ASD and Change of person
Greetings, I have a serious question for this community:
Is it possible to change as a high functioning Aspie to fit in with society and thrive, or am I doomed to my seemingly unchangeable primary programming for the most delicious success or the most devastating failure of my actions?
That's my question. More details:
I have been diagnosed with high functioning ASD (as a child back when it was labeled as Asperger's Syndrome), and I have tried so hard, with some success, to mimic the perspectives and behaviors of my neurotypical dominated world for my own development, but this is energetically taxing and I feel strongly that my efforts have been in vain because I still feel so (expletive) separate from them. Their world has never been my world and their norms have never felt like my norms. even their logic confuses me. I feel so overwhelmed. I can think like them, and copy their behaviors to pass as "normal," to great effect, but this is not ME. I can't be someone else. To change is ok, mutation is a necessity in this current age, but to become a different person is, according to all I have observed, impossible, otherwise, I would not be me.
My goal is to survive, but everyone I've talked to has given me such diverse information and sometimes that information is contradictory, making me feel like there is no right or wrong answer. I am so confused. I fear, my greatest fear, is that if I follow my own primary programming, that it may cause more harm than good to others. This is why I feed off of other's perspectives because as easy as it is to follow my own singular way of thinking, I suspect that there is always something I'm missing. Something I've overlooked in my 'ignorance.'
I guess I want to know your experiences. Everything is data.
You answered your own question here.
You can't become a different person. The point is to find a healthy balance between external expectations and your own real needs. Which can be extremely tricky with all the baggage we tend to carry.
_________________
Let's not confuse being normal with being mentally healthy.
<not moderating PPR stuff concerning East Europe>
ASPartOfMe
Veteran
Joined: 25 Aug 2013
Age: 68
Gender: Male
Posts: 39,637
Location: Long Island, New York
Option 3 is succeeding on your own terms based on your own definition of success not everybody else's.
If your definition of success is like everybody else’s copying can work to a certain extent. You should look at copying as a tool to gain something. Figure out what part of copying is most difficult and limit that part by giving yourself time to recharge. View setbacks as just that a setback, not proof you are doomed to fail.
_________________
“Self Acceptance is a process not a performance”
“You are autistic enough. And you always have been”
Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity.
I think any person whose success has some substance (not just a facade) chooses their goals themself.
Maybe more visible among ASD people as we're not natural facade builders.
_________________
Let's not confuse being normal with being mentally healthy.
<not moderating PPR stuff concerning East Europe>
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