Being cured of Asperger's...

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Do you think it's possible? Cuz my dad spoke to the guy who diagnosed me today and he said I wouldn't be diagnosed as having Asperger's anymore. Possible? Or no? You tell me!

In concept Asperger's syndrome or autism is a compartmentalized logic. However from my experience I have always been this way, I have never been upset or disliking of what I am. So really it is confussing.

I think that you can learn to play nice better - but I don't think there is a cure . . . I can act like I'm normal - I did it for a long time - but it is so stressful . . .

I used to believe that when I was younger, the constant anxiety and tension I generally feel would go away. I thought some of I now know to be stimming behavior would subside. I'm now 32. Nothing has subsided. I've just learned to be able to gain control of it much better. I don't like relationships, and I never plan on ever being in one. I live a relatively boring life, but to me it's the kind of life I enjoy. Some people just say it's boring.

I don't believe Asperger's can be cured, but its symptoms can be brought under better control. There are some people who have claimed to have acted normal to such a degree that they now consider themselves normal. Yet, there are also people out there who some say are aspies but go undiagnosed and live relatively normal lives, but just that others perceive them as odd. Unless it creates a lot of tension and makes life hard or miserable, many professionals attempt to shun away from diagnosing it. That does not mean, however, that they are wired like an NT.

- Ray M -

The very definition is that it cannot be "cured". What they probably mean is that from all outward appearances, they wouldn't have diagnosed you as an aspie today. Also, because it is usually only diagnosed for people who are having problems with being an aspie.

It could mean that your behaviors are that much improved or that you were misdiagnosed in the first place. Even if your behavior has improved that much outwardly, you should still continue with your therapist because as you get older, you will encounter many different challenges than you do now.

i actually agree with all of you. when my parents told me this, i kept thinking, "there's absolutely no f*****g way. it's impossible" i still have trouble socially, don't I? and this doctor said there's a select few who have the genetics and training to outgrow most symptoms.

don't get me wrong, i'll always be an aspie. i'm just wondering now if there's any way we can get closer to breaking the surface...

DOESN'T HAPPEN. But you can learn to compensate for it.

From the little I have read its a condition not something to be fixed. Managed maybe, seems to me that it's more a case of learning ways to make NT's comfortable with an Aspies normal behaviour.

I'm not an authority on this - but to me, to be cured of Aspergers would be the same as being "cured" of being myself...not possible.

If there was a cure I would take it. I really think there is a common misconception about AS and/or people that have it. There is this mythical belief that we are gifted in certain areas in EXCHANGE for our condition. So I always read/hear that people with AS won't give it up because they don't want to loose their "enhanced skills". Here's my take on this:

1.) Just like a blind man who learns to rely on his hearing exclusively, so too do Aspies learn to use other skills. I belive they do this for many reasons. One of them being a sense of superiority in specific areas to compensate for social failure and the other being the attention that they get for having eccentric interests. Negative attention is still attention.

2) I believe that most the sub criteria of AS is merely reactions to social problems caused by the primary condition. The secondary characteristics are what we do/develop when we are not socially accepted. We prefer to be alone because the high probability of social failure eventually makes continued attempts useless.

If we were wired like everyone else and were given the oppurtunity to become an Aspie, there wouldn't be a single one of us who would do it.


Before you say no way to this idea, let me ask a question.

What is the difference between an Aspie and a nerd/geek that does not have AS?

They both exhibit parallel behavior except that nerds have the ability to perform emotionally resprication.

The answer to the question is simple. They both have similar environmental conditions which drive their behavior. Instead of saying/doing the wrong thing in public, nerds are socially excluded because of physical characteristics. Nerds aren't typically attractive in appearance whether it be through physical beauty or appearance. Unfortuneately, they are abused and tormented for it as they grow up. On the contrary, most Aspies do not look like nerds. They tend to appear as normal people and present themselves with an acceptable appearance. Most of the Aspies I know don't enjoy spending time with nerds and would prefer to spend time with non-nerd NT's.

So, take it any way you want. All I am saying is that WE ARE NOT BROKEN. To be broken, first you would have to have been complete. Just like you can't miss something you've never had, you can't switch on our empathy and expect us to lead normal lives. It would have had to have been there from the beginning so that we could have used it to develop normally.

yeah, i never thought it was possible. i still don't think so. but when i was diagnosed, my parents i guess they kinda freaked out (i feel like they've always wanted a type-a child like my sister, though they still love me they just wanted life to be easier for me) and they put me through all of this therapy and ive been on an ed plan for most of my life and i've had tons of occupational therapists teaching me social skills and coordination (even though i still lack a great deal of both of these). i still don't have many friends in school, i miss many details around me while focusing on others, and my brain does function slower than most NT's. i also tend to obsess over everything. my life isn't really as much as i make it out to be. it's really simple but i overexxagerate all the time and am hypersensitive to everything.

yes, i'd still consider myself an aspie. i think it's just that the intensive training to get rid of a lot of the aspie traits which would lead to a false diagnosis.

has anyone else gone through this? if so, how has it helped you, is life much easier for you since you've had therapy for this type of thing?

I'm kinda new to the forum, so I hope I'm not jumping in out of place

The notion of curing AS is a notion built up from not understanding what the syndrome actually is and what goes on inside the head. We're notorious for not expressing things, right? Well, the average NT perceives only what we give to them - if we seem to conform to their world and their ways, we must be 'cured' or 'normal' or both.

I think there is a danger of letting people believe AS can be cured. All that has happened is that strategies have been learnt to get around certain issues. Myself, I work, I have been to university, I travel each day on the trains and I'm learning to drive. Nobody in my workplace knows I'm Aspie - though we have many members of the public with various disabilities coming in, including AS and autism. I take that as a victory, but it doesn't mean I consider myself 'cured'. I'm still Aspie underneath all of that. I still can't handle the oven or the washing machine, still don't understand a lot of things people do and why.

It's just a sign of how well adjusted you are to a NT world, that's all I'm afraid you're Aspie for life.

In my own experience, I was not diagnosed till adulthood and I grew up under the umbrella of 'normal' with two very frustrated parents dealing with a kid who was overly bright but impossibly naughty when I chose to be. I always see that 'normal' childhood as a bonus and not a curse, even though there were a lot of negative moments. I think the more you are pulled away from the ratrace, as it were, the less likely you are to adapt fully to your surroundings and the people around you.

Basically, the world sucks ^_^ But it's the only world we got so we just have to do the best we can!

Apple