My story - How I overcame most of my autism symptoms

[Matthias]

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

Are you saying the CBT was specifically for the core symptoms of autism and not something else like depression or anxiety? CBT for anxiety didn't cure me of depression. If the CBT wasn't for autism itself, it's not going to cure you of autism although it may make you less autistic if whatever you used it for cause the same symptoms as autism.

 

[Fino]

Are you saying the CBT was specifically for the core symptoms of autism and not something else like depression or anxiety? CBT for anxiety didn't cure me of depression. If the CBT wasn't for autism itself, it's not going to cure you of autism although it may make you less autistic if whatever you used it for cause the same symptoms as autism.

I'm pretty sure that contradicts things you've repeated many times, but I'm too tired to explain since you'll just have some creative response for that as well anyway.

 

[Ezra]

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.




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.

Fino was being a bit sarcastic I believe and I chimed in on it. I know that in mainstream professional psychology CBT is not used to treat austism itself. I was diagnosed when I was 2 years old and my parents got very involved in autism research and treatments. To the point where my mom earned a PsyD. My whole life I have agreed to try this that and the other to see what effects it would have on my autism. So this is very familiar lifelong territory for me. That plus all those on the internet saying they discovered a definitive treatment for autism based on how well such-in-such worked on them personally from their perspective. Like I said, if someone wants to watch some YouTube videos and try do it yourself CBT, I don't see any harm in that. It is certainly not dangerous or drastic unlike some other solutions laypeople have come up with over the years.

People say there isn't a cure for austism, because there is not a cure for autism. There might be a cure for it someday, but for now it does not exist. All that can be done is to treat the negative psychological byproducts of it such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem etc. And to try to work around neurological impairments through occupational therapy.

 

[Jumpback]

Fino was being a bit sarcastic I believe and I chimed in on it. I know that in mainstream professional psychology CBT is not used to treat austism itself. I was diagnosed when I was 2 years old and my parents got very involved in autism research and treatments. To the point where my mom earned a PsyD. My whole life I have agreed to try this that and the other to see what effects it would have on my autism. So this is very familiar lifelong territory for me. That plus all those on the internet saying they discovered a definitive treatment for autism based on how well such-in-such worked on them personally from their perspective. Like I said, if someone wants to watch some YouTube videos and try do it yourself CBT, I don't see any harm in that. It is certainly not dangerous or drastic unlike some other solutions laypeople have come up with over the years.

People say there isn't a cure for austism, because there is not a cure for autism. There might be a cure for it someday, but for now it does not exist. All that can be done is to treat the negative psychological byproducts of it such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem etc. And to try to work around neurological impairments through occupational therapy.

You and your family seem to have been involved in autism issues for basically your entire life. When I started posting I had no idea if I even fit.

You guys are the pros, if us amateur dumbasses say something stupid it’s usually because we are new to all this, not because we mean any harm (and I can see that you get this). But then there is also this thing where people who bring a fresh perspective might stumble upon something and really add to the conversation. Einstein actually did this, nobody believed that this young patent clerk could be right, but he actually was.

I dunno

 

[Ezra]

You and your family seem to have been involved in autism issues for basically your entire life. When I started posting I had no idea if I even fit.

You guys are the pros, if us amateur dumbasses say something stupid it’s usually because we are new to all this, not because we mean any harm (and I can see that you get this). But then there is also this thing where people who bring a fresh perspective might stumble upon something and really add to the conversation and figure out pretty quickly that all entrenched beliefs are wrong. Einstein actually did this, nobody believed that this young patent clerk could be right, but he actually was.

I dunno

I agree completely. Fresh perspective is valuable.

 

[menander]

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.




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.

Yes. I agree. Invalidation is FAR WORSE than being wrong or right. Everyone has a right to have their own experience validated.

 

[Matthias]

I'm pretty sure that contradicts things you've repeated many times, but I'm too tired to explain since you'll just have some creative response for that as well anyway.

Rational people don't contradict themselves. If you think someone is, it's probably because YOU misunderstood them. I bet that happens often. I'm not judging you, just offering helpful advice because I used to think the same way you do now, that people often contradicted themselves. It wasn't until last year that I realized MY distorted thinking was the problem.

 

[Matthias]

Fino was being a bit sarcastic I believe and I chimed in on it. I know that in mainstream professional psychology CBT is not used to treat austism itself. I was diagnosed when I was 2 years old and my parents got very involved in autism research and treatments. To the point where my mom earned a PsyD. My whole life I have agreed to try this that and the other to see what effects it would have on my autism. So this is very familiar lifelong territory for me. That plus all those on the internet saying they discovered a definitive treatment for autism based on how well such-in-such worked on them personally from their perspective. Like I said, if someone wants to watch some YouTube videos and try do it yourself CBT, I don't see any harm in that. It is certainly not dangerous or drastic unlike some other solutions laypeople have come up with over the years.

