Why is there no TREATMENT?!

Post Reply New Topic

A cure IS a change. The issue is, what will the whole list include? We can change anything, but we can never change just one thing.

I always wondered what "treatment" for Asperger's would consist of anyway. Maybe counseling with someone who has experience with high functioning autistic adults. As much as I hate the use of functioning labels, it seems that the only treatment for autistic adults is for those who are considered "low functioning".

"Treatment" for children and "low functioning" adults seems to consist of abuse and teaching life skills such as how to prepare meals and housekeeping.

Well said.

That's my opinion, too. However, I wish there were more options available for those who are severely affected.

As to treatment for AS, the only one I read about was John Elder Robinson's book "Switched On", where he described gaining increased social perception from transcranial magnetic stimulation.

Other than that, I think it's just about finding workarounds, and self acceptance.

My personal experiences of being among the right and the wrong people would certainly back that up. But finding the right people and/or educating people isn't often easy, and then there's executive dysfunction, sensory issues etc. that the rightest people in the world can't directly fix. There are potions and other interventions for those things but their effectiveness is often pretty limited and they may often have adverse long term effects. I guess it's just a matter of finding interventions for the things that torment you the most, and balancing efficacy with risk, it's very much horses-for-courses and I don't suppose many of us have made any spectacular headway.

Myself, I wasn't even diagnose till I was in my 50s, so the idea of a cure obviously never entered my head. I just had to learn (Aspies are often good at that, given enough time). I had to learn about how people tick, about how feelings work, and lots of lessons particularly about getting on with people and learning to relate. And I developed a lot of coping strategies - trying to be the life and soul of the party doesn't work with me, so I just try to keep my social life one-on-one, or at least small, and to be content with a bit of high-quality companionship here and there. Like any other sensible human I try to discover my strengths and weaknesses and to tailor things so I don't end up with impossible challenges, and I find ways of using my strengths so I can shine a bit.

I stumbled onto music and that helped me to make friends and to be with people - I'd be socially nothing without it, but with it I can do quite well, because I was lucky enough to get autistically obsessional about playing the guitar and singing when I was young, and I became adept enough to impress people, so they mainly see me as a good musician and that probably deflects them from noticing I'm rather shy and strange. Instant popularity - not huge, but enough to keep me socially afloat from time to time. Aspies are usually great at acquiring a skill and taking it to impressive levels. So it's wise to use that strength to tip the social balance the right way.

We're also often very good at solving problems. I see my life as a set of problems that for the most part I can and do solve. It's just a matter of focussing on whatever it is I don't like and pursuing a solution. I wouldn't try to cure my ASD. It has too many aspects to it, so it would be horribly complicated to fix the whole thing. And there are things about my ASD that I want to keep, such as my ability to analyse subjects, my respect for honesty, and the fascination I feel when I'm pursuing a special interest. I just take one thing at a time, I might work on my sensory issues, interpersonal problems, or some mnemonic system to compensate for my lousy short-term memory, or I might rearrange the stuff in my house so my Aspie clumsiness isn''t such a liability.

In a nutshell, I've got what I've got, and the only thing I can think of to do is to make myself as comfortable and content as possible, which can be good fun.

I look out for my coworkers and they do the same for me.

I've gone in for outpatient surgery five times in the past five years. Each time I've had co-worker drive me there from home and then take me home afterwards.

Most people don't change that radically and, even if they did, it certainly doesn't mean that all such change is desirable.

There are specific aspects of the way my brain works now that I do not want to lose, and that I fear an autism "cure" would rob me of. For example, I've always been a person with unusually intense passionate interests. I do not want to lose my passion, nor my sense of wonder, nor my ability to concentrate for long periods of time, nor my analytic skills.

I fear, furthermore, that if a total "cure" were to become widely available -- and extended to broader and broader definitions of "autism," including and perhaps even beyond what is now considered to be just "BAP" -- then humanity as a whole would be robbed of these and other positive traits associated with autism, which would be a great tragedy for human culture as a whole.

Alas, too many of the people who have designed autism therapy for kids have not been "sensible humans" in this sense. As far as I can tell, autism therapy for kids generally does NOT focus on discovering and encouraging/developing the kids' strengths. I'm not sure to what extent that's still true -- I hope it's changing, but I'm afraid it hasn't changed very much.


