Autism recovery story

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

... There are differences in the brain in the way people with autism process information, cognitive dfferences that can't be helped by CBT, but as many symptoms of ASD are exacerbated by anxiety, depression and PTSD, then a reduction of these will also help the autistic person cope much better with his or her autism - or specifically those traits of autism that are fed by anxiety.

One of the problems that I have, and others have also reported too, is an inability to process conversation, which in turn affects my ability to socialise or fit in a work environment. I'm just that bit slower to process speech, and don't automatically process and understand social information. Conversation is non-verbal as much as verbal, emotional signals or ememes being exchanged alongside the verbal information, and I often fail to send and receive this information. This means that in any conversation, I feel detached, disconnected, like watching TV rather than actually being a participant in the conversation. This is a cognitive difference, perhaps a part of my brain didn't fully mature or didn't connect up the way it should, who knows. I tried CBT for a while, and it did help me by teaching me to live more in the here and now and let go of some anxiety through mindfulness ...

This is nice, that you were helped where it could help.

I've found I get better at information processing because I'm in my 60s, but there are instances where I'm still on the slow side.

Formerly, what's your own experience in information processing then?

 

[Aspychata]

Sorry but l find it interesting that you wish to share your prognosis and supposed *recovery*. The disconnect is that the general census feels that it stems from a genetic factors and it runs in families. A lot of posters here have mothers, fathers who also are autistic.

There is more umbrage about your usage of the word recovered. Which then brings up the question- were you misdiagnosed?
There are posters here who have received 3 different dx's from 3 different experts. So you should step back and realized we are not laughing at you, we simply are questioning you which is pretty typical of this forum.

By the way, thank you for your post.

 

[Fino]

If you no longer want to be autistic then just go ahead and stop. Don't consider yourself autistic anymore. That's fine. You can live your whole life that way, and that's perfectly okay. There's nothing wrong with that. Just go be happy. I hope you don't need to convince any of us of anything in order for you to live the life you want. Just consider us delusional.

 

[Aspychata]

I believe that CBT can help with the anxiety, depression or PTSD that often comes with autism, but not the autism itself. There are differences in the brain in the way people with autism process information, cognitive dfferences that can't be helped by CBT, but as many symptoms of ASD are exacerbated by anxiety, depression and PTSD, then a reduction of these will also help the autistic person cope much better with his or her autism - or specifically those traits of autism that are fed by anxiety.

One of the problems that I have, and others have also reported too, is an inability to process conversation, which in turn affects my ability to socialise or fit in a work environment. I'm just that bit slower to process speech, and don't automatically process and understand social information. Conversation is non-verbal as much as verbal, emotional signals or ememes being exchanged alongside the verbal information, and I often fail to send and receive this information. This means that in any conversation, I feel detached, disconnected, like watching TV rather than actually being a participant in the conversation. This is a cognitive difference, perhaps a part of my brain didn't fully mature or didn't connect up the way it should, who knows. I tried CBT for a while, and it did help me by teaching me to live more in the here and now and let go of some anxiety through mindfulness, but nothing will alleviate this particular issue.

I relate to conversation issues. If feeling anxious, l need to censor my mouth because l can just answer without really thinking and l don't have any attachment to the conversation or the participants involved. Think it's the same as people who say they hate short little social norms of conversation. The need to connect on any level isn't really part of our makeup as it is to a NT. Don't think therapy is really going to change that.

 

[Fino]

Holy moly, I just read the OP in full, and that seems to be quite a bit of self-hatred. If you really are in CBT, I suggest you continue. But there's nothing wrong with you. I know it's hard being different. You're still swell.

 

[Aspychata]

If you no longer want to be autistic then just go ahead and stop. Don't consider yourself autistic anymore. That's fine. You can live your whole life that way, and that's perfectly okay. There's nothing wrong with that. Just go be happy. I hope you don't need to convince any of us of anything in order for you to live the life you want. Just consider us delusional.

Me delusional? No way. But l do have crumpets and tea date with the queen of England, and my Lear jet is waiting for me to queue. Tally ho!

 

[Progster]

Formerly, what's your own experience in information processing then?

I'm not sure what you mean by 'formally' here, it hasn't ever changed for me. I don't process all of the information, or don't process it automatically in real time as most people are able to do easily. For example, I might be in a social group of people and they all start laughing, but I have no idea what they are laughing at, or why they might find it funny. Then someone needs to explain it to me for me to understand, and I have to think about it and analyse it to try to understand it, rather than picking up on it automatically. Often it's a case of the others picking up on something or understanding something that goes completely over my head. They get things that I don't. Also, I don't process fast enough to join in a conversation in real time, so by the time I've understood and thought of something to say, someone else has spoken and/or the conversation has moved on and I don't get to say what I want to.

