Can autistic people develop?

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The answer is yes and no.

AS is more about finding out how, the person I am, can develop. The movie with Templin is a good example. She did develop, in some ways, but other ways she remained stuck. I walk around in this world an adult of regular height but often feel the same as I did when I was six years old. I have the same thoughts even after years of life experiences. The world is still as baffling even with many learned definitions. I didn't have thoughts of a typical six year old then and I have not developed past those same thoughts today. But I have found the right things that I could develop.

It is worth it to find where and what can be developed. It took so much effort, courage, and drive that nothing can ever diminish it to me. It also helps me accept what doesn't develop and what won't develop. Parents need to find ways to accept what 'is' and support what 'can be' and be the cheerleaders we need to overcome the rest of the obstacles. I do hear and have experienced in my own family how much importance is placed on being normal. Well to that I say...be happy you know what that is and quit being disappointed I'm not getting it. Could we ever dwell on what I rock at???

AS has elements of developmental disorders, hitchhikers of anxiety disorders, all of which have a probability of treatment or cure. But it also has elements that just 'are', and are not going to change. I don't know if parents of AS kids realise there is no 'cure'. There is no therapy to get rid of it, no drug, just hard work to find the right fit.

I put for your consideration my life as an example;

As a child I was a mute, despite being very smart I had problems with learning particularly in chaotic environments, I had OCD, social anxiety, didn't understand any social norms, meltdowns at least once an hour, I was unable to bathe myself, unable to use the toilet correctly, unable to feed myself properly, and I had no concept of other people being people like me rather they were things to be interacted with rather like inanimate objects.

The list goes on. I was a little being in my own world, totally cut-off from the rest of the world, I would say that as a child I was closer to that of a classically autistic child...as an adult I can practically pass as an NT, I'm more independent and capable of living a normal life than many NT's I know, I have learned how to respond and act towards others, but as someone else here has said it is not the same as instinctual response.

This is what lead me to discovering asperger's, I had gotten over all these issues from my childhood, but there were still these smaller things that were limiting me - for example difficulty with eye contact, maintaining friendships, don't understand 'fun', can't start or maintain conversations very easily, can't small-talk/chat, etc. It had been thought this was down to social anxiety, that because I was mute etc. for so long (I give 7 years old as a sudden eureka moment in my life when everything somehow started to click) that I was 7 years behind everyone else socially/developmentally. If it had been something like social anxiety I may have been able to overcome these issues, but I hadn't...thus it has to be something more, something like autism which can't be overcome but is something fundamentally different about how my brain functions.

I have no doubt that many aspects of autism can be overcome, we have less of an understanding of social norms so we are behind others, behaviour is taught, social norms are taught, but those things are taught...it's like the difference between just memorising information and actually learning information, the former will never have applied knowledge.

The hemispherical disconnects in the brain associated with most autistic conditions cannot be fixed. However, the capacities of us Aspies to memorize speech sequences, facial expressions, and more allow us to 'fit in' better than we were as children or young adults. I am almost 35 and am successful in most situations. That being said, however, my shortcomings in conversation or in complex social situations requires a great deal of concentration to handle. I still miss every third word in a conversation with background noise and when the person's lips are not visible for me to reinforce what is being said with lip reading.

My special interest has become left/right/ENS impaired conditions with Aspergers at the top of the list. My daughter was just diagnosed.

I am better with some social cues such as because of how often this has occured, known when not to trust that someone is being VERY friendly because they really want to be your friend and care about how you are doing and what is going on in your life.

On the flipside, I don't understand if someone is joking all the time, don't get when someone is flirting, don't get when someone of the opposite sex is into me.

I can do some multi-tasking now while talking on the phone such as clean the kitchen.

On the flipside, I can not carry on a conversation with sounds in the background such as a tv, music, smacking or other such sounds.

I can talk on the phone now. I hate initiating phone calls but I end up taking a deep breath before doing it.

On the flipside, the whole time I am nervous meanwhile my voice is not showing that, fidgeting, pacing back and forth. I used to only send emails or do IMs. Now I don't do IM's anymore at all. I flipped on one switch and the other turned off completely.

Progress right?

When someone reads texts about autism, it is often misinterpreted vs. someone who actually is on the autistic spectrum. When people read for example "lack of empathy" it instantly means "Lack of compassion" "Lack of feelings"

When really it would help if someone would write the lengthier definition of the version of empathy which actually affects someone with autism. Now alot of us have to face these horrible stereotypes that aren't true.

When it comes to socializing, I've probably regressed some. I have made tremendous strides in other areas.

There's been talk about burnout here and there, the stress from trying to function at NT levels over long periods of time. I was functioning at one level during my 20s, hit my 30s, hit a wall three times, and have been functioning at a different level ever since.

At the time it happened, I felt like I had definitely pushed myself too hard and burned out, but I couldn't really explain how or why that was possible and decided upon denial, did it two more times, and then more denial and some depression as well.