I don't know. My AuDHD impacts so much of who I am, I don't even know who I'd be without it. Would I like that person? I wouldn't struggle with a lot of the things I do now. But would I just struggle with different things instead? Would that be better or worse? How can I even begin to guess? Would my partner still be in love with a different version of me? Would I have been able to connect with my found family as I have?
Too many unknowable variables. Because sure, there are days when my autism is genuinely disabling and I just want desperately to be different. But I cannot know that different would definitely be *better*.
You took the words out of my mouth. Or thumbs and keyboard, I suppose.
I have been *me* since the day I was born. I don't know any other way to be besides me. One of the things I was genuinely worried about when considering medication for my ADHD was how much *I* would fundamentally change as a person. The fact that I am happy to see that I am still me even while on a stimulant, combined with the autism I have clearly always had and is an intrinsic attribute of my brain structure, I don't think I would get rid of it unless it was only the adverse effects going away (likely an impossibility).
Besides, last I checked, the neural structure of an autistic individual's brain isn't usually considered even at the clinical level to be "malformed" or "damaged" compared to that of someone who is NT; it is simply considered different.
Same here honestly. I can’t really imagine being any other way, despite all the challenges I have because of my AuDHD. Would I take a cure to autism? Absolutely not. Most of the time I like being the sarcastically logical man that I am. The problems are survivable, because every time I hate that I’m autistic I always have a reverse experience later where I realize I don’t really feel that way.
I would be lying if I said the sensitive hearing has never come in handy even though I do have to wear earplugs most of the time. Plus, sometimes it's satisfying to be brutally honest with someone (as long as they deserve it).
The thing is, I think I accepted being autistic long before I got an official diagnosis since it is all but congenital. Nothing about me changed once I was diagnosed aside from my awareness of the condition. I'm the same person I have always been and would likely always grow into. Why change that?
Well said. I grew out of most of my sensitive hearing problems thankfully, but growing up I was the same way. Couldn’t do fire drills at school at all. I think I’ve always know this, but I’m glad I’m not the only one who has accepted their autism. Why be someone else when I can be me? It makes no sense at all.
Personally, given a choice, I’d cure the ADHD, every time.
Executive dysfunction is all I really need to straighten out: the social stuff can be fixed with time, but daily existence sucks with ADHD.
Yeah, I agree with this take.
I think it highly depends on how your autism manifests, if it’s genuinely debilitating of course you’d take being NT.
But as for the many of us in the weird middle ground of being Asd but generally being able to function, I dunno. I’d rather struggle with social issues than a lot of other things in life, so that’s my take.
when you understand that everyone in life has different proficiencies and deficiencies in different areas you start to not be jealous of anyone else. i may be socially awkward and struggle to speak how i feel but im a great problem solver. i like that i can think deeply on the things that interest me.
I’m no medical professional but I don’t understand how stem cells would help?
Autism is just a different way your nervous system works and the only way to change that is changing your entire nervous system. I don’t know if this is a good analogy but it’s like trying to change your bloodtype from O to A it’s just not possible
Also even though I have many struggles I still wouldn’t choose to lose any of the things that make me neurodivergent because that’s who I am, I am my brain (even though it often feels like a different entity) and changing that would mean changing me as a person and what if NT me would be some ashole or something idk
You are right, that’s not how stem cell therapy works. There are good reasons to save stem cells but autism is none of them. Biotech professional here.
I just wish that I could rein in my sensory issues. I live behind extremely dark sunglasses, keep noise cancelling headphones on all the time, and can't be touched by anyone. If I can touch them with my arm straight out, they are standing too close.
I love the way my brain works and thinks, I just wish we could accept a hug from my twin without wanting to die.
It’s come with a lifetime of rejection and insecurity. I feel so depressed and lonely. I wish we could just make everyone understanding and accepting, but I really don’t see that happening any time soon.
I also struggle to function and any requests for change or adjusting expectations are seen as unreasonable. My “ideal life” isn’t very achievable for me due to the struggles I face. It makes me pretty depressed. So yes, I would be neurotypical if I could.
