Something that I was told once that AS disappears.

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I remember once being told about 14 years ago that some forms of ASD disappears in your mid 20’s I was told at the time by a psychologist who, in truth, didn’t know that much. Whereas when I was at school one of specialist teachers told me it does not disappear, which was very comforting when in a middle of a Meltdown exclamaming that if there is a cure I will find it.

The things is I don’t feel different in my 30’s to how I felt when I was about 15.

Has anyone else heard that story about ASD disappearing in your mid 20’s.

Yes, and it's utter bull. What they probably don't realize is that the symptoms might be better masked by someone on the spectrum in their 20s and up vs in their teens. ASD is lifelong.

Autism is something you have your entire life. It doesn't go away. Many autistic people learn to mask some of their symptoms as they get older.

What the above poster just said..

You are able to maneuver and mask the symptoms(usually)because you have more experience of the outside world.
What we really need is psychologists that have Aspergers themselves or other forms of AS. Just because they have a piece of paper on the wall with their name on it, doesn't mean they know it all.

I think that over time someone's autism could disappear, but only in the sense that their traits were no longer significant enough to affect their daily life - that is, they could become subclinical. Few people remain completely stationary on the spectrum, after all. My sensory problems as a kid gave me ARFID, but now my food issues are a mere quirk and not of any real concern. I've heard of other people whose social skills vastly improved during college. Changes in environment, therapy, and learning to use the right tools and employ new skills can all help a person to lessen the extent of their traits. Do such cases stop being autistic? Probably not, but I do believe that autism (as a disorder) can "disappear," by which I mean it can become insignificant.

I think it may come down to simply adapting to it over time. Like with eye contact, one might be able to train themselves to do it more.

It's crazier to me how people with blindness can develop their hearing in a way that I find inconceivable, but it doesn't change the fact they are still blind.

I think time also helps a lot to get past some anxiety issues from always feeling like a misfit and struggling to engage in social interaction. Being able to let go of that I think can make it easier to deal with - I guess you could call it a type of performance anxiety that compounds the issue. I think that social anxiety could effect the high-functioning types the most since one can really see how much they are missing out on, yet somehow can't do anything about it even though one is mentally quite engaged and even passionate about helping humanity. If one can just get out of that mental paradox by understanding why and how the difficulties are manifested then maybe almost everything seems to improve across the board (it would depend). Or at the very least, more knowledge about the underlying mechanics and life experience can help one develop better, more comprehensive strategies and "social tactics".

The phrase "they'll grow out of it" was frequently offered by doctors to parents at the time of diagnosis to "soften" the news. I'm not sure if that's entirely honest though. Sensory issues may diminish and you can learn how to respond in common social situations.

But is this really AS "disappearing", or the result of advanced adaptation skills?
Or a little of both...?

I think circumstances really change it, I was always a weird outsider growing up but my circumstances in my late teens made my autism a lot harder to deal with.

I think there is a general misconception about psychologists, amongst the general public - the assumption that all psychologists are trained and practice in clinical psychology (eg issues people have in their lives, therapy and so on). In fact, many train in completely unrelated areas - some in forensic psychology, some in educational psychology, some in psychophysics (the physics of sensation and perception) and so on. Think of the diversity this way: you may meet a zoologist whose special field is mammals in the ape family. He can still tell you what he personally thinks about reptiles, but that will be his opinion of reptiles, not his specialist knowledge as a zoologist. It's the same with psychologists.

If the one you spoke to years ago was a clinical psychologist, then I would wonder if his degree was from a mail order facility.

You don't suddenly grow a new neurology in your brain in your twenties or at any other time of life. You are born with a particular set of hardware in the brain and the brain's "software" programs grow in size and complexity over time, as you learn more and attempt new things and encounter various environmental conditions. You might specialise in something and become and expert at it - that will cause the brain to modify its program for that talent, as we now know from thousands of studies on neuroplasticity.

I don't know anyone who grew out of the spectrum, though I do know people who played to their strengths and got a lot more capable in achieving their main goals over time. For myself, I would say that I reached my maximum apex level in my thirties, when my brain seemed to function with great speed and clarity when confronted with issues that were full of academic complexity. It still works pretty well though not at that level of the most acute sharpness of thought.

The old maxim of "when you know better you do better" has a lot of truth in it for most people. But that's not "growing out of it".

For those who become subclinical, doesn't that mean long-term learning/adaptation and neuroplasticity have "re-wired" their brain to function and thus become more neurotypical? Or is it a construction that just resembles neurotypicality?

To use a shaky analogy, is neuroplasticity like growing hair or just creating a really convincing toupée?

According to my mother, the person who diagnosed me way back when I was three years old said it was a possibility that I would outgrow my Autism and that I would just be a "quirky" adult. I have no idea why that was said, but it didn't happen and if anything, my Autism has become more severe as I've grown up (if that's possible).

What you have to remember is that a diagnosis of Autism is given by examining symptoms and traits. As long as these symptoms and traits fit the diagnostic criteria and have been present since early childhood, a person can get a diagnosis. We know that there are genetic factors that cause Autism but we also know that there some environmental factors that can cause the same issues with the brain and can cause the symptoms and traits that would make someone get a diagnosis for Autism. And in some cases you can have a mix of both genetic factors and environmental factors. So I do believe that in some cases, it is possible to reverse the symptoms and traits thus ending or "curing" the Autism. If the symptoms and traits are caused by environmental factors, if those factors can be successfully dealt with than the symptoms and traits will go away. But I also believe that if the Autism is primarily or only from a genetic factor, than it is there for life. So in my opinion, I think that it is possible for both of those scenarios to be true depending on what is causing the Autistic traits and symptoms.

A lot of people find that they get "more severe" as adults. I think the reality is that you were always that severe even as a child. But when you were a child you did not have adult responsibilities and stresses so your severity levels of Autism were not as apparent. Our Autistic traits and symptoms and challenges always get stronger and more severe when our levels of stress increase. You could do an experiment and see if you can spend a few days or weeks in an environment where all of your adult stresses and responsibilities are taken away, if that is even possible, and see if your Autism becomes "less severe" like it did when you are child.

I have felt less Aspie since my mid-20s, but that still doesn't mean that's the case for everybody on the spectrum.

I hope mine never disappears.

AS is forever. It's a part of you and me, and the only thing I wish would disappear is people's ignorance about it. Like that'll ever happen.