An amusing hypothetical situation - outcome?

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Jayo
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07 Feb 2012, 8:56 pm

I've pondered this one spontaneously, just now (who says Aspies can't be spontaneous :wink: )

Let's say that you have full-blown Aspergers (with some counselling and improvement, but still noticeable...), and every day you're around peers in a typical setting like school or the workplace or cohabitants, or whatever. Then one day, you wake up completely NT, you retain the long-term memory but suddenly you can instinctively read emotional cues, know what unwritten codes are expected of you, attach significance to the overall context of a situation instead of fine details, etc, etc.

After all those months of knowing you, what would those people think???
That you were playing a game all along??! (and get more pissed off at you than they were before?)
That all is "forgiven" for past quirks - you made a miraculous "recovery"?
Or just status quo, same treatment as whatever it was before?

Let's also assume in this case that the peers had very little idea or understanding of Aspergers.
So what do you think?



Ganondox
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07 Feb 2012, 9:15 pm

I think this question is meaningless, if you kept your long term memory you simply can't turn NT, there is more to it than just an impairment with emotional connections and social cues.


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Callista
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07 Feb 2012, 10:51 pm

Yeah... it would be... It just couldn't happen. Somebody just suddenly changing their brain, without losing any of their memories, and then suddenly learning things that take NT kids years to learn? That wouldn't just be a far-fetched event; it'd be a miracle. As in, something so unlikely that it is statistically impossible it'll ever happen during the entire history of the universe.

Realistically, if it somehow did happen, you'd have scientists beating down your door to figure out how it happened, begging to stick you in an MRI machine and poke and prod you with every neuropsych test in existence. Having surprised friends would be the least of your problems.


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DJFester
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08 Feb 2012, 1:08 am

It would mostly depend on the kind of people those friends / coworkers really are, and on how close they are to the person who has had this sudden recovery.
Some people would be pissed and think it was all a game, some of them would be happy about it, and the rest would be just 'meh' about it, IMO.


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caramel0
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08 Feb 2012, 1:22 am

For the quiet aspies, I think 'aha he/she's finally come out of their shell!' is an option too



RazorEddie
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08 Feb 2012, 5:59 pm

Ganondox wrote:
I think this question is meaningless, if you kept your long term memory you simply can't turn NT, there is more to it than just an impairment with emotional connections and social cues.


Indeed. IMHO it would have to change you so much you would no longer be the person you were before. Has anyone read 'The speed of dark' by Elizabeth Moon? It covers this topic very well. By the way I found an interesting article on autism by Elizabeth Moon here.