Leaving Autism behind?

Post Reply New Topic

I came across an interesting article today, regarding people that supposedly recover from Autism:

https://spectrumnews.org/features/deep- ... sm-behind/

What do you guys think? Personally I don't think it goes away but some of us subconsciously adapt over time so behave differently. It's an interesting read though.

They're gonna be in for a rude awakening when they get older. Being a teen with autism is hell from what I remember, and a lot of it is because you're pushed into a whole new world with new s**t to learn, right after you've just gotten used to being a kid.

Actually for me becoming a teen was okish, maybe testosterone made me more assertive than when I was a kid.

Anything is possible.
A few of them might be probable.

There is a guy here that seems to have overcome his AS via bodybuilding:

http://youtu.be/aQSGFZG6dSg

I wish everyone on WP would stop treating autism like it's a disease! And believing everything they read!

It's not a disease but there is nothingbwrong with cases where people have adapted their gift to fit the wider environment.

Lets look as Autism as being potentially flexible to change rather than cure.

The point I want to make , and which I believe a number of people whom mostly focus on children on the autistic spectrum overlook , is that we grow up. And as we grow up we gain maturity , at least as long as we are optimally socialized . So an elder with a PDD , such as for instance Asperger syndrome , is going to be remarkably different from a child . I know that looking back upon my life growing up as an autistic on the higher functioning end of the spectrum , although as I was born in the early 80's before Asperger syndrome was widely known , I was first made out to have Tourette syndrome , and my autism consequently went untreated , I am less socially awkward and have fewer seemingly strange mannerisms , compared to when I was young . So though I still have the same underlying state of being as always , my characteristics are rather remarkably different . So much in fact that the casual observer might think that I have gone into total remission . So when the neurologist my parents took me to see , when I was around the age of three , due to concerns about my hand flapping , said that it was probably Tourette syndrome , and that I might grow out of it , well even though I later did develop chronic vocal tic disorder as a young adult , as it turned out I did not have full blown Tourette's as the doctor believed based upon mistaking my stim for being a motor tic , but I have to a degree at least grown out of it , as I do not hand flap nearly as much as I used to . P.S. Though of course I do not approve of such verbal bullying , a key motivator in my getting out of the habit of hand flapping were these two mean girls in third grade taunting me with the pejorative epithet of "ret*d" . Since I did not want to continue to be belittled and stigmatized as such , I successfully suppressed such stimming , at least publicly . So as I stated before , socialization , even negative kinds , can play a factor in the modification of symptoms .

There are some people with severe health problems or multiple sets of issues. Once those issues are treated the autism symptoms go away. Such as severe food intolerances and subsequent brain damage or mitochondrial disease that's been untreated. Sometimes problem with eye contact could be a vision issue like convergence insufficiency.

Is it still adapting though if someone no longer has trouble with the same things and isn't consciously using any coping mechanisms?

I think it's the puberty hormones interacting with the ASD brain, not learning new s**t IMO. Hormones can make you go crazy.

The article mentions ABA therapy in the article, which is considered abusive by a significant part of the ASD community.

The following blog post by an former ABA "Behavior Technician" addresses why she considers ABA abusive.

Blog post by former ABA Behavior Technician

The article further acknowledges that the success stories were difficult to explain. The diagnostic criteria is based on observable behavior of the child. If the the child's observable behavior is deemed no longer indistinguishable from its peers then criteria for autism cease to apply, which as the article reiterates doesn't mean that the child isn't autistic.

So I've edited this because I feel I have a better, more rational answer.

I think it's preferable to hold onto something like this. People will only see what they want to see in us, and it isn't our decision how much influence we can have on others. However, as much as attaching labels would increase our influence over other peoples perspectives, we cannot hope to change them for the better. People will look for the negative.

To still have the symptoms (the irremovable and foundational ones), yet describe ones self as totally neurotypical with noticeable quirks would only expose us to more ridicule, because our odd mannerisms and behavior would be wilder people.

That's my take, I'll take any criticizing responses because part of my thought process doesn't accept this answer.

Last edited by wrongcitizen on 06 Apr 2017, 2:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

it's not a "disease" in the sense that you can't catch it, or be vaccinated against it.

undoubtedly, there are some who are so strongly afflicted that it does negatively impact their quality of life, with little way around it. but if i had to guess, i'd say many feel the same way you do, actually. maybe not "most", but certainly not nobody.

When you and your peers go through puberty, you have a LOT to learn, and it's harder on autistic folks than it is on NTs.

I think so yeah, as the brain itself may have adapted, created new connections or whatever. I don't think you can become fully NT.