That explains your skepticism. I actually recommend against seeing a therapist for autism. While CBT videos helped me make connections and understand things, I realize everyone can't do that and learn it one day. As far as self-help CBT for autism specifically, I don't know any good resources. The CBT videos were all I could find but unfortunately aimed at children and don't explain much. I've been working on creating my own CBT guide for autism that I hope will be helpful. I find all comments, even negative ones, a useful learning experience because it helps me understand people better and learn to communicate my ideas better.

People say there isn't a cure for austism, because there is not a cure for autism.

It's impossible to know that. Someone in another country could have discovered a cure recently and, if they had, no one would know about it until they could get studies funded to prove it which could take decades.

A more accurate statement would be to say there isn't a widely known cure for autism. The same is true of cancer where hundreds, if not thousands, claimed alternative treatments cured their cancer but none of the cancer charities will study them because their board members work as executives for Big Pharma and a study showing a product they can't patent cures cancer would hurt their profits which are more than $100 billion a year for cancer drugs alone. They'd lose trillions so they'll never allow it.

 

[Matthias]

Yes. I agree. Invalidation is FAR WORSE than being wrong or right. Everyone has a right to have their own experience validated.

The fact is YOU DON'T KNOW whether their claims are wrong or right. Saying someone is wrong when you can't possibly know that is dishonest.

 

[menander]

The fact is YOU DON'T KNOW whether their claims are wrong or right. Saying someone is wrong when you can't possibly know that is dishonest.

No one knows anything then. We should all just shut up. Actually I am all for that. People should learn to shut up but we can't.........blessed are the Non Verbal.

 

[Ezra]

That explains your skepticism. I actually recommend against seeing a therapist for autism. While CBT videos helped me make connections and understand things, I realize everyone can't do that and learn it one day. As far as self-help CBT for autism specifically, I don't know any good resources. The CBT videos were all I could find but unfortunately aimed at children and don't explain much. I've been working on creating my own CBT guide for autism that I hope will be helpful. I find all comments, even negative ones, a useful learning experience because it helps me understand people better and learn to communicate my ideas better.



It's impossible to know that. Someone in another country could have discovered a cure recently and, if they had, no one would know about it until they could get studies funded to prove it which could take decades.

A more accurate statement would be to say there isn't a widely known cure for autism. The same is true of cancer where hundreds, if not thousands, claimed alternative treatments cured their cancer but none of the cancer charities will study them because their board members work as executives for Big Pharma and a study showing a product they can't patent cures cancer would hurt their profits which are more than $100 billion a year for cancer drugs alone. They'd lose trillions so they'll never allow it.

Like I said, to put things in perspective, not to be mean or put you down etc, home remedies for autism are a dime a dozen. Those of us who have been on autism forums many years have seen several people give a very similar testimony to yours. Now there are teams of people who are vastly educated and experienced in psychology and neurology regarding autism, who have spent their lives helping autistics. And basically what you and other home remedy people are saying is, that a layperson in a short span of time was able to figure out what they couldn't by reading a book, by googling, by watching youtube videos. I'm sorry but it just does not work that way in reality. I wish it did. Maybe if you were a pioneer it might be a little different, but you're not. You are the umpteenth person to go onto an autism forum to talk about how he eliminated most of his autism traits by doing such-in-such. Just look up, 'How I cured, fixed, eliminated etc my autism, my child's autism' and you will see many methods and approaches and read many success stories.

If you think you are getting negative feedback here, go over to Wrong Planet and see what happens. Especially if you get into it with a member who for several years has been telling autistics how he fixed his autism with probiotics.

 

[Matthias]

Like I said, to put things in perspective, not to be mean or put you down etc, home remedies for autism are a dime a dozen. Those of us who have been on autism forums many years have seen several people give a very similar testimony to yours. Now there are teams of people who are vastly educated and experienced in psychology and neurology regarding autism, who have spent their lives helping autistics. And basically what you and other home remedy people are saying is, that a layperson in a short span of time was able to figure out what they couldn't by reading a book, by googling, by watching youtube videos. I'm sorry but it just does not work that way in reality. I wish it did. Maybe if you were a pioneer it might be a little different, but you're not. You are the umpteenth person to go onto an autism forum to talk about how he eliminated most of his autism traits by doing such-in-such. Just look up, 'How I cured, fixed, eliminated etc my autism, my child's autism' and you will see many methods and approaches and read many success stories.

If you think you are getting negative feedback here, go over to Wrong Planet and see what happens. Especially if you get into it with a member who for several years has been telling autistics how he fixed his autism with probiotics.

I've said repeatedly that I think autism is genetic and don't considered myself cured so you're misunderstanding what I'm claiming.

Here's another way to look at it:
Say you moved somewhere where everyone was autistic. Would you still have trouble understanding people and making friends? Would social interaction be just as difficult and overwhelming or less because everyone is the same as you?

In my case, because I believe autism affects the neurons due to genetics, I'd still have problems with things that require using multiple parts of the brain at the same time such as:

Driving - you have to watch the road, look out for pedestrians and animals, deal with traffic merging and changing lanes
Team sports, primarily offense (having to pay attention to the ball, other players, make quick decisions)
Socializing since it's neurologically demanding
I'd say the neurons affect all 3 of those areas equally.

