Autism can't be cured if you don't want to be

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Magneto
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19 Jun 2009, 8:34 am

I'll tell you why, starting with a quote from the Matrix:

Neo wrote:
Because I choose to.

The hypothetical cure may make you more likely to make eye contact, but it can't force you to. It may make you more likely to add hidden meaning to your words, but it can't force you to. You may be more likely to be interested in NT stuff, but again, it can't force you to.



Last edited by Magneto on 19 Jun 2009, 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

sinsboldly
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19 Jun 2009, 8:50 am

oh, hell, I can FORCE myself to make eye contact and FORCE myself to contort my face and body into recognizeable signals to those that can read thoses signals.
What I don't understand is why I should live a life of FORCING myself to do all of that.

so, finally we understand. the 'cure' isn't for US, it's for THEM.


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activebutodd
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19 Jun 2009, 8:54 am

Cure? I know of no cure. The best I've managed is to soften some of my Autistic traits over time. And I make huge effort in situations when I see a valid reason to, because it is exhausting.



Magneto
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19 Jun 2009, 8:57 am

I'll edit the OP. I meant a hypothetical cure.



Rainbow-Squirrel
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19 Jun 2009, 9:08 am

sinsboldly wrote:
so, finally we understand. the 'cure' isn't for US, it's for THEM.


So true...



b9
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19 Jun 2009, 9:20 am

i can not be cured. i could have been prevented, but once i started to grow from the egg, i was who i am now.

to cure me would be to kill me because if i am not who i am now after i am cured, then the current me would be no more.

i like me and i do not want to be any different than i am.

my roots go all the way to the core of my existence, and i can never be replanted.



Magneto
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19 Jun 2009, 9:22 am

But that's not true.

Quote:
to cure me would be to kill me because if i am not who i am now after i am cured, then the current me would be no more.

What defines you? Your interests? They can't change those, but they can make it easier for you to change them. Body language? Again, you decide on that.



hostilebanana
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19 Jun 2009, 9:27 am

Magneto wrote:
But that's not true.

Quote:
to cure me would be to kill me because if i am not who i am now after i am cured, then the current me would be no more.

What defines you? Your interests? They can't change those, but they can make it easier for you to change them. Body language? Again, you decide on that.


Who you are is far more than a list of likes and dislikes or labels. The NT world is so focused on trying to make everyone fit into a little box that they feel comfortable with. If there were a cure and you were to take it, it would destroy the person that you are.



activebutodd
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19 Jun 2009, 9:28 am

Oh, hypothetical cure. I'm not sure of the question being asked but-
Should there be a hypothetical cure available that gives me the ability to be NT if I choose, here's what I'd do.

I'd go and get to know people as my uncured self.
-On finding the people who are understanding and don't reject or attempt to exploit me, I will expend effort to enable the abilities occasionally when and if I ever need to. To avoid misunderstandings and hurt feelings etc. Or just be myself.

-The people who write me off as nuts get to enjoy the full force of my weird behaviour. Because why should I be the only one suffering? :lol:

-On finding the people to attempt to use my ineptness an vulnerability to manipulate or use me, I shall enable my NT superpowers to make others aware of the situation and what the person is trying to do, or simply use my newfound awareness to be able to escape it.

Is this what you mean?



cyberscan
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19 Jun 2009, 9:36 am

I would love to be NT for about 3 months. I would want to be NT for that period of time not because I hate who I am but because I want to understand them. I agree, a cure is not for us, it is for them.


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CockneyRebel
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19 Jun 2009, 10:49 am

I'm happy that I wasn't prevented, and I do not wish to be cured. I have nothing to recover from.


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Magneto
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19 Jun 2009, 10:56 am

Okay, what is the difference between Aspie and NT? What is is people are worried they'd lose if they were 'cured'?



Prof_Pretorius
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19 Jun 2009, 10:59 am

It all comes down to this: are you happy being who you are?

If you're happy being an ASpie then no need to change.

But I read a lot on these boards about ASpies being miserable because they don't fit into 'society'.

I've mentioned it before, there's an episode of the Twilight Zone with (I believe) Orson Bean as a very ASpie character who is quite eccentric. A Guardian Angel sort of being turns him into a 'normal' successful executive, and he asks to go back to who he was.

Personally, I have worked hard to soften my ASpie traits. It's helped my relationship with The Missus, and with my fellow employees. I am still ASpie, and always will be, but I've 'knocked off some of the sharp edges'.


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Rainbow-Squirrel
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19 Jun 2009, 10:59 am

Magneto wrote:
Okay, what is the difference between Aspie and NT?


Brain structure/wiring

Magneto wrote:
What is is people are worried they'd lose if they were 'cured'?


Identity



Magneto
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19 Jun 2009, 11:07 am

When someone is diagnosed with Autism, thehy don't have their brain scanned.

I'm asking for autistic traits to be listed. The actual ones, not those used by the psychiatrists.

If you want to remain an Aspie, then you can conciously decide to maintain that aspect of yourself. Difficult, but not impossbile. If an Aspie can imitate an NT, then they can stay as an Aspie even with the full force of a 'cure' bearing down on them.



CyclopsSummers
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19 Jun 2009, 11:20 am

Magneto wrote:
When someone is diagnosed with Autism, thehy don't have their brain scanned.

I'm asking for autistic traits to be listed. The actual ones, not those used by the psychiatrists.

If you want to remain an Aspie, then you can conciously decide to maintain that aspect of yourself. Difficult, but not impossbile. If an Aspie can imitate an NT, then they can stay as an Aspie even with the full force of a 'cure' bearing down on them.

The Aspie/NT contrast you make is interesting. What does 'imitating a neurotypical', or rather, a non-autistic, even mean? So many non-autistic people are very unsociable or even anti-social by their own personal nature. The (relative) challenge I see before me is not so much geared at trying to imitate non-autistics, as much as it is attempting to fashion myself a relative adept-ness at social interaction with regard to everyone whether they aren't or are autistic or neurotypical or otherwise.

It's also not clear to me what you mean by "interested in NT stuff" in your first post. NT interests seem as diverse and all-encompassing as interests of autists, from where I'm standing.


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