Anyone else feel defective? Bring on the cure!

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Yeah, anyone else feel defective because of this ...disease. Basically it just makes life more difficult, and doesn't really have any advantages.

Things I Hate About Aspergers:
- extra sensitive to discomfort and hot/cold (How can I toughen myself up..)
- terrible attention span & memory (Who doesn't these days though..)
- hard to think of things to do in life (Wtf should I do other than work..)
- hard to think of things to say to people (Not a lot of creativity in general..)

They have pills for everything else, it's about time they sorted something out for autism.

Does it overwhelm you? Does it make you cry or lash out?

There are supplements for that as well as brain training.

Get some hobbies. We're pretty good at them. Btw at least you work. I've never had a job. Not for a lack of trying too.

Small talk doesn't require being creative. It's pointless anyway.


SSRI's. Decrease obsessional behaviour and anxiety. You can eventually learn social skills.

I'm sure you have some independence and skill. You may be able to work on social skills and memory. And if you want to be more creative start reading and thinking more.

Thinking that if you think you are defective I do not think is productive or good for the self-esteem. It is an individual choice to perceive how a person does. I think pills are for some people. To increase my tolerance of transitions because I wanted to my doctor gave me a blood pressure capper which he uses before he gives speeches. Social anxiety is a typical behavior of normal people and there are other solutions other then pills like self-motivation. There are some parts of my brain I do not think there is a cure for so it is hard to imagine this and that do not have to do with psychology but I could be wrong. In behaviorism I think I was told there is sensory overload and anxiety. Sensory overload can create anxiety to but also anxiety can be separate. If sensory overload had been a chronic problem you may lack experience in normal situation thus be socially underdeveloped and lack experience to.

Even the Temple Grandin talks to people and she is great at giving speeches and being around others.

If they develop a cure (in the form of medication) it will prove to be a lucrative industry.

Yeah money.

I think there is a philosophy kind of with cure. It's hard to imagine what is "wrong" when I don't feel a whole lot defected when I am happy. I don't even often think about how I am different. I am just really into what I do. How to function better to goto college might be to complicated for me to figure entirely out at this moment. I really enjoy the upper education I watch online at times in videos.

Behaviorist help with these things to so pills might not be the whole solution. I have one that will meet me anywhere with a support worker and do what I want and work on what I want. I feel overwhelmed at some things I want to do and then don't try it.

There is allot to think about with concern to this topic and I will watch this post.

medication is a slippery slope is it can lead to decreased coping skills and side effects. It is best to find solutions without meds. In depression they found that cognitive therapy changes brain chemistry like medicine but without side effects. The only difference is that with cognitive therapy, it takes longer, but it is a more adaptable change. However, with meds, it only works while you are taking them, and soon as you stop taking them...you are back where you started, chemically speaking. With meds, you dont learn coping mechanisms, you just have an on/off switch. Plus meds for this kind of thing are a lifetime bill, but with cognitive therapy, you pay for a year or so, and you dont have to pay anymore.

researchers are finding out more and more that the type of thoughts we have can change the chemistry in our brains as much as medication does but over a longer period of time.

I'll take the cure for autism when it comes out. I want this scourge on my existence GONE, even if means it will depersonalize me.

I share your sentiments and symptoms. Knowing you are less than perfect, is probably a better condition than thinking you are perfect. I personally, am glad I had all of these things, because overcoming the adversity was a constant challenge that pushed me forward.

If you are young and otherwise in good health, that in itself, is a gift beyond measure. I suggest you direct any anger you may have towards survival. None of the things you listed are a death sentence. Think of the adversity, that thousands of your ancestors survived, so you can be here, in a time where we have simple comforts in life, like hot water and air conditioning, that would of probably seemed like heaven on earth to them.

In my case, vigorous exercise, toughened me up to survive. It helped me with every symptom that you list. There is clinical evidence it can increase chemicals in your brain that help with attention, the ability to remember, and cushion sensitivities. Chances are if you are feeling defective, you have the accompanying depression. Exercise can increase your confidence and increase your motivation in life. If this doesn't work, chances are you will find something in life that does, giving you the opportunity for a multitude of experiences that you cannot imagine now. .

There will never be a cure for Aspergers, it is simply your challenge in life; the way you were born. You share the same gift that all your ancestors had; the ability to adapt and the will to survive.

I think it's complicated because autism is not a boo boo you put a bandage on. Also there are different kinds of cures or said as treatments for different people manifesting symptomatology commonly associated with autism. Behavioral, sensory which can relate to behavioral and cognitive functionalism as well as other things. Cure at times in the extremist at times and also pride politics is about abortion so there is a social need to accept one for how one is. Cure is a very complicated social, political and personal subjective topic.

It won't be "cured" in the way you think.

I doubt anyone on this board will live long enough to see medical technology advance to the point where it will be cured.

It won't come in a pill form either, it will likely be through cybernetic implants that restore lost function to the brain.


The short-term "cure" is that in 5-10 years when individual genome sequencing becomes cheap, all the autism genes will be discovered.

At that point pre-natal genome sequencing of all developing fetuses will become routine and abortion rates for fetuses with autism spectrum disorders will skyrocket.

This will be similar to what happened when down syndrome was able to be diagnosed before birth. The abortion rate for fetuses with down syndrome is now above 90% in Europe (less in the US due to religious influence).

In a decade, there will be far-far fewer people born with autism.

As much as I wish I wasn't autistic, I doubt I would ever take a cure because of the fear of how exactly it would change me. It wouldn';t be accurate enough to just turn you into a completely normal person.