That is indeed wise.

The majority of Klan members are actually Protestant Christians and I know plenty of people, such as my stepfather and older brother, who proudly proclaim they are Christian and are very racist. Both hate “brown people” and have no qualms expressing it.

I honestly want a cure for Aspergers. I used to oppose it because I hated how I was seen as less for it but my struggles to prove my detractors wrong have failed. I would have a girlfriend and would no longer live in the Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood area of the Bible Belt if there was a cure.

I'm in the middle about a cure for ASD. I don't want a cure but I won't stop others from being able to access one if it becomes available.

But humans in general always have something that needs to be "cured" too.

I disagree with the majority-oppressor mentality.

What I am about to say will probably get me banned. If it does, so be it!

There is the ultimate cure for everything in life.

It’s called death.

Thanks for all the replies, some really useful information and things to think about! Any personal questions just PM me (don't know if that facility is even used on this site...?).

As regards death, that's a poignant point and hopefully you won't be banned for it because on an impartial level you are correct.

I still think there needs to be a campaign group of people with AS and direct experience of it to push for a cure and more effective treatment. Compared to other illnesses, disabilities (or however you want to describe it), the medical community and their funders are not taking it seriously enough.

Hi Justin!
I feel similar and I use this felt "imprisonment" more in a spiritual way. That means: I don't like diagnosis and I don't have one except being severely traumatized and particular symptoms coming with it.
If I would have a diagnosis like Aspergers, I would still want to be free and connected, it wouldn't change my hearts desire.

So this imprisonement "did" certain things with me: establishing a relationship with God (or the goodness of the source); getting to know different parts of my personality which seem to sabotage my heart; found a rather unusual traumatherapist who focuses on the pain of being unable to bond and establishing new pathways in the brain.
I can recommend the NARM approach by Laurence Heller.
I started a group based on what the traumatherapist developed to relax the nervous system in the presence of other people: it's a simple structure. It's made for people to regulate their system without needing proffesional help in the first place. It works for me.
Anyway, whatever I do...there is something in me that will never fit in due to having my very own way of perceiving what's around me. I'd say that it has to do with perceiving DIRECTLY and that it has to do with truth.
On the other hand I became very obedient in way that isn't so visible but I know that I have to exercise speaking the truth, fearing no abandonement, improving/learning selflove and selfsupport and so on.
Hmm, that's all I can grab right now.

I also feel like you, that I did everything I could. Traveling, backpacking, seeking for solution and salvation everywhere, trying this and that always hoping that THIS is it. Risking, living on the edge (anyway), yearning for true connection but without limiting myself and adapt in any way.

To explore this intellectually... That fits a subset of belief. It's certainly what came to mind for me when I was suicidal and wanted quick relief (in my 20s). I can think of two belief systems where that doesn't "work" as a "cure". (1) Folks who believe in afterlife for which suicide is unacceptable - the hardship changes but continues. (2) or my preference: folks who believe in reincarnation --- and that this particular aspect might be "replayed" until the person "solves it" differently.

The latter thought never occurred to me when I was suicidal (mostly in my 20s), but sitting leisurely on a Monday morning it does. Or if one believes in universal energy, a suicide generally releases a huge flood of energy in the community --- so I suppose from an individual perspective there is relief (a "cure"), but the angst is absorbed elsewhere in the community (to be "cured").

Unfortunatly taking about how a "cure" would "change someone" is all wild speculation that provocks fear in some, because there is no cure at present.

It all comes down to what goes into making a person ie family, environment, memories, education, culture, sexuality, morals,religion and a whole lot more.

If we speculate at what they did in mice by manipulating the shank3 gene to reverse some aspects of autism. If we say hypothetically such a thing could be replicated in humans and it was safe would it really change everything about a person - i doubt it.

I know autism is more than just one symptom like anxiety, but if you look at any medical advancement its a step by step process, its rare anything is cured but most things have "treatments" that have a positive effect but autism is not one of them so far.

So it would most likely be a step by step process over the decades starting from ? Maybe a genetic cure for sensory problems then years later something for anxiety, repetative behaviours and so on. So the core unpleasent disabaling features are slowly stripped away over many decades of medical progress.