Can you grow out of autism?
People say I don't seem autistic at all. My teacher even thinks I've grown out of it. I still think I do have some autistic traits that manifest in subtle ways. For example, not realising I'm coming off as cocky and being quite shy in social groups. So, what do you think? Could I have possibly been cured of my kanners autism? I also keep getting told it's not that serious.
If you "grow out" of Autism you can't have it in the first place. Some peoples Autism might change as they get older.
Is your teacher medically trained to know whether someone has Autism or not?
Some of us tend to hide our Autism. If you're female, your traits are generally different to males. Some people have stereotypes of what Autism is and believe that if you don't fit their stereotype, you can't possibly have Autism. That was the argument someone used on me recently - she's not medically trained and for someone who is meant to be disability support, is quite clueless about disability.
whirlingmind
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No you can't grow out of it. All you do is learn some things that NTs do by instinct and react to the environment you're in.
You might find this useful:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillin ... of-autism/
_________________
*Truth fears no trial*
DX AS & both daughters on the autistic spectrum
No. You cannot grow out of it. You can learn to hide it better, learn to fit in better. Many of the things you learn might even become second nature. But autism is not just about these obvious outward traits. The neurological issues that cause us to be awkward or inappropriate never disappear. I've found that my sensory issues get worse as time goes by, even though my social skills are better and most people don't think there's anything particularly unusual about me. People who say you "can't" be autistic because you don't seem like you are (as happens to me all the time even though I'm struggling through every day) are badly misinformed about what autism is. It's not just the way you act. It's how your brain works.
If you really feel that you don't have autism now, then you never had it. There are other things that can cause social awkwardness and other "signs" of autism, which can get better with time.
You might find this useful:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/emilywillin ... of-autism/
Wow, thank you for that article. I'd like to see more like this and less talking about and "studying" autistics as though they weren't there to speak on their own behalf. Even non-verbals can usually learn to read and write. Stop doing tests ON us and start working WITH us, damn it!
Their response was immediate and intense. “I don’t ‘look’ like I have it, but I do,” responded one autistic woman, who went on to describe how she’s learned over time about different expectations for behavior and tried to apply those. Others describe using pattern recognition to navigate socially, while still others report having an “optimal outcome”-like period in later childhood but then experiencing a trough of struggles in early adulthood as new responsibilities and expectations arose. They wrote to me about self-monitoring, about working hard to compensate in social situations but then experiencing crashing exhaustion afterward. They talked about self-selecting their social groups as adults as a way of feeling more socially at ease. The concepts that came up again and again and again were “compensating” and “coping.”
It’s not a huge surprise that autistic people with average or above-average cognitive abilities might be able to intellectualize social rules and algorithms and put them convincingly into practice. Does that ability mean that they aren’t really autistic? The real crux to answering that is this: Do we view autism only as a clinical diagnosis based solely on behavior and outward function, or do we talk about it as a neurobiological construct and identification, with an understanding of the context of the hidden disability and the hard work that those outward behaviors require?
Many conditions that we measure either directly with lab tests or behaviorally can lie under a mask of apparent normalcy or typicality. A woman with diabetes who maintains her blood sugar at a healthy level through diet and medication still has diabetes. A person with obsessive-compulsive disorder who fights successfully every second of every day against caving to obsession or compulsion still has the disorder. Anyone who has ever put on a public face when all they wanted to do was stay in bed should understand something about doing the internal hard work of compensating for a disability without showing outward manifestations of it.
What about Neuroplasticity as a lifeline? Especially in children who's brains are more malleable. If there is hope that the brain can adapt, isn't it worth pursuing? I understand that acceptance is a big part of the process, but now at age 40, having spent the last two years devoting my life to understanding and working with my autistic behaviours, i, and those around me are aware of shifts.
The work I'm undertaking includes: humanistic therapy; daily meditation; art & music pursuits; physical exercise; more grounding in nature; reaching out for support around me...
The underlying anxieties still exist, but my behaviour towards them is changing. i still have hope that i can believe one day the anxiety will dissolve away.
Does anyone else have encouragement around their own work to meet the challenges head on?
Lee
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