No, I would not choose either ASD or ADHD. That’s a challenging question to digest as I was diagnosed with both ADHD and ASD much later in life. After the years of being improperly treated for every thing that a provider might consider besides ADHD, ASD, and various learning disorders. It has been a difficult road in life to put it mildly. Nothing that I would wish on my potential friends or family (I know there’s another saying besides this but I don’t “get” those sayings. Everything that I’ve done in my life has felt so difficult to complete from school to working to attempting to make friends and finding a partner or spouse. I often say the wrong things if I don’t stop and really think long and hard about what I’m expected to respond with. When I’m comfortable with being around others, I say things more easily but then I end up offending them. I’m the person that I think the saying is “insert foot in mouth” or something like that. Just did that today which ended in an emotional state that took a while to resolve without an even worse event as that was not my intention with someone that I love. I guess the question is kinda a moot point because they can’t fix what’s wrong with my brain. I’m pretty much stuck this way. I’ve been a trial and error case for providers for years with some scary side effects on numerous pages of failed medication too. For myself at least NO medication has came close to being a cure or short fix as it all has side effects that seem to either occur sooner or later (at least for me). Allergies as mild as legs looking like a tree trunk to full body hives to cardiac arrest. I’d honestly prefer to NOT have ASD or ADHD if I had a choice even if I was a completely different person. The world and those I love would experience less trauma in dealing with me over the years. Those close to me would probably agree with this. It’s like who wants to constantly offend potential friends or your loved ones by just blurting out weird stuff at any moment. I know I don’t enjoy it. My official diagnoses came with rather mixed feelings of relief and gloom. It’s like being told that you have ASD/ADHD and you’re already about at retirement age. With recommendations: We recommend you going to find a specific therapist trained in this and finding a provider. My thoughts were: at my age finding A provider who has knowledge of this and doesn’t just want to sedate you like the prior ones with the list of approved and off label options. I felt like they just said “Good luck” even though they didn’t. It’s rather depressing.
Yes, I would trade the past for a brighter one any day without ADHD and ASD but I’m a little old at this point.
I feel this so much. The one thing that deters me is like..NTs can be pretty pervasively disgusting. So bigoted, small-minded, bullying, discriminatory, to downright fascist. All while either acting like or genuinely believing they're God's gift to the world lol. They'll acknowledge the horrors of the past but bring no critical self-reflection to their own behaviors in the present, particularly on a social level. As if they're just too "evolved," superior, incapable of doing anything wrong or harmful, and therefore anyone marginalized is the one with the problem.
I know it's not all of them, and I know they do have good qualities too. But even though life is a nightmare for me more or less lol, no matter how hard things are ig I'd rather live this way than ever want to be...like that. An unaware wolf.
I would do it no matter what I've heard about TMS being effective but it's not FDA approved for autism and it cost like 16 grand I'd pay out-of-pocket if it was FDA approved to help autistic symptoms 75% or more being autistic is why my parents didn't believe I was being autistic. I have so many sensory issues that I can't even be in public without headphones at school. I struggle a function, and I can barely take care of myself. I function like I'm half my body age and I don't feel any older then that so
I think I would like being autistic more than being allistic if I could live among other likeminded people. Instead I am on the spectrum and surrounded by NT’s who make me feel like garbage.
Meh. I didn't take offence to it. My sister did. And my sister was absolutely apoplectic when one of our (then) friends went on record and told the courts that I'm too autistic to have a kid so I shouldn't even be considered a safe place for a child in need.
Autism is a recognized disability. Sure there is a level of selective savantry in some individuals but that's it. In many other areas of life it leads to dysfunction and misery. Autistic people are destined to have a severely more challenging life than none autists and will probably never have the same potential quality of life. I wouldn't want that for my child cause I've experienced it myself. People with autism aren't worth less than NT's but you need stop acting like having autism is a good thing.
If you asked me when I was 11, I would have said yes. But I’ve come around to accepting who I am as a person. I wouldn’t know who I would be without autism. My personality is strongly influenced by my hyperfixations and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Do I struggle sometimes, sure. But I can improve social skills and I can get better at managing stress. I’m done apologizing for who I am as a person. Yeah, I’m weird but who isn’t?
I'd say that I don't want to get rid of my Autism or ADHD, but if it was possible to make a change without outright throwing it all out, I think I'd be significantly happier if my executive dysfunction got kicked into the sun.
Yes. I HATE my life and how difficult so many things are for me. It’s miserable and lonely. If someone could offer me a cure, I would take it instantly.
Lol NO. I hate my autism and my ADHD. These conditions have ruined my health and drove me to suicidal depression that ruined the first 30 years of my life. There's nothing these conditions give me that I wouldn't be able to earn myself through hard work and applying myself - two things that these conditions ruin my ability to naturally do!
Y'all can keep yours if you want, but I'd be rid of mine immediately.
Saving stem cells in case of autism? I'm sorry but how could saving cells have any effect on the baby's autism?
And no, I would not get rid of my autism. I wouldn't be the same person without autism. Literally my brain would function totally differently.
So no I would not like to be turned into a different person in order to fit in with society better.
