If you could become NT, would you? seen on twitter

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auntblabby
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05 Mar 2012, 8:46 am

CrazyCatLord wrote:

I'm not so sure that it will never be possible. Research has shown that the transplantation of neural stem cells, as well as the treatment with synthetic molecules such as neurodazine, can induce neurogenesis and repair neurological damage in adults (link). It might be possible at some point to improve the connection between the frontal lobe and other brain areas in autistic people.

how does one know that it wouldn't be like what was hinted at in "flowers for algernon" where the experimental brain operation was undone by the bad instructions in the DNA in the first place? as long as the DNA has coding for mental addlement that is being transmitted, wouldn't any operations be eventually undone? wouldn't it be better if the DNA itself was changed?

Dillogic
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05 Mar 2012, 8:49 am

nemorosa
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05 Mar 2012, 9:01 am

CrazyCatLord wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

It is not something which will ever be possible so I never give the question any serious consideration. The same goes for all such hypothetical questions.

I think it is a little late for such repair work in an adult since there are literally trillions of neural connections. Sure, not all of them will be involved but re-routing those connections to where they "should" have been or adding new ones where there is a deficit would require a level of technology we don't have, if it is even at all possible. No, not in our lifetimes. It is in the realm of science fiction along with FTL travel and time machines.

Besides, not enough is even known about the mind as a whole and it's development, so it not even clear if any kind of repair work would achieve the end result that was sought.

nemorosa
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05 Mar 2012, 9:04 am

auntblabby wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

It is not something which will ever be possible so I never give the question any serious consideration. The same goes for all such hypothetical questions.

what's wrong with a little dreaming? :

Nothing at all, it's just not for me.

auntblabby
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05 Mar 2012, 9:19 am

nemorosa wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

It is not something which will ever be possible so I never give the question any serious consideration. The same goes for all such hypothetical questions.

what's wrong with a little dreaming? :

Nothing at all, it's just not for me.

then you must have quite a nice life, with a solidly internal locus of control, and that you never are troubled by things that the children of a lesser god are heir to. now and then i permit myself to fantasize about such an exalted life.

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05 Mar 2012, 9:21 am

Probably..

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Heidi80
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05 Mar 2012, 9:22 am

hell no

nemorosa
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05 Mar 2012, 9:35 am

auntblabby wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

It is not something which will ever be possible so I never give the question any serious consideration. The same goes for all such hypothetical questions.

what's wrong with a little dreaming? :

Nothing at all, it's just not for me.

then you must have quite a nice life

No, it's a bag of excrement.

EXPECIALLY
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05 Mar 2012, 9:37 am

CrazyCatLord wrote:

Yes, definitely. For me, this question is like asking a person in a wheelchair if he'd like to regrow his legs if this was medically possible.

Edited to add: The missing legs example isn't that far off. Autistic people are missing connections between the frontal lobe and the rest of the brain. I believe if this could be repaired, it wouldn't change who I am, it would merely provide me with the abilities that I'm currently lacking. And even if it would change my personality, so what? I don't much like who I am and I'm not really happy this way. I'd definitely want to be fixed if this was an option.

I've thought this way about being weird and general and just trying to change who I am.

I mean, I did it for years, used different personas, stopped using them, went back to using them and created new ones.

I like my sense of individuality too, like people here describe but sometimes I've been with a group of people and felt SO close to feeling like one of them that I knew if one tiny thing in my brain was different I might not have this alien feeling at all.

So, I've pretty much given up on using a very forced persona to try to change who I am but I can't say if I could wake up one day and not feel that weird glass wall between me and the rest of the world I might not take that opportunity.

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Last edited by EXPECIALLY on 05 Mar 2012, 9:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sora
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05 Mar 2012, 9:37 am

auntblabby wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

It is not something which will ever be possible so I never give the question any serious consideration. The same goes for all such hypothetical questions.

what's wrong with a little dreaming? :

Nothing at all, it's just not for me.

Oh, I don't know. Not being one for dreaming up the (yet) impossible doesn't mean everything must be good and comfortable.

I'm also not one for thinking up the impossible in all seriousness simply because autism can impair imagination and it doesn't help me/doesn't affect me emotionally to imagine that everything could be perfect and comfy.

Besides that I also prefer to focus in matters on hand, how to improve them, how to change them, how to enjoy them as opposed to spending that time thinking about other things.

Dreaming up alternatives doesn't make them true and doesn't help changing anything. Of course, it is a good start to be able to decide on a dream and making it or parts of the dream your goal to strive for in life.

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auntblabby
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05 Mar 2012, 9:39 am

nemorosa wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

It is not something which will ever be possible so I never give the question any serious consideration. The same goes for all such hypothetical questions.

what's wrong with a little dreaming? :

Nothing at all, it's just not for me.

then you must have quite a nice life

No, it's a bag of excrement.

you made my brain go TILT! if your life is as you described, then why don't you like to dream about better things? dreaming is free, dreaming causes no harm, dreaming makes one temporarily feel better, what is the downside of dreaming?

TB
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05 Mar 2012, 9:59 am

Hell no, i apreciate the person i am today because of the all the things i went through. Having a typical brain while growing up results in totally different people experiences and a different person in the end because of those.

nemorosa
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05 Mar 2012, 10:05 am

auntblabby wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

auntblabby wrote:

nemorosa wrote:

It is not something which will ever be possible so I never give the question any serious consideration. The same goes for all such hypothetical questions.

what's wrong with a little dreaming? :

Nothing at all, it's just not for me.

then you must have quite a nice life

No, it's a bag of excrement.

Strange, I would have thought that here at WP there was more of an appreciation for different ways of thinking. I find daily that I must curb my urge to comment on what I find to be others weird and bizarre outlook, but usually restrain myself because I have come to realise that mine is not the only or correct way to think.

Anyway, as I said I don't speculate about things that are either outside of my control, downright impossible or is never going to happen. I just don't do it. OK?

diniesaur
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05 Mar 2012, 10:37 am

I would rather die than become Neurotypical. It's not just a case of giving me abilities that I can't have. Being Neurotypical would require me to have a fundamentally different brain than I do now. Autistic people can learn social skills, but that doesn't make us Neurotypical. We still always have that different brain. Plus, I don't want to give up my unique outlook on life, my intellegence, my ability to see past all that social BS, and my different way of thinking and feeling. I wouldn't be me if I were Neurotypical. I want to be me.

JesseCat
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05 Mar 2012, 10:50 am

No way in hell. I like who I am, and I don't want to change. If people can't accept my weirdness, too bad for them.

NTAndrew
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05 Mar 2012, 12:18 pm

CrazyCatLord wrote:

It's interesting, I work in the Deaf Community and this question is posed quite often. "If you could take a pill and become a hearing person, would you do it?" Many (not all) say no, they like themselves the way they are.

Now there are Cochlear Implants, which can turn a profoundly deaf person into a hard of hearing person. There is just one catch: the surgery has to be done when the patient is very young or it won't work very well. That means the patient, who is often an infant, has no say in the decision. It is the parents, who are usually hearing and want their children to be hearing as well, who make that decision.

If there are medical interventions for Autism, chances are they will have to be performed when the patient is young, before his/her brain is fully developed. That takes the decision out of the Aspie's hands and places it squarely in the hands of his/her NT parents.

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