My story - How I overcame most of my autism symptoms

[Ezra]

@FormerlyAutistic I have to point out, as I have with others who have discovered a way to make themselves formerly autistic, that what you are presenting is amateur, anecdotal and subjective. There are a number of people who have cured (or whatever you want to call it) their autism a number of different ways. On another forum for years someone gave a very similar presentation regarding the use of probiotics. That autism is caused by gut bacteria. And there are others I don't quite remember that had similar "this is how you fix autism" methods. One such person came up with EikonaBridge It goes on and on really. I have it, I have discovered the way to fix autism - that's great, now take a number and wait in line with all the others.

 

[Kalinychta]

@FormerlyAutistic You seem to be convinced that autism is a scourge that must be stamped out. You clearly see it in a negative light. Autistic people are used to being viewed by society as broken creatures, but you’ll find that many (most?) people on the forum actually embrace their autism and wouldn’t “cure” themselves of it if given the chance. So if you joined with the intention of spreading the word that autistic people are simply mentally ill victims of unknown psychological trauma that occurred in infancy, you should expect quite a lot of pushback from other members here.

 

[Ezra]

@FormerlyAutistic You seem to be convinced that autism is a scourge that must be stamped out. You clearly see it in a negative light. Autistic people are used to being viewed by society as broken creatures, but you’ll find that many (most?) people on the forum actually embrace their autism and wouldn’t “cure” themselves of it if given the chance. So if you joined with the intention of spreading the word that autistic people are simply mentally ill victims of unknown psychological trauma that occurred in infancy, you should expect quite a lot of pushback from other members here.

This is true. I have also seen many "if there was a cure for autism would you take it?" threads. And usually the majority says no.

Personally I would take a definitive cure, but that's me, to each their own.

 

[Fino]

I was in weekly CBT for approximately two years. Why am I still autistic?

 

[Sarah S]

Hi @FormerlyAutistic, have you ever considered the ICD-10 criteria? I think they are different from the DSM criteria (that are only used in the US as far as I know, meanwhile ICD is the common classification system used in Europe). Maybe you're interested in them as well.

As far as i know and most defenetly over here (sweden ) we use DSM in EU ????? ICD is more in US (scratching head )

 

[Sarah S]

@FormerlyAutistic You seem to be convinced that autism is a scourge that must be stamped out. You clearly see it in a negative light. Autistic people are used to being viewed by society as broken creatures, but you’ll find that many (most?) people on the forum actually embrace their autism and wouldn’t “cure” themselves of it if given the chance. So if you joined with the intention of spreading the word that autistic people are simply mentally ill victims of unknown psychological trauma that occurred in infancy, you should expect quite a lot of pushback from other members here.

speaking for my self if i could get a cure for ALL my diagnosis which is proved to work and without any side effects AND i was younger i would take it in heart beet as in my case ALL my diagnosis have managed to destroy whatever hopes i once may have had of normal vanilla life. So with all respect you cant really say that most in here embrace our diagnose . We have accepted yes and also managed to adapt. But from what i have seen not that many of us with level 2 -3 embrace this. Those with 1 and milder yes i agree.

 

[menander]

I'm not sure I understand why some people are bothered by the term "Asperger's Syndrome" being dropped. What it seemed to infer is there are those who aren't really autistic. That they only have a form of autism that needs a separate designation. Instead it was decided that was not the case and those people just simply have autism. That there was no aspergers vs autism, or pddnos vs autism, but rather that it is all autism.

hi Ezra!
So what I think is that a lot of practitioners take advantage of that to exclude people. I know people with asperger's who later were told they don't have autism because the practitioner was defaulting into LFA. In a perfect world we would all be counted. It is startling to see how little even we here agree!!!It's a weird feeling to be part of a world where even those effected have differing opinions. I guess it's that way with heart disease, too. Nurture vs nature, etc

 

[Jumpback]

@FormerlyAutistic You seem to be convinced that autism is a scourge that must be stamped out. You clearly see it in a negative light. Autistic people are used to being viewed by society as broken creatures, but you’ll find that many (most?) people on the forum actually embrace their autism and wouldn’t “cure” themselves of it if given the chance. So if you joined with the intention of spreading the word that autistic people are simply mentally ill victims of unknown psychological trauma that occurred in infancy, you should expect quite a lot of pushback from other members here.