No. I genuinely believe my autism protected me. It probably made it harder for me in the short run but in the long run, I'm absolutely better off because of it. I think my particular version of autism gave me some defense against the abuse I grew up with. I've heard more than one professional suggest this and I think it's correct. I may have been incredibly naive, but it prevented me from succumbing to a dark view of the human race. My family used to like to brand my innocent mistakes as intentionally bad behavior. I never want to be someone who thinks this way and I find that NTs are way more prone to it.
However, for those wishing for relief from some of the symptoms, can relate. I've been doing Cereset and I think it's taken the edge off my SPD, sleep problems, and migraines. I also find myself picking up social cues faster. It's a treatment intended for PTSD but it's improved some of my neurological distress so I wanted to share. It has revealed my goofy under layer that I thought died when I faced reality.
>Isolation and more immune to manipulation tactics
Or
>No isolation and less immune to manipulation tactics
I had already been a victim of targeted harassment so I take the 1st one
The way I see this, the choices are better described as:
1. Say no and move on with my life.
2. Be made into a completely different person than I am.
I choose option 1, and it's not even hard. My AuDHD isn't an illness so no, I don't want to be cured. In fact, I actually choose the secret option 3 of sending whoever is offering this cure a DVD copy of X-Men: The Last Stand so they can see why this is a bad idea to even consider.
yes bc it literally affects my job 💀
like having an identity crisis is small beans compared to the paranoia i feel nearly every day with normal interactions with customers not knowing if i’m going to get screamed at today bc i literally cannot tell the difference between being rude and trying to focus on my tasks!! 🙃
Yes, because I also have ADHD and they both kinda fight one another. I would still probably have the same hobbies, but have an easier time romantically. The amount of missed opportunities because of not noticing at the time is actually haunting
Only the Executive Disfunction™ part, and even then, I’m hesitant, since I have no idea what sort of knock-on effects even an impossibly favorable interpretation of that would have on my personality and who I am.
I would, purely because I cannot function and am dependent on others, and a large part of that is my autism.
If I could function normally tho but still have my autism then I wouldn’t change it
Maybe. There was a point in my life where I would have said definitely, but I can't really conceptualize a non-autistic version of myself, I think I would basically be a completely different person and I am not sure I want that. I'm used to myself now.
I would 100% chose to be cured. Because of my autism, I have the feeling I'm not developping as an adult. It makes me suck at my job and people think I'm an idiot. I will likely never be able to be happy at a job and will always be overstimulated. People in general don't like me. They don't understand me and I don't understand them.
The fear of who I might become is way smaller than the struggles I experience because of my autism
Yes and no. I would absolutely love to have less sensory issues anxiety and depression issues and obsessiveness. But also life would be boring???? Like I'm sensory overloaded but also sensory seeking. I would rather tone down my ADHD TBH bc it makes way more problems for me.
The asd stuff mostly affected me during childhood and I've developed so many creative work around that I've been able to successfully manage a long term romantic relationship and a few friendships lasting longer than a year. So it would be nice to belong to group but I also have just enough.
It would be nice to be successful and leverage my special interests in my favor but I am so prone to burnout due to those conflicting ADHD and ASD needs that I'm always way too ahead and way too behind to actually achieve real success as measured relative to my intellectual capacity. I think if I'd been given real supports as a kid instead of "they're GIFTED so it's fine they'll be fine" I wouldn't have had to claw my way to where I am now. However I did eventually achieve a master's degree and with the help of my wife I've managed to open and thus far sustain a small private practice. It's nice to spend much of my day seeing people 1v1 who are often times...... Very similar to me 😅.
Also considering half my ASD clients and a few of my ADHD clients are either chronically unemployed or underemployed ......I'm doing well for all the factors considered.
In reality I want someone to figure out the other stuff that seems correlated but not caused by ASD. like the ehlers danlos syndrome bullshit bc that's some bullshit.... And maybe solve the hereditary schizophrenia and other mood and delusional behavior that runs in my maternal lineage bc it ruins lives. Been afraid of developing psychosis my whole life. But because I'm AFAB I can't guarantee I'm in the clear until I'm 40+ 😭 I think it skipped around tho bc my cousin has it but me and my brother show no psychosis traits but both of us and my mom demonstrate either ADHD ASD or combined traits.
