Treatments for Autism

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Greetings. Here are some of the treatments that I am going to try:

1. Self-help books. I just bought two books: one for autism and another for executive functions. They are both for teens though, so they wouldn't be helpful for you I believe, but you could look into getting an adult book.

2. Group therapy. The (dumb in my opinion) psychiatrist I saw for a two hour session who is "suppose" to evaluate me (never did any testing whatsoever, she just talked to me) and said that I should do group therapy to learn about social skills. Also to get rid of my social anxiety. So I decided I will do that. I don't know where you are from (I forget if you have posted it on your info or not), but I'm applying to a place called "Kerry's Place". But I also feel they are for people younger than 18, or young adult basically. You need proof of a diagnosis for them, so I will provide my assessment.

3. Drama club/camp. This was also recommended by the (dumb) psychiatrist. She said that in order to get rid of social anxiety, I need to perform. I get panic attacks from performing at the moment, which aren't fun at all. But though this is mainly for social anxiety, she said you also get to act as someone you aren't. Like, you learn how you are suppose to express your emotions, how you walk, how you talk, which you can apply to the real world. Plus, you get to socialize with other people between breaks. It sounds interesting, but I feel I'm not there yet.

Hope these ideas help . Also, if you do, for some reason, want the names of my books, just reply here and I can tell you. I just ordered them two days ago, so I don't have them yet, and I'm waiting for them to come in, but they have good reviews.

AJ I sent you a PM about this. You may like it.

@MentalIllnessObsessed: Interesting ideas. Acting could be fun, and very helpful. Maybe I'll look for some classes.

Being either of those things means nothing to me if it's not for doing the right thing... and anyone who'd want to speak to me because of wealth or fame is not worth my time.



Thanks, I'll have a look

I love the idea of drama camp. First off, the kids who like drama tend to be quirkier and more accepting. Secondly, the art of acting will teach you a lot of what you need to know to be successful in life. Most humans go to their jobs like they are acting in a play. Its just that NTs do it naturally, and autistics need to teach themselves how to do it.

I remember fondly bonding with people in collage about how crazy our shrinks were. I don't know what it is, but you hear some really messed up stuff from them. A friend of mine was told that she is like a chipped plate and that her shrink was going to put her back together. (ewe!) My shrink told me my autistm was due to my jealousy of my brother. (double ewe!)

Maybe when I go back to college I'll look into student organizations there. I could take a class to pick up an elective credit too, I'm quite close to that degree.



Yeah, I've heard some nutty stories. Thankfully, none of mine have been like that. My dad was very protective (he still is) and wouldn't let anyone like that get more than one session with me. Hell, if I said I didn't like the person? That's it, they're fired. Since then I've tended to use word-of-mouth stuff and connections between doctors to find them and it's worked fairly well.

Really, part of my problem now is finding treatment that is specifically focused on treating the difficulties of autism. Because I've been pretty reluctant to even discuss it with doctors and because mine is kind of "invisible" I haven't gotten much of that. They've known I was autistic but treated me like a socially-awkward NT with anxiety issues and depression. The treatment I've been getting would be great, if that's what I was.

Working on finding a new therapist right now. I view my autism at least as a mental illness (I do not ask others to feel the same), and one that is going untreated. I fully intend to fire any therapist who does not accommodate this view.

Hello. Drama camp would be good, if I had less social anxiety, which I need to do more positive thinking because I still see worse case scenarios too often. I am working on it, slowly. I can tell you I am a lot better now than before. It would be good for autism part in me, but not social anxiety. It would make it worse and make me be more anxious because I would continue to see performance as "bad" if I keep getting panic attacks.

