If could go NT would you?

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Science is advancing and advancing, we are clearly on our way to decypher the secrets of life. Maybe there is someday a "cure" for Asperger's, so vote and give me your piece of mind...

No, as it is not a diseses but a difference. I like who I am, I guess one day they will have a cure for being the wrong color, or the wrong belief

If AS isn't a disease/disorder, then what about the poor social skills we have and other things that go along with autism that makes life more difficult. My opinion may differ from most on WrongPlanet, but I would give anything to be cured. I just want a normal life without all the difficulties that make autism what autism is.

How about if you could take a pill that made you "NT" for a few hours? Being a sufferer of Major Depression, I take a pill that changes who I am for a few hours. To be honest, I like the "on meds" version of myself much better. Less emotional, more respectable. And I can focus on work and recreation a lot more easily.

I know how to be me. I don't know how to be anyone else. A person who perceives the world in a way I do not is not me, even if they would look (maybe...) the same as I do. I'd rather learn to adjust to the world on my own terms, as it becomes important to me, and do what I want the rest of the time. Why try to be normal? Normal is average. Nothing special. Run of the mill. I can do better, and do so exactly as who I am now.

Temporarily yeah just to see what it's like. But I doubt I'd want it forever because it's a massive change and the brain has to adjust to it's new structure.
If someone who was born blind could suddenly see at the age of say 30, there would be a lot of adjusing to do and they just couldn't go out into the sunlight straight away because it would hurt their head or eyes, they would have to be introduced slowly.

I think if any Aspie tried such a pill they would want to be on it forever, despite what they think now. Once all those (mental) barriers were torn down, it would seem silly to put them back up again. Your personality would be the same, you are who you are....it would just be easier to be you.

You have a point

I would love to try it out some day as a free trial but being an aspie feels more like me, I think I'm happier the way I'am right now.

Nope! I'm social as it is, and I would lose what makes me unique.

I don't know about anyone else, but I don't find it hard to be me. Sure, AS makes things harder and I would not wish it on anyone. But I have NO DESIRE to change. One of the things that I get the most praise for in my field -- teaching -- is how creative I am. I think this comes almost entirely from the fact that people with AS pretty much always "think outside the box." I love my husband, but I'd hate to be like him...in fact, I love a number of NT people (my family, all my good friends) but I wouldn't want to be like any of them! Frankly, I think most NTs behave badly; the group I hang out with tends to be pretty blunt and honest, but I find so many NTs don't mean what they say and are impossible to interpret.

However, if I had to depend on my parents and couldn't hold a job, I might feel differently. However, I do work and have lived on my own without any problems for extended periods of time. I'm not trying to criticise anyone who lives with their parents or is in some other way dependent on a parent (or other relative) or who is unemployed even though they have had a job before or have tried to get one and had no luck. I know that I'm relatively high-functioning and that not everyone has had the good luck I have had. (I have a very accepting family, and turned out be good at a career I love.)

Certainly it would be nice if I could navigate faculty politics better -- there is a ton of non-verbal communication there I wish I could understand. But change who I am? No thanks. I like myself the way I am, and if other people don't -- their loss!

Nope

So...the only thing that makes you yourself is AS? That's a little sad. Why can't you still be you but with the ability to 'interpret' NTs? Why can't you be you but have the ability to understand non-verbal signals? Why do you need to have AS to like youself? Why do you need AS to be good at what you do? Would not having AS suddenly make all the life experiences that made you who you are suddenly disappear? Of course not!

AS is considered a disability because it puts up barriers that prevents people from being able to do and achieve certain things with ease. It has nothing to do with who that person is or how that person is. It is a bunch of debilitating traits that, if anything, prevent people from being themselves. It keeps people inhibited. You are not who you are because you have AS, it is not your identity...and if it is, you should seriously get help for that, anyone who thinks like that should. It's negative thinking, either because it's self-defeating, or a cop out plain and simple.

Aspies are who they are for the same reason NTs are.

+1

I think if it were something temporary that you took when you neede it, like ADHD meds then I would use it. Sometimes I want to be social but sometimes I want to stay focused on my special interests.
I also want a better memory. All the brain teasers, supplement pills, exercise etc can't help me there.

Why ?



Are these fundamental abilities ?



Because it's (a Big) part of who we are ?



Because AS is a Big factor in being good at what we do



Nope, but they should now fit into a different mindset. Can you predict the effects ?



I see a lot of barriers put up by so callled "able" people



Really ? This was actually funny



So why should we change ?

Amen to that.

I wonder though if I was to become more social if I'd have the same interests as I have now. I'm hardly good at the writing I do and can remember maybe 2% of what I read, but I still enjoy it. When I try to be social I find that when I return to these things I lose some of my grammar skills.

I guess we don't really know if we'll be completely different or not have those barriers in life. We can only just assume one or the other. But if I don't see myself improving, f'yeah I'll take the pill or whatever step I can to become NT. I'd probably be my same introverted self. Thing is with some people here they label them self with AS. It's their identity. Why do you think there's a big deal about the decision to drop AS from the DSM V?