I feel like there may be some confusion involving severity of symptoms and goals.

Like for someone like Temple Grandin, the whole idea of trying to kind of get past autistic traits that make her who she is would be incredibly offensive

But my impression is that @FormerlyAutistic is coming at this from more the perspective of Bill Gates in the past and now. Like maybe Bill Gates used to fit under *the DSM category* of autism spectrum disorder but now maybe he doesn’t. Bill Gates goal would have been more to overcome all socialization issues and so on to the point where they almost are no longer are that much of an issue and he no longer would fit under *the DSM* category of ASD

And I think a second issue is the way the whole DSM works. Like it seems like you can have an anxiety disorder or something and use CBT or something to get to the point where you no longer have an anxiety disorder. I’m really unclear how the DSM works on ASD, because you can fit the diagnostic criteria and then work to overcome things like socialization issues and no longer fit the DSM criteria to be diagnosed with ASD. So can you, *only referring to how the DSM works* be considered formerly autistic, because you no longer fit *the DSM criteria* for being autistic???

I kept using *’s just because I think things get really confusing as to whether the DSM is being referred to or if the issue itself is being referred to

 

[Ezra]

hi Ezra!
So what I think is that a lot of practitioners take advantage of that to exclude people. I know people with asperger's who later were told they don't have autism because the practitioner was defaulting into LFA. In a perfect world we would all be counted. It is startling to see how little even we here agree!!!It's a weird feeling to be part of a world where even those effected have differing opinions. I guess it's that way with heart disease, too. Nurture vs nature, etc

The main difference between aspergers and classic autism was speech delay. If you didn't start talking until you were around three the dx was classic autism. If you started talking on time then it was aspergers. To me that was a silly reason to divide people into two camps. Both are level 1 autism. As far as practitioners, based on stories I have read here and elsewhere over the years, it is astounding and shameful how ignorant some of them can be. Some stories I see I think, were they going by a textbook from the 50's?

 

[Ezra]

I was in weekly CBT for approximately two years. Why am I still autistic?

Me too. Plus a zillion hours of occupational therapy. Now I do not doubt that the OP's experience was real, for him. But there's no way that such a singular personal experience is scientifically verifiable regarding anyone else. If someone reading this thread wants to try self administered CBT, I do not see any problem with that. Just as long as they don't have high expectations that it will work for them. It should be just a "I'll give it a try and see what happens" things.

 

[Bronzelincolns]

Where there's a will there's a way.

You had a will, you found a way, and you made the changes.

Good job!

 

[hutchie]

I have had lots of Cheap British Therapy too, it did not help.

 

[Jumpback]

hi Ezra!
So what I think is that a lot of practitioners take advantage of that to exclude people. I know people with asperger's who later were told they don't have autism because the practitioner was defaulting into LFA. In a perfect world we would all be counted. It is startling to see how little even we here agree!!!It's a weird feeling to be part of a world where even those effected have differing opinions. I guess it's that way with heart disease, too. Nurture vs nature, etc

So these practitioners sort of told these people that they weren't autistic against their wishes? Sounds a little bit like a special camp boys get sent to when they refuse to play with toy cars and won't stop going through moms closet and makeup cabinet and testing things out

 

[Matthias]

I was in weekly CBT for approximately two years. Why am I still autistic?

Where did you find a CBT therapist who could treat autism?

 

[Jumpback]

hi Ezra!
So what I think is that a lot of practitioners take advantage of that to exclude people. I know people with asperger's who later were told they don't have autism because the practitioner was defaulting into LFA. In a perfect world we would all be counted. It is startling to see how little even we here agree!!!It's a weird feeling to be part of a world where even those effected have differing opinions. I guess it's that way with heart disease, too. Nurture vs nature, etc

But seriously, virtually everyone here is lumped into 2 very broad categories by the DSM. It's seriously, legitimately, possible that both @FormerlyAutistic and detractors are both more or less absolutely correct, but that they are coming from vastly different reference points and so on.