The only thing to do is work within your personality for positive growth.

I'd like a link to this study, please.

I'm lucky. The only side-effect I have from my SSRI is a headache if I've been off it for a while and start up again. That lasts a couple weeks and then I seem to be myself, only better. I'm grateful they have medication! I was in CT with no meds for years, and I was hopeless, useless, and miserable the whole time. Therapy plus meds works best for me.

I love who I am! Don't listen to the people who try to tell you you're defective. Don't internalize such messages. They're bloody hard to get out of your head, which is odd, given how utterly wrong they are.

That said, don't confuse acceptance for not trying to fix things. Be your best self. Be your best autistic self. Be the autistic you who seizes life and lives how you want to live.

Don't be the NT who does what everyone else does. Don't be the average replaceable part.

There are NTs who live life to its fullest and are their best NT selves. You can never aspire to be them. You can aspire to achieve what they have achieved, if it's what you truly want, but you'll have to find your own path.

But when you are your best autistic self, no NT can aspire to be you, either.

And the big secret is, no autistic can either. There are things you and only you can achieve. There are things I can achieve that no one else can dream of. There are things everyone I know has done that I can only marvel at.

You know what? I have trouble with a lot of things. The thing is, though, so does everyone. It's not about that. You have do to the best with what you have. If you have trouble in a particular area, well, you can work hard at it or you can find workarounds or you can just ignore it. Which strategy you should choose depends on what you want in life.

And there's a difference between working on your deficits and trying to change who you are, and you should by all means do the former. Learn social skills to the extent you're able. You don't have to be NT to learn. If you make social skills your special interest, and if you practice it a whole lot and work on it constantly, and with just a small amount of luck, you can get good at it. You'll even have an advantage over NTs-- they don't know how they do what they do. You'll always know.* And in time, the conscious processing can become so automatic you can do it so fast no one realizes that's what you're doing.

Whatever you want to do, set your mind to it, focus on it, pour your heart and soul and love into it. Seize it. Don't sit by. Don't sit by and watch your dreams slip away for stupid reasons like you're tired** today or it's not normal or it's expensive (what would you rather do with the money? Brag that you have enough to follow your dreams but aren't doing so??) or it's out of your way. Don't let inertia keep you away from your dreams. Don't tell yourself carpe manana-- tomorrow never comes.*** Do it today.

Find what you love. It's worth fighting for. And you'll find that whatever you love, you can find some way to gain happiness, whoever you are, whatever you are. Do it. Don't complain that you wish you weren't you; become the one you wish you were. Don't tell me you wish you were NT; do you really wish for a specific pattern of white matter density and connections between brain regions? What would make you so happy about that? No, you want to be NT for a reason. You don't just want attention so you can brag that you can pay attention to things; there's something you want to focus on.

As for having trouble thinking of things to do in life, go to your local library and ask for books about all sorts of subjects, and try out as many different things as you can. Jewelry making, metalworking, birdwatching, video games, writing, drawing, carpentry, designing clothes, sewing, music, computers, fishing, aquariums, horse-riding, goat-herding, Icelandic leadersheep, the stock market, medicine, parties, romance, cooking, architecture, teaching, poetry, public speaking, beekeeping, photography, 4chan****, lolcats, fanfic, science fiction, science, blogging, hairdressing, manicures, makeup, learning new languages, studying the Bible, shopping, reading, computer programming, Dungeons and Dragons, math, making candles, fencing, the Society for Creative Anachronism, psychology, magazines, porn****, archery, politics, meteorology, movies, acting, Shakespeare, late-night comedy shows, reading all the funny birthday cards at the store, botany, travel, collecting spoons, dogs, cheetahs, cats, join PETA****, join Autism Speaks****, commit murder****, I'm sure something on this list appeals to you.

*Gross oversimplification. These sentences are also extremely optimistic, though not false. You certainly could. It would take working at it hours every day for years, though, and you might not have it in you to do that. And you'll only know if you're reacting to it because you've learned how it works.
**In certain cases, you really are just that tired. But for the times when it would take all you have but be doable, do it. For the times when it is truly beyond you, well, that's not what I'm talking about. You'd be surprised. It's rarely that, but sometimes it is.
***It's perfectly legitimate to have a specific date to wait for. Just so long as it's a specific day, not just a nebulous "someday" or "when it's more convenient."
****Not recommended.

Damn Dandelion, you should be a motivational speaker. After reading that I feel like I could move mountains. In fact, I think I will just do that.

I'm sorry you feel that way about AS but I totally agree with Temple Grandin about this, and my answer is No to both questions.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fll676-aTQU[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn_9f5x0f1Q[/youtube]

Do you think NTs don't have issues? everyone has issues, and NT issues are considered just as "abnormal" by psychiatrists.

First of all what may happen when they find the cause(s) is something like Molecular_Biologist mentions, and its not nice:

And if they find an actual cure then we can say goodbye to all future Mozart, Einstein, Tesla, and so many many others ... this is only a few of the most known people who are/were most obviously on the autism spectrum, so many people have ASD characteristics but have never been diagnosed.

As Temple Grandin says, if by some magic autism had been eradicated from earth, then men would still be socializing in front of a wood fire at the entrance of a cave.

If a person has severe and non verbal autism to the point where it makes life very difficult for them, then yes, I wish they would find ways to help them more. But "curing" Autism/Asperger and not be me anymore? all of us here with our different personalities, interests, talents, all gone?? no thank you. Do I have some issues? sure I do, but I'd rather have some issues, and try to make the best of it, then become someone I am not just to fit in.