If there was a drug to make you NT, would you take it?

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I have answered too many of these threads to count. My answer is the same as it has always been. No, I would not take a cure for Asperger's. Why would I personally want such a cure? I am grateful for having been made autistic. I enjoy the gifts autism has given to me. Sure, I have challenges, but doesn't everyone?

Yes, definitely, unless this drug had serious side effects. It's not that I don't accept who I am and want to conform to some kind of norm, it's that I have a lot of problems that greatly reduce my life quality. We badly need to find a reliable treatment for the more debilitating symptoms of autism.

I hate it when people turn this into a political thing and chant "there is nothing wrong with us". There is definitely something wrong with me, otherwise I wouldn't be a social recluse who can only socialize with cats and suffers from depression, panic attacks and meltdowns. That's not my identity, those are symptoms of a severe disorder that I'd like to be cured from.

I believe that that's why it's important to remember that these questions are usually phrased as "If there were a cure for autism, would YOU take it?" It's for each of us personally to answer.

You are not I, and I am not you. And I am not any other person who has answered 'yes', even though that would currently be my answer.

One thing you can say about these 'would you take a cure' threads, is that it showcases how each WP poster individually thinks about their ASD; whether they view it as a gift, a curse, a disorder, a mere neurologically different wiring, etc. If we each could look beyond our own situation and read the reasoning of others behind their choice for 'yes' or 'no' to a hypothetical cure, we would be the wiser for it.

I would definitely not take it. I happily take pills for my mood disorder, and hope to have pills for attention problems and excessive sleep soon, but an "NT pill" would change who I am. It would probably kill off what few talents I have too, since they're derived from how my mind works. I wouldn't trade that just to become like everyone else; I'd rather see those NTs judging human value on social skills and "normality" be force fed some pill to make them productive members of society...

I agree with that, and I understand and respect people who answer "no" to this question. What I object to though is the opinion that the medical community shouldn't make any attempt to cure AS, because it supposedly diminishes autistic people that autism is seen as a disorder. That's a position that I cannot understand or support. Just because some people can easily cope with AS doesn't mean that others should have to live with it.

(I don't think anybody has voiced such an opinion in this thread, but it was brought up in other threads that featured the same frequently recurring question).

Id take it in a heartbeat. Hopefully it would help me be able to talk to women and find a new girlfriend finally. I wish I was one of these people who enjoyed being an aspie, to me its just a horribly debiliating ilness thats most likely gonna lead to me dying alone and lonely. God thats a depressing thing to say but thats how it feels right at this moment.

If each dose lasted four to six hours, I'd take it for social situations. Otherwise, no.

I'll take it, I don't care who I'd be, I just want to f*****g be NORMAL. I'm getting sick and tired of being stared at by judgemental women in their 50s and 60s, I don't know what happens to a lot of women but they either turn judgemental, or can't control staring, or just turn into lesbians. I don't know what the f**k it is but I want this f*****g s**t to stop NOW. I swear it, tomorrow when I go out the next f****r who stares at me will glare at her like I never glared before and make her feel just as intimidated as she made me feel because I am a person with feelings and I am NOT putting up with this s**t from strangers any more. If they want to judge someone, why don't they f*****g go and judge someone their own age or someone who is acting like a nutter. f*****g judgemental people, each stare I get from one, the day is drawing nearer and nearer when I am going to go on a rampage, and I don't want this to happen because then I will be done and will lose all respect from all of my friends and even my family, and I'm already hated enough.

''Oh it's because of your body language'' what? f**k body language I don't give off ''funny body language'' or whatever the stupid word is, I just walk along up straight, my shoulders back, like everybody else, what can go wrong?

''Oh it's vibes'' what? f**k vibes - you do not give off vibes unless you are dressed like a geek or are doing something that is noticable, you can't gives off vibes just from sitting around dressed in the normal range for your age group and just sitting there being a normal human.

''Oh it's because you're attractive'' what? No, I'm no Madonna, I'm not tall and glamerous, I am just an average person, not too posh, not too chavvy, not too rough, not too stupid, not too....whatever, I dress like a normal 22-year-old female, I act like a normal 22-year-old female, I get compliments, I get respect from friends, I get smiled at by men, I am not perceived as ''weird'' or ''geeky'' by anyone, except judging by looks women in their 50s and 60s give me. WHAT THE f**k????????????????! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !!

The answer is 70 percent of women lose their empathy when they get to their 50s and decide to take it out on young girls, especially me. Perhaps something happens to them during the menopause, I don't know, but I certain don't get this s**t from men, and, believe it or not, from teenagers either! And teenage girls are the worst out of all age groups to sense unconfident/nervous body language.

I am just fed up with being a figure of ridicule. I deserve respect, and I want it NOW. Anything to stop the staring. ANYTHING!! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !! !

Sorry about ranting about the same s**t I always rant about but there does come a point in everyone's life where we decide we've had enough and are not getting what we don't deserve any longer. I am not deformed, I am not a child molester, I am not a murderer, I am not anyone else that would get hateful looks, I am just an average-looking young girl, that's all I am.

I know how you feel joe90, people seem to look at me when im out too, in my case its usually other guys though. I dont know what it is as I dont think I act or look so different from anyone else. It really ruins your day though when it happens. If I clock someone doing it though I usually just look back at them with a "what the f**k are you staring at" look on my face till they turn away, Im just going about my day minding my own business ffs, you do the same

Nope. =P

It's impossible to make an informed choice on this, because you are evaluating how much you'd like your NT self from the perspective of an Aspie. But if you did take the pill and become an NT you would no longer have that perspective. It's entirely possible that from your Aspie perspective you prefer your Aspie self and from your NT perspective you prefer your NT self. I think that's quite likely, actually, since people tend to like people who are like them.

I think the best way at making a valid decision would be to avoid introspection entirely and try to look at external factors. For example, do most NTs seem to be happier than most Aspies? From what I've seen the answer is definitely "yes". On that basis, I would take the pill.

Of course, even that doesn't entirely avoid the problem. Maybe they seem happier, but they're not really. Or maybe taking the pill would change your values at such a fundamental level that even the meaning of "happy" is completely different.