Like it's obviously silly to believe that "Rainman" can be cured

But what if one is close to the boundary and they work hard and no longer fit a diagnosis of ASD on the DSM? What does this actually mean to psychologists? Or what if one had a happy, super easy childhood and they just never developed symptoms that would make them eligible for DSM diagnosis?

Or another option is that since the DSM seems to mainly be interested in observable behavior, what if a kid was abused and therefore avoided others and did repetitive things to control anxiety and so on, that made them appear to have ASD when it was mainly environment and not neurology causing this issue....what would this specifically mean for an adult trying to overcome these things and psychs observing and peers in the community? Such a person legitimately could just completely overcome all ASD symptoms since there is no neurology behind things.

 

[Ezra]

Where did you find a CBT therapist who could treat autism?

There isn't professional CBT to treat autism itself, but one with autism can get CBT for feelings of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem etc that can result from having autism.

 

[Ezra]

So these practitioners sort of told these people that they weren't autistic against their wishes? Sounds a little bit like a special camp boys get sent to when they refuse to play with toy cars and won't stop going through moms closet and makeup cabinet and testing things out

They were told they did not meet the criteria based on incomplete and or outdated material the practitioner was going by. That's why it is best to seek someone who specializes in autism and also get a second opinion if possible if needed.

 

[Ezra]

But seriously, virtually everyone here is lumped into 2 very broad categories by the DSM. It's seriously, legitimately, possible that both @FormerlyAutistic and detractors are both more or less absolutely correct, but that they are coming from vastly different reference points and so on.

Like it's obviously silly to believe that "Rainman" can be cured

But what if one is close to the boundary and they work hard and no longer fit a diagnosis of ASD on the DSM? What does this actually mean to psychologists? Or what if one had a happy, super easy childhood and they just never developed symptoms that would make them eligible for DSM diagnosis?

Or another option is that since the DSM seems to mainly be interested in observable behavior, what if a kid was abused and therefore avoided others and did repetitive things to control anxiety and so on, that made them appear to have ASD when it was mainly environment and not neurology causing this issue....what would this specifically mean for an adult trying to overcome these things and psychs observing and peers in the community? Such a person legitimately could just completely overcome all ASD symptoms since there is no neurology behind things.

Being diagnosed with autism doesn't really amount to much. For someone who has been struggling with wondering what's wrong with them or different about them their whole life it can give them closure. By knowing what is wrong or different about them they can refer to resources about how to cope with autism. But it is not something that can be "cured".

"You have been diagnosed with autism"

"Okay now what?"

"Learn to live with it, there's not much we can do about it"

Tests done by autism specialists are designed to separate what is autism and what might be something else that resembles autism. The DSM is a large tome that covers much. And diagnosis does not rest solely upon it.

 

[Fino]

Where did you find a CBT therapist who could treat autism?

It's a rather complicated story, but basically I was referred to one by my school when I was fourteen.

 

[Matthias]

There isn't professional CBT to treat autism itself, but one with autism can get CBT for feelings of depression, anxiety, low self-esteem etc that can result from having autism.

I get that. I thought you were implying that CBT doesn't work for autism because you're still autistic. If the CBT wasn't for autism itself, it's not going to make your autism go away.

I used CBT for anxiety and it didn't cure me of depression. I wouldn't conclude, based on my experience, that CBT doesn't help with depression or think my experience refuted someone who claimed it helped with their depression.

By knowing what is wrong or different about them they can refer to resources about how to cope with autism. But it is not something that can be "cured".

I wish people would stop saying autism can't be cured. It really invalidates the experiences of those who worked hard and struggled to overcome their symptoms. How would you feel if you cured your autism and people told you that it didn't happen or that you're just pretending/masking your symptoms or were never really autistic?

To be clear, I'm not claiming, nor ever claimed, that I cured myself of autism. I can't say others haven't because that's impossible for me to know.