If You Could Cure Your Autism Would You?

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Why or why not?

No. I don't regard it as a disease. I've put significant energy into understanding and loving myself as I am, and I don't care to start over trying to learn how to function as somebody else's definition of normal.

There's no cure for common sense, however rare or out of place it may seem. We are thinkers with broad perspectives.

Nope. Autism is my identity, my culture, my spirit. The problems for me mostly come from NT people who try to make my life hell for being who I am and living how I must, and who go out of their way to /not/ accomodate me.

There are aspects of living with autism though that I wouldn't mind help for, and I am sure the same can be said for others. Sensory integration issues being one of them. Yes I would really love a cure for that.

But that's just a snippet of autism itself; it's not the whole phenomenon of autism that's the problem.

We don't fit in the herd because we are no sheeps.
I don't know what we are, but why would you want to become a sheep, that's boring

yes

I fundamentally don't like myself or how I think, unfortunately though, I can't escape it. I would happily be one of the neurotypical sheep, they seem happy and content.

If I could throw my personality and the way I think away, I would do it in an instant.

I am quite depressed, so that's probably significantly influencing my opinion here.

No.

Even with better NT adaption skills I imagine getting rid of such an important part of who I am at age 60 would cause all sorts of mental problems.

I do not want to be an enabler of the overall Autism is a horror show that needs to be extinguished thinking.

Overall, no. No matter what come may.

Unless I'm seriously bored in the long run.
I'd would get a 'cure' if it's temporary and if I want a certain spice in my life. I would never do so because of common complaints of circumstances, or 'suffering from autism'.

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Never. I love being different just wish I had more support and acceptance going out in this world. i'm self diagnosed but I made an appointment to get tested. I'm excited because I know autism explains everything in my life.

There are certain things that are good, and certain things that are bad.

For example, if I could improve my multitasking and general executive processing, I would. But I wouldn't lose my good long term memory or my nearly perfect pitch.

In the end, ASD is part of my identity. "Curing" it would make me a different person from who I am, and I wouldn't want that. But at the same time, there are many aspects about it that are quite a pain, and if I could improve at those aspects without changing who I am, I would.

Yup. The "why" is straight-forward enough: most of my traits cause me pain and dysfunction. Even the traits I enjoy, like special interests, have negative effects. Maybe if I was asked again in a few years, when I have a better handle on my symptoms and life in general, my response would be different. But these days my answer has to be a resounding "yes."

Now, no. There are certain traits that it would be very nice to improve, and I would be interested in treatments to help with those, especially my executive functioning. But becoming totally neuro-typical? I have never been neuro-typical, and neuro-typical people confuse me, so I have no way to know what is on offer. Frankly, parts of it sound very freaky. For example, I might gain a sub-conscious that makes judgements about people in only a few seconds - and then doesn't tell me how it went about deciding! I'm only guessing that this is what it would feel like, but that just seems so alien to me.

Age has a lot to do with it though. If I became neuro-typical now, how old would I be before I finally got used to all of my senses, emotions and everything else working in a different way? Would I have to go through a whole second childhood, to become an adult again (or maybe for the first time ) at some point in my retirement years?

If you had asked me when I was in my early twenties, I probably would have jumped at the chance. I was a drunken bum with regular suicidal tendencies back then. I didn't know I was autistic, but I sure as hell didn't want to be whatever it was that I was.

No, because I don't look down upon it as if it's a disease or illness.