ever going to Live It Up and make the most of it! I've done a LOT of things in the last few years that used-to-be impossible & recently I've done fewer and fewer of those as life has gotten easier.. and that's got me to thinking about pursuing the BIGGEST daydream-turned-goal of my entire life, which is why, bit by bit, I will return to University studies this year (part time) & plug away at it part time for a few years and then eventually full time again, working towards incredibly large (for me, or anyone, really) goals. I don't want to be 70 years old thinking back and wondering if I could have made it.. I'd rather try my ass off and fail and know I wasn't cut out for it than never try at all. It's going to be a VERY long and challenging path, probably ~ a Decade of part & full time studies, but I honestly believe in myself being able to do it more than ever now that I have Myself under control. I feel compelled to do it or I'm otherwise wasting this second life opportunity.

SJW=Social justice Warrior

Thing is, the system requires way more then food, clothing and shelter. So, you and I disagree on what needs are. Access to computers, phones, transportation is a need since these things are inherently required.

Curious, why aren't you diagnosed? Has it ever been confirmed by a doctor you do have it? Not everyone gets it written down on paper.

I think you should do a blog but make it very clear you do not have an official DX. People might follow your plan and try it and see if it helps themselves.

I've never ever once said I "made it go away." I am not cured. There IS no cure. We Know that there are hard wired components to ASD.

By some regimen I have successfully TREATED my ASD (and other) symptoms. I can keep them under pretty good control. Sure, I have ups and downs and variations in symptoms and traits that Do interfere with my life and work from time to time, but not All the time. By and large I'm doing extremely well compared to when I was at my lowest functioning & most depressed ~6 years ago.

So don't apologize for questioning it. But don't put words in my mouth and say I said anything I never did, either. I've never said I made it go away or that I'm cured. I said I've managed to treat my symptoms and keep them minimized to the point that I likely would not qualify for an official diagnosis unless I were to use the reverse biochemistry to revert back to being much more ASD - which I can do, btw. I don't want to, but I can. I would if I were the subject of a medical study and a doctor wanted to watch me flip back and forth from much more ASD to extremely high functioning wouldn't qualify for a diagnosis over a period of several weeks. This isn't BS mumbojumbo whatever, this is the God's honest truth of who & what I am, what I've learned and done, regardless of whether you believe me or not.

Please, do tell, what else is at play? With all your logic and reasoning, please provide an explanation for why I would perpetuate a hoax on the world for 35+ years of my existence? Honestly, you think I've lived my entire life as I have only to fabricate ~6 years worth of posts on this forum just to f**k with you people? Nooooope!

I don't believe you're fabricating anything. The mind can fool itself.

1. I Know I have ASD just as well as you know you do & for all the exact same reasons.

2. I've never ever once said I've cured it. Stop with that. There is no cure. What I HAVE done is figure out how to treat it with miraculous success. It is completely beyond me that people believe ADHD can be treated with medicine, Schizophrenia can be treated with medicine, Bipolar Disorder can be treated with medicine, but for some strange reason that defies logic - for some mystical unexplainable reason, people here do not believe that ASD can in fact be treated with medicine. Just because others haven't figured out how & then put out an official publication signed off by a team of doctors & pharmacists etc does Not mean that it cannot be done, that no one else has figured it out, nor - most importantly - that I have not done so. I have. I've been beating that drum for over 4 years here because life with ASD under control is WONDERFUL & I truly want as many people on the spectrum to experience it as possible.

I'm curious as to Why you have the opinion you do. Why you don't believe me save for the simple fact that you don't believe me. Like what your reasoning is behind it? Genuinely curious.

I have seen articles about gluten free diets and how it does help with autism. I used to talk to someone online who had severe AS and she told me how much it helped her. I even have an autism magazine and there is an article in there written by a middle ages guy with AS and he said how a gluten free diet made him "normal."

Maslow's Hierarchy defines basic Needs extremely well. Food, clothing, shelter, medicine. Pretty much everything else is a want.

Access to computers isn't a necessity of life. Yes, it's a very common and valuable modern convenience, but it is not a Need. Besides, our society DOES provide public access to computers/internet at the library for those who cannot afford it at home. Further to that, having a computer at home and being online can be damned near free, anyways. I'm posting from a 2008 Macbook my friend gave me for free so I can use it to take some online classes this year. I'm on my Aunt's wifi for free. Wifi is often included in rent these days. It doesn't take very much money for someone to be online if they consider it a priority - even homeless people have smartphones and use wifi from nearby restaurants etc.

Phones, again, cheap as chips. A phone can be had for about $50 brand new. Extremely basic calling/text plans are very inexpensive, especially in the USA compared to Canada.

Transportation is pretty inexpensive, too. When I didn't have a licence for a year or a car for two years I did a LOT of walking/cycling & using public transit. I would jog or cycle 10 miles round trip to pay my cell phone bill & fetch a backpack full of groceries. Where there's a will there's a way. Public transit is also subsidized for those on disability here. Sure, it's not the convenience of having a car by a long shot, but people can still get around a bit - they're not house bound.