If everyone was autistic, I wouldn't have additional social problems beyond what the neurons affected. I'd say that shows the reason my social difficulties were much worse than others areas (like driving and team sports) wasn't due solely to genetics.

I'd say the genetic/core autism traits would remain while the DSM-5 symptoms I listed above (understanding people) might no longer apply. What I did was find a way to deal with people without moving.

 

[Ezra]

I've said repeatedly that I think autism is genetic and don't considered myself cured so you're misunderstanding what I'm claiming.

Here's another way to look at it:
Say you moved somewhere where everyone was autistic. Would you still have trouble understanding people and making friends? Would social interaction be just as difficult and overwhelming or less because everyone is the same as you?

In my case, because I believe autism affects the neurons due to genetics, I'd still have problems with things that require using multiple parts of the brain at the same time such as:

Driving - you have to watch the road, look out for pedestrians and animals, deal with traffic merging and changing lanes
Team sports, primarily offense (having to pay attention to the ball, other players, make quick decisions)
Socializing since it's neurologically demanding
I'd say the neurons affect all 3 of those areas equally.

If everyone was autistic, I wouldn't have additional social problems beyond what the neurons affected. I'd say that shows the reason my social difficulties were much worse than others areas (like driving and team sports) wasn't due solely to genetics.

I'd say the genetic/core autism traits would remain while the DSM-5 symptoms I listed above (understanding people) might no longer apply. What I did was find a way to deal with people without moving.

There are plenty of people with level 1 autism who are able to socialize, they have a spouse/partner and friends. Most likely there are people with level 1 autism that have a with problem socializing that is not due to their autism. Then there are some who have an unrealistic view of how popular they are supposed to be. What you did was, from your perspective, fix whatever your socializing problem was, which my have been something other than autism. Or developed because of the autism. Maybe you were teased and developed a complex, who knows? There's no experienced expert who was able to evaluate any of it from start to finish. All we have is your anecdotal subjective testimony.

What I have been saying is umpteen people have written on the internet that they have done more or less the same for themselves or their children using umpteen different methods. Did you look them up?

As for your question to me, I spent my entire education in special schools for autistics. I still had trouble understanding them and making friends. Few of them were like me. The types of people there were just as diversified as the NT world.

 

[Matthias]

There are plenty of people with level 1 autism who are able to socialize, they have a spouse/partner and friends. Most likely there are people with level 1 autism that have a with problem socializing that is not due to their autism. Then there are some who have an unrealistic view of how popular they are supposed to be. What you did was, from your perspective, fix whatever your socializing problem was, which my have been something other than autism. Or developed because of the autism. Maybe you were teased and developed a complex, who knows? There's no experienced expert who was able to evaluate any of it from start to finish. All we have is your anecdotal subjective testimony.

I don't care if anyone believes me. I was clearly autistic which means other people may benefit from what helped me. If something helped you, I'm sure you'd share it too.

What I have been saying is umpteen people have written on the internet that they have done more or less the same for themselves or their children using umpteen different methods. Did you look them up?

Yes, but I don't see how that's relevant to my situation.

As for your question to me, I spent my entire education in special schools for autistics. I still had trouble understanding them and making friends. Few of them were like me. The types of people there were just as diversified as the NT world.

I guess that disproves the claim many here make that all their autism-related problems are merely due to being different than NTs. I agree with you that everyone is different.

 

[Fino]

So all you're saying is that you learned how to socialize? Why is your username "formerlyautistic" if you don't claim to have been cured?

 

[Matthias]

So all you're saying is that you learned how to socialize? Why is your username "formerlyautistic" if you don't claim to have been cured?

The reason is because I've improved enough that I don't meet the DSM-5 criteria for ASD because my symptoms no longer cause "clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of current functioning."

 

[Ezra]

Just as there are those who diagnose themselves as autistic.

There are those who diagnose themselves as no longer autistic.

And there are those who diagnose themselves, and then cure themselves.

 

[Matthias]

I created a blog to explain what I learned that helped me understand people better.

Guide to improve social interactions and understand people better

 

[Fino]

So all you're saying is that you're no longer significantly impaired by your autism?

 

[Matthias]

Just as there are those who diagnose themselves as autistic.

There are those who diagnose themselves as no longer autistic.

And there are those who diagnose themselves, and then cure themselves.

You seem to really be bothered by my claims. I obviously can't read your mind but I think it's because you interpreted your parents' attempts to help you become less autistic as not accepting you for who you are which probably made you feel worse and my claims are reminding you of it. I felt the same way when my parents tried to help me when I was younger so I know how you feel if that's the case and sorry if my words brought back those memories and feelings.

However, I'm not claiming or trying to change any core autistic traits, personality, or anything that is part of who anyone is as a person. All I did and am trying to help other people do is to better understand themselves and other people with the purpose of making social interaction easier so they can fit in and belong (if they desire, nothing wrong with choosing to be alone.