Being cured of Asperger's...

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I'm kinda new to the forum, so I hope I'm not jumping in out of place

The notion of curing AS is a notion built up from not understanding what the syndrome actually is and what goes on inside the head. We're notorious for not expressing things, right? Well, the average NT perceives only what we give to them - if we seem to conform to their world and their ways, we must be 'cured' or 'normal' or both.

I think there is a danger of letting people believe AS can be cured. All that has happened is that strategies have been learnt to get around certain issues. Myself, I work, I have been to university, I travel each day on the trains and I'm learning to drive. Nobody in my workplace knows I'm Aspie - though we have many members of the public with various disabilities coming in, including AS and autism. I take that as a victory, but it doesn't mean I consider myself 'cured'. I'm still Aspie underneath all of that. I still can't handle the oven or the washing machine, still don't understand a lot of things people do and why.

It's just a sign of how well adjusted you are to a NT world, that's all I'm afraid you're Aspie for life.

In my own experience, I was not diagnosed till adulthood and I grew up under the umbrella of 'normal' with two very frustrated parents dealing with a kid who was overly bright but impossibly naughty when I chose to be. I always see that 'normal' childhood as a bonus and not a curse, even though there were a lot of negative moments. I think the more you are pulled away from the ratrace, as it were, the less likely you are to adapt fully to your surroundings and the people around you.

Basically, the world sucks ^_^ But it's the only world we got so we just have to do the best we can!

Apple

Your doctor hasn't changed your DNA, iamlucille, and AS is thought to be genetic. Your children will be more likely to be on the autistic spectrum than a neurotypical's offspring, if the current model is correct, and nothing can change that (yet). Your brain may also have actual physical differences from the norm, no matter how normal you seem.

I object strongly to the statement that the benefits of AS are purely compensatory in nature. The example I have in mind at the moment is "small talk." Small talk is STUPID. I don't think NTs are so shallow that they actually have nothing better to talk about than what happened on some sitcom last night, but that's what they do anyway, because of how their brains are wired. We talk because we actually want to convey information. That's what I'm doing now; I'm not posting this just to MINGLE. And I don't want to become more like them one bit, I want them to become more like us.

I probably am better at small talk than most of the people here, actually. But it will never be instinctive behavior, and it will never be something I enjoy for its own sake. It's work, every lousy fluffy sentence I formulate is work. More work than anything else that I do at my nice, cushy job. I happen to think balancing the books during the night audit is kinda fun. The stuff the others do to take a break from their work, I consider the hardest part of my job. But I gotta do it anyway; being contrary and withdrawn is not an option, if I want to keep my job.

From the sound of things, iamlucille, I think your doctor's pretty loopy, and I don't think he'd ever understand any of this. Then again, this is what your Dad said the doctor said, if I understand correctly, so maybe communication's just broken down a little in this short game of telephone. Could it be that your parents feel you've been using your diagnosis as a "crutch" too much lately?

Uh.. just to add to all the posts above, there's no such thing as a "cure" for AS as far as I know. Best thing you can do is learn to work your way around AS's shortcomings the best you can. I am certainly trying to.

My experience almost exactly. We're even the same age.

If there ever was a "cure" of some sort, I would like it to be one that treats all aspects of AS concerning relationships with the opposite sex. I'm not a nerd nor I look like one - it's just the inability to go beyond small talk with women that gets to me.

It seems possible that you no longer have aspergers-as-a-disorder but you still have aspergers-as-a-personality.

People suggesting curing it piss me off.
First of all, I don't think it's possible, secondly it's no problem, just that I think differently from everyone else, and thirdly it is or has become a part of my personality, so it's like someone saying "you like to wear jeans a lot, that's a sickness so we're going to try to cure you" and I think that's rude,

Damn, I certainly wish there was a cure

I could not be more happy to be cured of the low function autism early in my life. Being saddled with that all my life is not much fun. You are getting nowhere just be being totally absorbed with yourself in a daydreaming fantasy world and completely shut off from the outside world. I am really happy to be an aspie now which is by far the lesser of the two evils.
However even with Aspergers I still lapse into the same day dreaming fantasies as I did with LFA except I can control my temper better and I are far more thirstier for knowledge.

If you feel your habit of escapist fantasy is holding you back in the real world, maybe you should disparage your escapist tendencies and not people's fantasy lives in general, GAWWD.

Something about hearing someone put down their OWN fantasy life makes me want to hurl. Maybe you CAN become more like the NTs that way, but you will surely become more like the very worst of them.