I relate to conversation issues. If feeling anxious, l need to censor my mouth because l can just answer without really thinking and l don't have any attachment to the conversation or the participants involved. Think it's the same as people who say they hate short little social norms of conversation. The need to connect on any level isn't really part of our makeup as it is to a NT. Don't think therapy is really going to change that.

Exactly, which means that social communication is a completely different experience for them than it is for us. I often when I'm talking to someone, I'm talking at them rather than with them.

 

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'formally' here, ...

I was referring to the new member Form-er-ly, but was too lazy to paste in another hoopla. Sorry! Thanks for this info anyway! I've experienced the same, especially longer ago. But i seriously think non-autistic people have as strange a way of attempting to communicate as I do, if not more so. Nice to slow down & think, anyway.

 

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

... l need to censor my mouth ... The need to connect on any level isn't really part of our makeup ... Don't think therapy is really going to change that.

For some like me "need to connect" surely exists but I think it looks different from many NTs. (And looks different now from how it did 30 or 50 years ago) (And probably, from each other.) I agree with you about our need for self-management and to see the signs coming in time.

 

[Thinx]

I met the criteria for autism. Then one day after using CBT, I could suddenly think clearly and understand people. I looked at the DSM-V and found I no longer had any symptoms of autism.

I don't see understanding or ease in getting along in how you have posted and interacted here, though? You haven't acknowledged anyone's points, and have told anyone who offers a different opinion that they are wrong and you are right. Then you said you weren't going to join in any more... these aren't great communication skills really.

 

[SDRSpark]

Sorry but l find it interesting that you wish to share your prognosis and supposed *recovery*. The disconnect is that the general census feels that it stems from a genetic factors and it runs in families. A lot of posters here have mothers, fathers who also are autistic.

There is more umbrage about your usage of the word recovered. Which then brings up the question- were you misdiagnosed?
There are posters here who have received 3 different dx's from 3 different experts. So you should step back and realized we are not laughing at you, we simply questioning you which is pretty typical of this forum.

By the way, thank you for your post.

As an aside, I've heard of people in certain countries having an autism diagnosis revoked. They're usually not happy about this. It seems that, in those places, the diagnosis (or lack of one) is defined by the need for government support. If they no longer require government support, can live independently, etc. - they're considered to be no longer autistic, at least for administrative purposes.

I am quite certain that this is a bunch of hogwash, but it seems to be done in some places. I kind of see where they're coming from, but I think they're going about it wrong. I'm extremely independent, have decently paying job, my own apartment, new car, looking at buying a house etc...and yet, I'm still definitely autistic.

My neurology didn't just change because I learned how to make life work. In fact, if you took me out of my factory job and put me into, say, a retail position...I would probably wind up in a psych ward because of the meltdowns (I tend to self injure when I melt down). If I weren't fortunate enough to be in a position where I can in fact thrive, it would be a very different, and much uglier story.

 

[Pats]

I also don't believe you 'recover' from autism. Maybe you learn how to fit the molds a little better, but what goes on inside and how your brain functions, I do not believe you recover from. And I, for one, would not want to. After being part of this community, I think most with autism are much deeper in thinking and feeling than any other group. Because we tend to be more sensitive? Maybe.

 

[risootser]

Well, others have speculated that some sort of inflammation can cause autism like behavior. Unabomber for example.

Or it is something else that causes sudden change of traits in a person?

Something what I have found about myself:
I was born as an expressive person. I had huge smile and made contact with people. I liked to see people's emotional responses quite young. I also started to immediately cry when others cried. I had no sensory sensitivities or apparent clumsiness. Then it hit around 4 I became obsessive and started to resist any attempts to control myself and made rules not to control me and I changed those quite irrationally. It took about a year or two. Then around 5-6 I had intense self reflection and I started to move myself away from my obsessions when I heard my mother cry. It was bit weird as I was in a complete shut in state for a year or two. Some of my obsessions stayed longer. I have almost none of those left any longer and I'm happy with it. I think I have some cognitive deficits from that period in my life. I have poor understanding of the world around me visually. It took me years to return to my normal self. I'm still very bad at being socially normal because I have very poor immediate visual comprehension while I'm quite good in other areas. It is like I can understand people by self correcting hunches so I do not need to pay immediate attention... Well, contact is therefore bit off. Then I tried Concerta it fixed lots of my issues. Also being a math "nerd" [I just love its simplicity and interconnections are beautiful - while I'm not into extreme rigor] does not help with the correct diagnosis.