Also, the psychiatrist I saw recently was horrible. Didn't do assessments because she claimed my neurodevelopmental assessment, which the psychologist clearly told me that they won't do mental illnesses because I am/was seeing a psychiatrist, and they are more knowledgeable in that area than the psychologist for school assessments/neurodevelopmental disorders. But was wrong. She said everyone gets panic attacks once a month, when it is stated that most people don't get any, and most of the people that do only get one in their lifetime. Mine have been recurrent and unexpected for the past year, and I keep fearing panic attacks. I can't work when I get a panic attack for the rest of the day, and worry I'll get another one for the next week, then it'll be on and off my mind until the next one and the cycle repeats. Apparently, my "frequency" doesn't qualify for a diagnosis, which I looked it up in the DSM (since it's my special interest), and recurrent isn't defined, only if it impacts the person's living, and it does, and I fit all other criterias (have more than 4 symptoms (like 8-9), and worry about future panic attacks), so now I can't get treated for panic attacks because I don't have a panic attack diagnosis. Sigh. My new story.

There aren't a whole lot of therapists who know how to do what you are asking. Its a great idea. I'll give you that. I think most people here would love to have a therapist who works specifically with autism, but the truth is that they aren't trained to do so. So on the rare occasion you find someone who does this, its because they educated themselves. One place to look for someone who does specialize in working with autistics is an Occupational Therapist. They have been trained for this work, although most of them work with children. The other helping field that gets training in Autism is behavioralists. I'm not sure an adult would want to expose their self to that. Its pretty demeaning, IMO.

ASD is different from mental illness because MI is something you develop and Autism is something about who you ARE. We learn to cope. We discover how to have rich full lives and to embrace every part of us. But we never, never, never get be cured of this. And that might sound harsh, and you might not want to hear this. But take it as some free therapy from an expert in autism. Your ideas around autism will change. Some days you'll embrace it and other days you will want nothing to do with it. There will be phases where you decide that you don't need the label. But those core traits are never going away. They are a part of you.

I've worked with mentally ill people. I've worked in "crazy" hospitals. MI people are beautiful, too. And they have special gifts too. And they are not Autistic and most autistics are not mentally ill. And that's OK.

If you look into the history of autism, you might discover why older people have such a strong reaction to having autism called a MI. Look up key words like "refrigerator mothers" and "childhood schizophrenia." For many decades, autism was treated like it was a mental illness. The results were disaster. Lots of personal trauma. I'm one of those people. I was sent to a Frudian Psychoanalyst to cure my autistic symptoms. It was not productive. The founder of this web site, Alex some-thing-or-other, has a documentary on the abuses still going on in France, where they still believe that autism is MI. Its pinned. You might want to check it out. At least understand where people are coming from.

If you are attracted to drama, at camp or after school, you might decide that you would rather be a part of stage crew. This is also a lot of fun, usually with quirkier kids, and the benefit is that if you don't feel like talking, you can just do your crew work, and when you feel less anxiety, you have people you know to talk to.

Yes. People don't get panic attacks every month. First off, "once a month" is suspicious. Check to make sure its not PMS or something similar, because the fix is different if PMS is causing your symptoms. Secondly, that is very frequent. And no, its not too infrequent to treat. Your therapist may be trying to protect you from being on medication too soon. Medications to treat anxiety attacks come with serious side effects. They aren't pretty in the long run. I really try to stay away from them, although they do have their place. I always drug up before getting an MRI. :0

Oh, if I do drama there's no way I'm not going on stage.

I know. I know it's going to be hard... but it's what I need. I think my chances may be better around here; there's a lot of autism specialists in the Seattle area.



Yeah, I got OT when I was a child. I attribute a lot of my success to it, but finished that therapy. I don't know if there's more to be done, there.



I'd expose myself to losing a limb or two if I thought it would substantially improve things. But those therapies are designed for children anyway and require more hours than I'm able to reasonably do on my work schedule. So, not really an option.



I've known about my autism for 25 years. My ideas have changed. They've gotten steadily more negative, and continue to do so with each passing year.



I've spent quite a bit of time with mentally ill people. A lot of them were really wonderful folks... but they clearly had serious problems nonetheless. They had things that troubled them, that made their lives more difficult and for many it got between them and what they wanted out of life.

It's the same for me. So I make that comparison.



I'm sorry to hear about your bad experiences. Nobody should have to go through these kinds of abuses, and I understand where you're coming from. That is why I do not ask others to feel as I do, and why I refer to my autism specifically, which I do view as a defect in me. I ask that you respect this even if you do not agree with it.