Aspergers/Autism therapy changes people's personalities?

Page 1 of 1 [ 2 posts ] 

Badlands17
Emu Egg
Emu Egg

User avatar

Joined: 20 Apr 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 6

02 Apr 2008, 1:31 am

I was diagnosed with Hyperlexia/Aspergers at age 3. My mom's favorite sister was a special education teacher, and despite not having the money for Lovaas therapy, ended up helping my mom formulate a "highly effective" language therapy plan with university students and professors nearby. I was slowly changed effectively into an NT over the years. My school IEP was expunged officially this February, as I no longer qualified for language therapy.

Lately I've kind of been looking into the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator (can't link to it because some of my five posts aren't legit, sorry). I would consider INTP (Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Percieving) the most common Aspie personality type, per the symptoms of Asperger Syndrome, and it's what I have personally identified with because of the way I was as a young child, and have gotten tests back saying this in the past. I recently took two seperate tests again. One said I was an INTJ (Judging rather than Percieving), the other an ENTP (Extroverted rather than Introverted).

Of course, you can shrug this off as pop psychology, but it has to mean something. If you take this at face value, however, this is deeply disturbing (at least to me). The essence of your personality is not supposed to change. How it is expressed will change as you age, but it's unlikely that a nerd will ever change into a socialite whore, or that a philosopher will change into a good salesman; the main attributes of your personality stay with you for life.

Even if the computerized tests are just a simple equation very distant from the real nature of the human mind, I have recognized in my responses on these tests that I would prefer to meet new people than spend time by myself, and care about what other people think about me (I won't say I'm super conscious, but I'll go out of my way to not do anything uncool in a social environment) and about looking decently fashionable in a social environment. This is not supposed to be! If I was an Aspie when I was 3, why am I becoming extroverted now?

I personally think the question of the cure was put to the forefront by people who were desperate for one. It's just not rational, even within the next few centuries; there are clearly so many factors that go into autism and even multiple causes of the disorder that are interchangeable. With that said, I think we should turn our eyes to the therapy going on right now. Does it adequately fit the definition of brainwashing? If therapy was able to turn me into who I am, then what can therapy from birth do to a person once genetic causes/abnormal hormones are identified?



Transmogrifier
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 15 Feb 2008
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 65

02 Apr 2008, 6:03 am

I don't believe that the essence of your personality can change, too. However, even though I'm no expert in MBTI, I know that the original definition of an extravert is a person who draws energy from the surrounding, while an introvert is a person who draws energy from within himself or herself, and may find other people draining. So introverts would lean towards choosing to stay on their own over meeting new friends, but there are some introverts who actually fear rejection and enjoy the company of others despite it being draining, for example the INFJ.

In the MBTI, they consider that as one ages, one should become more balanced, so it's perfectly normal for someone very introverted to slowly develop his or her ability to cope with the outer world, so you see questions like whether you enjoy meeting new friends or being alone, it wouldn't be unusual for an introvert who has developed his or her skill for socializing and other aspects to choose meeting new friends over being alone. Rather than treat it as a change in your personality, it's more like an enhancement of certain aspects of who you are. One may become more capable of withstanding the draining part of communicating with others, or learn to recharge, then sometimes, meeting new friends who maybe share your interests can be very enjoyable.

When I was small, I literally ran away from strangers and displayed a lot more aspie traits than I do now, but I have really strict parents who taught me what way I should behave in public, so now you don't really see me stimming outside home, except some finger twisting. However they didn't bother me with my interests in writing stories and others, things that won't affect me in public. I don't think my personality has changed a great deal, but I am accepted by others more easily, I'd call that an enhancement.

So, no, I don't see the therapy as brainwashing, who you are cannot be a constant, everyone changes, or in another word, improve. Of course, those are just some opinions from a high school student with no professional knowledge on the MBTI, so there might be a lot of mistakes here.