 

[Taira]

I don't think we're necessarily more sensitive. Lots of nts are extremely sensitive, but it seems to me that the way they process stuff to do with it is different. But the thinking part might be right. I don't just easily and instinctively participate in a social conversation. Instead I tend to analyse everything that's going on, mostly looking for traps to avoid disaster.

I've gotten really good at understanding human interaction. What I'm still lacking is the ability to display typical human behavior. Learning to understand a new language is easier than trying to spontaneously choose between 10 possible ememes in a conversation with a neurotypical person.

I may not display enough traits for anyone to suspect me being on the spectrum. But ememe is a language I think I'll never manage to speak fluently, and that makes social situations with people rather stressful to me. Any conversation that isn't related to work or a specific interest is really tiring.

The traits I do display are actually just mistaken for an odd rudeness or discomforting bluntness. People just think I lack empathy, until they realise I have a lot more of it than I express in ememes.

I never had anything to recover from. I just had lots of facial expressions and ememes to learn. Still learning, but caring a little less. The older I get, the more experience I get with ememes, and the more bluntness I'll be allowed in society.

 

[Alexej]

As I look at the outline of a story in the OP I just don't connect.

The story just does not feel right to me. I don't connect with it and it certainly does not jive with my experience.

In this I share the opinion of many others in this thread.

 

[onlything]

I don't agree either, although the discussion itself, while quite one-sided, is rather interesting.

I think the OP has felt quite a bit overwhelmed and disappointed with our reactions... but is it really such a strange thing that people, some considering autism as part of their identity, having multiple people having invalidated their experiences, having been prosecuted, rejected and often humiliated, having met so many people trying to force 'cures' and 'recovery journeys' down their throats while being told that who they are is simply not 'normal' or 'acceptable' - get a bit defensive and invested?

I believe that OP had good intentions and simply wished to share joy at his perceived recovery - but I'm also afraid that the way it was portrayed, with no true details or scientific approach that we value so much and so similar to so many previous 'cure' schemes we've encountered earlier, that it was simply not appreciated.

The story itself feels a bit invalidating, in fact. A bit of time and all symptoms disappeared? One day and all communication problems disappeared? It doesn't bring hope for recovery, especially that autism is a part of me that I don't want to get rid of. For me, a person that had to struggle so much with the way society and people work, with so many communication problems, it feels like these struggles were meaningless, even obsolete, because it's not that bad, just work harder, better at CBT and you'll be cured... I've worked the last four years with CBT, I'm happy it helped you but there sure to be people that simply don't profit as much.

I think we may have encountered quite a misunderstanding out here. Maybe if you portrayed it as 'benefits of CBT therapy in autism' instead of a 'recovery', a word many of us despise, it wouldn't have turned out this way. A lesson to learn for all of us perhaps.

 

[Aspychata]

This is where we as a sub-autistic culture rule. We are fact checkers, information gathers, data statistics analysts, because of this, the po gave me nothing to sink my teeth in. In fact, the fact that it was reported with so little supporting facts was the equivalent of a sound bite. Like listen to this and now you are enlightened. Not really, l am not enlighted. I am just more upset and reminded of my deficiencies and l don't like being reminded.

 

[Matthias]

Holy moly, I just read the OP in full, and that seems to be quite a bit of self-hatred. If you really are in CBT, I suggest you continue. But there's nothing wrong with you. I know it's hard being different. You're still swell.

I just added 2 paragraphs to my OP to explain the purpose of the story since it appears everyone misunderstood what I was trying to say. I didn't include those details at first because I was worried the post would be too long that no one would read it.

 

[Aspychata]

I just added 2 paragraphs to my OP to explain the purpose of the story since it appears everyone misunderstood what I was trying to say. I didn't include those details at first because I was worried the post would be too long that no one would read it.

Excuse me now because l need to go across the street to console the poor mother raising her son by herself who needs 24 hour care because he falls at the bottom of the spectrum meaning - low functioning. I will read your fairy tale to her so that she can rejoice and send her 17 year-old son out to apply for jobs. And she can cancel the p/t help that she receives as aid because of income requirements. Better yet, since you are all cured- why don't you find employment for her son who doesn't speak, is disruptive, and has major cognitive challenges?

After all, he just needs a little therapy. ☺

 

[onlything]

I just added 2 paragraphs to my OP to explain the purpose of the story since it appears everyone misunderstood what I was trying to say. I didn't include those details at first because I was worried the post would be too long that no one would read it.

I'm sorry but I still don't see the resolution... Did you mean it as a thinking exercise then? Was it all a big misunderstanding? Was it about your story or one of the children? A true recovery or a theoretical one? An agreement with the theory or disagreement with it? I seem to be confused about the purpose of this thread now, as well as your thinking process.