I was diagnosed with AS, now feel like I'm growing out of it

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Yes. You could have been me writing that. I'm still dealing with other issues, but I seem to have deAspified considerably.

Diet does affect how well we can handle stress and also affects what nutrients our brain receives or does not receive. It can also help with chemical and hormonal balance. This does not mean that it is a cure ut it might help the coping skills to last longer.

Y

My behavior has changed in someways, to more NT than ASpie...it's weird..

Few points I'd like to discuss:

It's interesting that people are mentioning diet. I used to eat lots of sugar and caffeine during high school and earlier. Since then, I've completely cut it out of my diet, to the point where I clearly notice a sugar high when I drink a can of soda. Certainly seems to have helped.

One other weird thing that I've noticed is that I've not just had more success with socializing, I also have far more desire. I really don't like to do things by myself like I used to. At least to some extent, I would attribute this to the fact that being around people doesn't create the stress and anxiety it used to.

AS has ended up giving me a wide variety of knowledge in a diverse set of topics, since I'm always interested in something different. I've found that as a result I can make good conversation on almost any topic. What seemed to be more important was practicing and observing what worked for other people, and what didn't.

Good question, and the hypothesis is not obvious:

Allergies.

Researchers who work with profoundly autistic kids found that cutting dairy out of their diet helped them in just about every way. They hypothesized that a great number of the kids were having a severe allergic reaction to dairy products all the time--as many people do and don't even know it--that was aggravating their neurological condition.

As for sugar, same thing, but for a different reason. See, we have a fungus in our guts called candida albicans. It's normal to be there. It helps with our digestion. But if it goes out of balance and starts taking over, then you get a candida, or YEAST, infection.

The effects can be ravaging. The candida will eat the sides of the intestines, causing undigested particulate matter to leak into the bloodstream causing--once again--allergies. The candida will also eat the nutrients of the body, rather than letting the vitamins and trace minerals get to the brain, so that the brain can't maintain itself nearly as well. A candida infection will cause gas, fatigue, and difficulty concentrating. All decrease neurological function.

And what does Candida eat? Well ... sugar! That's all it can eat. So if you have a candida infection, you'll crave sugar at regular intervals, and find that after you eat it you'll feel slightly fatigued.

There seems to be a misconception that "developmental disorder" means that development will never take place. While that may be true in some respects and there may be some specific skills that are never acquired and some people who never "grow up", it can also mean that development occurs slowly or in an unusual way. Many mute autistic children learn to speak, but sometimes not until they are adults. Likewise, it's completely reasonable to think that an Aspie could eventually learn almost any skill that other people learned at a much earlier age. I think when the doctors say "autism is forever" they mean that the underlying condition that causes the delays in learning will always be there. We manage to learn some things but that doesn't mean that others will naturally follow.

this is very interesting. do you know where i can find out more about this, aj?

i was aware that i'd had a sort of social growth-spurt around the age of 11 and another in my early twenties, but i can't say i'd noticed any significant changes in my mid-teens (i was on medication at this point, so maybe this interferred?).

i'd like to know if they are the only social growth spurts i can expect in my lifetime. being in my mid-twenties, i had assumed i was going to get one every few years. i was planning to be a neuro-typical by the time i was fifty!

I certainly haven't noticed anything. I've been in social decline for as long as I can remember!!

North, I mostly attribute this to PMT (Positive Mental Thinking) of oneself, a positive environment and friends who understand you, not a decrease of symptoms in your autism because it will always be a part of you; what you think, do or speak is autistic.

However, I won't praise you or give you a medal for your achievements because, at the end of the day, it's your life, and you alone define it.