I would take the cure

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I do not understand the issue that many aspies have with altering their personalities or mindstates. I am happy to take a cure that allows me to have an alternate state of mind like NT consciousness as long as I have some control so that I can switch back to my natural state. However, I would not take any cure that would impose a labratory created chemical change on my brain for the purpose of "curing" autism. I have seen a loved one ruined by synthetic antidepressants so I would never take that path. I am happy to stick with natural products. My point is that whether or not a person would take the "cure" should not have to be about being changed permanently as opposed to not changed.

I would call temporary natural fixes a "remedy" of symptons, not a cure of the syndrome. I'm definitely not opposed to remedies either. I don't know what I think about a cure.

What are you "curing" - depression, OCD, anxiety, sensory overloads? It is fine to want to elleviate some of the negative things that may go along with Aspergers, but I don't think that everything about Aspergers is negative. When I see the typical NT cultural norm that ASD's are held up to I'm not that impressed with it. So, if someone said here is a cure and you would be exactly NT I don't know that I would jump at it. I appreciate being able to see things from a different, yet not wrong point of view.

Right, my point is that it should not have to be an all or nothing proposition as to whether or not to change to NT consciousness. Framing the issue like that unnessarily limits the debate.

I was reading something interesting before that said that sometimes people with AS develop an aversion to any kind of medications - regarding them all in the same catagory. I can relate to that. I know there are drugs that could help (like Xanax) but I don't want to get involved with that. I kind of feel the same way about supplements because even though they are natural they still act like a drug in the body. Also, some people are very sensitive to medications, chemicals, ect so they run the risk of having side effects even from natural supplements. So, it can be a balancing act between just dealing with what you know or taking the chance and having an unknown reaction to a product.

I went to see this psychiatrist after I got my diagnosis for Asperger's. He met with me for the first time and told me he had not had time to read my file. He kept popping in and out of his office to see if his coffee had brewed yet. I didn't feel that he was really focusing on me at all, it was a waste of time going there. In the end he whipped out a prescription pad and wrote a prescription for some meds that he said would help. Given that he barely knew me and had not read my file I thought it was a bit of a rip off that all he did was write a prescription without really talking to me. Of course I did not take the pills. My point is, given the industry that produces and promotes them, those synthetic meds are as scary to me as a permanet cure would be.

You have heard about people being born in the wrong bodies right ?
Wel, with AS i feel i was born with the wrong mind.
Thus i obviously see it just as an annoying thing that holds me back from how i feel i should be.
Not because someone else wants me to be what is perceived as normal.
But because i do myself.
So the conclusion is that AS is just something annoying i try to ignore and forget about as much as possible.

Altough it still is interesting to find out stuff about it on this forum.

I can relate to your feeling of being born with the wrong mind. I have always been shocked and surprised that I am different. I am not supposed to be this way.

I do not believe in a soul. I believe that my brain, and all the functions of it are me. That if they change, I died. Altering my brain to function differently would in effect be killing me. A new things might live which is a different me, but it would know who I once was is dead. Also. I'm happy as a clam right now, and i'd rather not wreck a good thing.

Mostly I think that the Aspies and Auties who don't want a cure are those ones who are perfectly happy as they are and they've got a bunch of people running around them annoying them with suggestions that they aren't normal, need help, and couldn't possibly be happy how they are.

I believe you.

Doesn't the whole idea of a fixed personality come from the view that we exist as individuals separate and removed from our environment? That belief goes along with western views about expansionism and individualism in the economic market. By contrast, I believe that I am a part of my environment, constantly changing depending on my interactions. While I have a set of principles to guide me in my behavior, and these principles are what I choose to define as "me", I do not value my consciousness as a rigidly fixed state. I value my ability to adapt, change, accomodate, and interact. A natural remedy that allows me to do those things suits me just fine.

That sounds like a typical, Western medicine doctor. Finding "good" doctors are quite hard to come by these days, given that most are expected to, if not even that they have to, submit themselves to the whims of the pharmaceutical industry. Many shrinks tend to believe that all you need to do is take a pill, and that is the same for all categories of doctors.

I do not support an outright cure for Asperger's. I may support a cure for the rage cycle that I've felt too many times, or I may support a cure for the anxiety that constantly eats at me, but I kind of like delving into my own obsessions. That is what drives me, and the positive anxious feeling resulting from them enraptures me. My obsessions, which I tend to just refer to as my own interests, are more or less personal. If I was just calmer, not so anxious all the time, and was able to handle social situations with more ease, then I would be well off.

- Ray M -

do you remember what this was you were reading? it would greatly interest me, as i also have this aversion. with the exception of the nutritional supplements. i used to feel that way about them too, but in the last year or so, have come to accept that they can be very benificial, with far less probability of negative reactions than pharmaceutical drugs (i also feel that these in many ways are simply like painting over cracks, rather than dealing with the root cause). in particular, high doses of vitaminC i have found seem to improve my state of mind somewhat, as well as Bvitamins. i've been eating hemp seeds lately also, for the high concentration of linoleic and linolenic acid they contain, which are supposedly essential for correct brain functioning. i feel that diet is also a very big factor.
as far as curing aspergers, i am quite happy with my alternative perception of the reality, it's the world that needs to change, not me. i feel that the negative AS traits are the result of living in a disfunctional world.

If there was suddenly a pill that would "cure" autism I'd be worse off. I have spent all my life until middle age living with autism. If a cure suddenly became available I would be expected to compete with NTS who have spent a lifetime acquiring status and career achievements. With the "cure" I'd no longer be considered disabled and would be forced to go off disability. At that point I would have to enter employment with no prior experience in my middle age. I have no job references as I have always found that I am a liability to employers. Therefore I would suddenly have to take an entry position of the sort most people would take in their youths, I would be far behind the NTS in that respect. Of course, I would work for a wage if I could but it would be a bit of a downer having to work at some low wage McJob just because I had been disabled and was suddenly "cured". I would hope that if a cure did become available there would be some accommodation for those of us who had been "disabled" by autism for most of our adult lives.

What’s so wrong with being different if you’re different?

It was in the middle of a long report (36 pages or so) if you still want the link I can try and pinpoint it for you. I didn't necessarily like the attitude of the report because it was written by psychologists and kind of put AS in less than flattering terms in some areas, but when I read that it it kind of really made me think. I am like that too - and it frustrates some people around me because they think I'll do better on some sort of medication. Of course that is just because people like my husband buy into the whole better living through pharmaceuticals concept. He, of course, doesn't take any of this stuff so it's easy for him to say. My mom is very sensitive to medication so she supports me and that helps.