The NT capitalist world is never going to agree to provide all the conveniences of modern life to those who cannot work & earn money to pay for those things themselves. Period. Further, I think it's silly of anyone who cannot work & earn money to think they deserve all of the modern conveniences and luxuries that money affords. People on disability should appreciate the money & resources they do get. The opportunity it affords them to survive, live day to day, carry on just being etc vs. taken out back and shot, or left to starve, or tossed in some "hospital" to hide them away from the world until they die etc. No, they should not be mistreated, but it just doesn't make sense to me that those who cannot earn themselves more money feel entitled to the luxuries that those who can work have. Just be content with what IS provided by a relatively caring society who won't just leave you to starve, make the most of the money you do get, and enjoy your time as best you can - maybe at the beach, maybe writing fan-fic.

I've shared this countless times, too, but here goes again:

I did NOT want a diagnosis. While my symptoms were at their worst I decided I did not want a diagnosis for the stigma it could have, any opportunities it could ever potentially close off to me (even though I have no intention of going military, ever, or law enforcement etc.) I didn't want the self stigma, either. Putting it on paper was also, in my mind at the time, just one step closer to waiving a white flag and giving up. Putting it on paper would have formalized how f****d I was & I could NOT accept that as my reality and existence for the rest of my life. Even WORSE than a diagnosis would have been if I had ever signed on to welfare. I could have collected $690/month for a few years while I couldn't work, but I REFUSED to go sign that paperwork because that would have been DEVASTATING. It would have formalized & set in stone that I'd never be able to work and function again. Instead, I'd rather struggle & persevere - and so, I did, and here I am.

When I was very very Aspie and rambling about it with my GP he agreed that I likely was, but also knew there was exactly f**k all he could do about it medically or pharmaceutically. He knew I didn't want a diagnosis and why so said there's no point in a referral. Also, even if I got a diagnosis there's no value to it unless I wanted to use it to pursue disability welfare as an income source.

I've said repeatedly that if I were to be the subject of a medical study I'd gladly have a psychiatrist diagnose me, observe me in various states & levels of functioning based on my treatment protocol etc. THEN there would be extreme value to it. Otherwise there is literally nothing in it for me to change my diet and such in order to live through the misery of exacerbated ASD symptoms just to go get a diagnosis I don't want or need for anything. I'd WAY rather just live my life with my symptoms under as good of control as possible - BUT - in the event that a team of doctors with deep pockets believes me and wants to see me do my thing, I'll send myself straight back to Autistic hell like Jekyll & Hyde for the medical observation value.

Also, while he's not a doctor, as I shared in my treatment thread, a friend of mine I was working for/with at his restaurant did attend his first level of Medical School and he realized and said "You're right. This IS Asperger's Syndrome," and week by week as my treatments began working he and I would both observe the quality & quantity (and speed) of my work getting food prepped and things cleaned at his shop. I went from scarily unable to do the simplest of minimum wage jobs as my brain went haywire to being able to get things done faster and better than anyone over a matter of weeks. I only worked Saturdays, so the improvements were noticeable every 7th day vs. tiny incremental changes day by day.

Annnnnd, the Naturopathic Doctor friend of mine I learned so much from Knows I'm ASD as well. 1) I've told him. 2) I bought him a copy of Tony Attwood's "The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome," and he read it. He knows & can tell and knows what I've achieved and how different I am now than 4 years ago. He knows why I love & appreciate his son, himself, and the rest of their family so much. Why it's tradition that I show up Christmas morning with gifts for all of them & a fine bottle of liqueur - at Every holiday. He knows my self diagnosis and it's plain as day to him that I'm correct. He's also a believer in my abilities, too, and is encouraging me to pursue my wildest dreams. Gotta love him for that, too.

Except I did that already, kinda, right here on WP. 4 years ago I posted and disclosed exactly what I've done and how, and what it's done for me and my functioning and my entire life, and I was crystal clear about not having a DX as well as my reasoning for it. The response here, where ASD people are on the internet, was in general: "Liar." VERY FEW people have messaged me about it and said that they were trying some of it for themselves. However, more than zero makes it worth sharing so w/e. Maybe 5-10 years from now more and more people will opt to treat their ASD symptoms and it'll be more commonplace. Oh well, to each their own - no one Has To treat their symptoms. Just don't complain about them & that there's NOTHING you (not You, everyone here) can do when there ARE things you can do, you just refuse to try them.

GF/CF is a major start. The GAPS (Gut And Psychology) diet is about as close to what I did as it gets, only I've never read the book or the diet plan it just happens to be that all the things I learned independently added up to being damned near that plan.

You ARE what you eat. Food is medicine.

Further, we ARE bacteria. Probiotics are vitally important. By cell count, nearly 90% of what we are as a human being are bacteria cells & Most of them in the digestive tract. The gut IS the second brain. Balance the bacteria/fungal imbalances etc, balance nervous system functions. I truly believe that the future of medicine will involve custom blends of probiotic bacteria instead of a compounding pharmacists trying to balance out other chemicals. Analysis of gut bacteria will be done & compared to optimal levels and strains, foods/medicines etc will be prescribed to kill of undesirable gut stuff, and then custom blends of probiotics will be prescribed to balance people from the core outwards.