However I do appreciate the capactity to retreat back into a daydreaming fantasty world at times shut off from the real world as it sure saves a lot of money on airfairs.

The idea that Asperger's Syndrome is something that has a 'cure' kind of offends me.

I'm kind of proud that it's part of my identity.


But to be fair, I may not have things as bad as most.

That being said? I'm all for programs that deal with many of the negative aspects. And some of them are pretty good.

Okay, I'm happy now.

Unfortunately, this was only the SECOND most insane thing I posted yesterday. After I finished up here, I came across a thread with lots of people posting stuff like "As aspies, it is our duty to try to fit into normal society as best we can, not change it" and "People who take an 'us vs. them' attitude with regard to NTs are just trying to cause strife." I called them a bunch of "Aspie Toms" (yeah, I WENT THERE) and then I launched into some ridiculous, ill-conceived rant. I know it's gonna come back and haunt me soon. I hope it gets ignored like most of my posts, but they never ignore the ones you wish they would.


I definitely sympathize, and agree with everything you wrote. On the other hand, that's mosty just an issue with semantics. Best not to get too hung up on it.

My brother has Bipolar Disorder, and he thinks of the manic part as a good thing; it scared him at first, but now he says he can control it to an extent. When he feels it coming on, he can force it or delay it, stretch it out or burn through it. He likes to do his major philosophifizing at these times. But until the day comes when manic-depression is accepted as the norm, he's going to have to put up with people who think he should be "cured." Aspies are pretty much in the same boat (although I like to think our behavior has a slightly better chance of public acceptance than manic attacks).

Hey, here's a thought: AS is currently thought to be tied to multiple genes. What if science isolated some of them as "good" aspie genes, seemingly tied to logical thought, a philosophical nature etc. and some as "bad" genes, causing hypersensitivity to sound, emotionlessness etc.? And what if a partial cure of just the "bad" genes was possible... who would go for it, who would consider it, who would still want everything cured, and who would prefer just to leave well enough alone? I'd probably prefer just not to mess with it, but I can't rule out the idea of a partial cure... depends on exactly what the scientists discovered....

Just to set the record straight, there are many of us NTs that just want to understand Aspies better. I visit here to develop a better understanding (of an Aspie in my life) and to try to avoid unintentional hurt feelings (as well as increase my vocabulary ). It's not always easy, as most of the time I totally forget about the Asperger's.

In the same breath, I can also understand the hesitation to trust. Knowing what I know now, I would never presume to tell any Aspie that they should expose their Asperger's. I can also say I understand anger directed towards NTs.

I believe the prevalent reason for the Aspie/NT discord is lack of awareness on the NT side.
Please don't sell all NTs short. Some may just surprise you and not look for the miracle cure. The trick is figuring out who to trust.....but that is a universal problem to us all.

SheDevil

The idea that Asperger's Syndrome is something that has a 'cure' kind of offends me.

Me too.

Sure, absolutely. I'm still going to reserve the right to refer to both aspies and NTs as undifferentiated masses of people, simply for the sake of brevity and convenience, but I am well aware that there will be vast differences when you move from talking about a group to talking about any individual. As far as you or ANYONE posting here in the WrongPlanet forums is concerned, I've never seen such a gathering of thoroughly good-intentioned people on the internet as this one. I've probably read darn near a thousand different posts now, and I've seen a grand total of TWO people that I thought were solely trying to spread malice and ill-will. One I haven't seen post in a while now, and I have since changed my mind about emp.

As for myself, I confess to enjoying a good intellectual debate for debate's sake, and I will admit to sometimes arguing positions that I don't personally hold, again as a mental exercise. But I also find it very easy to sympathise and even empathise with people, to a degree uncommon in NTs, let alone autistic-spectrum people. I can get ferocious when attacking or defending a line of logic, but I would really be crushed to learn something I said here had driven someone to tears or otherwise ruined their day. I promise I'll try to keep in mind that this is a help forum, but I have such GREAT FUN here, I will surely get carried away again....

Now, anyone gonna play my game? I know the likelihood that any given gene sequence will be proven WHOLLY good is very small, but what if science were to end up splitting the AS genes into a "good" group and a "bad" group? What if, what if....

If it worries you, you could try a second opinion. Or ask that first one to clarify. I couldn't give an opinion if it can be cured because I have no idea what it must be like not to live in my own little world. No concept whatsoever. When I was a kid I wondered, and wanted to be so-called normal so people would treat me right, but now I think it's no guarantee.

Huh? Is this directed at paulsinnerchild?