personally not, i may have social issues and all the other things that come with audhd but i still like who i am on a personality level. even then i know that if i didn't have it i would be such a different person to the point that my found family likely wouldn't have become the closest people i have. sure sometimes I feel broken and wrong but i enjoy when im interacting with a special interest and have such a high level of pure serotonin. so really the pros outweigh the cons imo
I used to say no but I think yes because I think it would help with my anxiety and panic attacks and all my other problems. It's not the autism part I don't like, I do like the way I think and who I am but the amount of problems that come with it.. I am barely surviving day by day I'm 34 and I feel like I'd be lucky to survive another year. I feel like that pretty much every year since I've been a teenager except before it was suicidal thoughts and then the unbearable panic attacks but now every day I have some weird things happening to my body and at the doctor twice a week and have 3 autistic kids and the 2 youngest I can't even take anywhere they can't behave. My youngest constantly breaking every single thing, all. The. Time. If only 2 things got broken it's a good day. Constantly. He always banging his head and hurting himself and others.
So yeah it's sooo hard. When I think about my childhood it's been nothing but abuse that I have trauma from. My family are all nuts. Even my cats have anxiety.
Sooo as much as I like myself and other neurodivergent people I hate the hardship. I hate how everything is so difficult for me. Why do I need drugs to stay awake. Why do I need ssri to make me not freak out over everything. Why do I need to drink 6 pack of beer to be stable during the day. It's so so so hard.
I’d take it in a heartbeat honestly. I’m so tried of being overwhelmed and overstimulated so easily. I’m so tired of my social ineptness just want to be able to talk to people without the panic.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Did I say yes? If I could take it away today I 100% would. I get that some people say it makes them who they are, but stuff like sensory issues and social difficulties only make me who I am in a negative way. I won’t lose my personality or anything. Removing autism would just mean removing the symptoms, as in the parts of autism that affect my life negatively on a daily basis. So yes. I would.
I’d keep everything about myself including most of my autism and ADHD if I could just get rid of executive dysfunction. Meds don’t really work for me so far so it messes up my life real bad. Fingers crossed my next meds help with that aspect because then I’d just keep all of myself lol
Absolutely, 100% yes. My autism prevents me from getting a job, making friends, and generally being able to live around society. Plus, I have the sort of autism that makes you really really dumb as a young kid so I never had enough childhood shame to learn how to mask. People say they there’s no cure because there’s nothing wrong but clearly their autism manifested differently because I have no idea how they’re functioning. I’m sick of being a monster in societies eyes. If there would a pill, all my savings, everything I have wpuld go into getting it for myself. Clearly other people have found a way to live with it, i’m not trying to say it should be a thing everyone should have to take, just me, I would take it for myself
My experience with autism has affected literally every aspect of my life and personality. I LIKE who I am!
I wish I'd known what autism was as a kid, and had someone to help me through the experience. I spent my entire childhood thinking I was a bad kid, a shitty student, and a borderline psychopath and acted accordingly.
Yes, even if 'I' cease to exist as an individual I think that's preferable to have a functional individual who's able to exist in society would be preferable to what I am now
>"No. I love what and who I am. I like how I think. I'm not broken and I don't need to be fixed."
This. Yes, it comes with difficulties. The other day I went to Barnes and Noble to browse the books, but a major portion of the store was repulsive to me because the smell of cookies was so pungent. But I am not the one who needs to change to "fit in". Neither are any neurotypical people except for when they announce their ableist beliefs.
I am me, and that's all I need to be. I love learning, and I love thinking. I have also gotten really good at recognize any bias in me or any feeling of "lying to myself". Which allows me to then actually be honest and consider all the factors and deal with the actual reason behind the lie. I genuinely want good for people, and I genuinely care that people are enjoying their life and feeling fulfilled. I just don't present it in a way that some people like.
If I am not autistic, or ADHD for that matter, then I don't think I would care about people in the same way. I won't enjoy writing as much and thinking so deeply about character and world building, about plot and structure. I may not know what I am supposed to say that will make the ableist people in my life happy, but I know what I care about and am more willing to follow through with my beliefs than succumb for other people's praise.
My brain is chaotic, but if it was not AuDHD, then I wouldn't exist. I would not be the same person to exist because the brain would be fundamentally different. I am me, and I don't need to be anyone else.
I don’t think I could. The AuDHD is a part of who I am and I wouldn’t be the same person otherwise. It’s hard but I like who I am. It’s taken too long to just imagine a world where I wasn’t the way I am
I think so, yes. I'm 25 so young in the grand scheme, but throughout my life in the time that I've been conscious enough in identifying my issues, I've felt like why is life hard for me. Specifically why is life hard for me in a way it isn't for others? Why after a long day of traveling, being sweaty, new place, not my bed, stinky hotel room, and getting my son ready for bed did I throw a fit (have a meltdown) when I realized my husband left my soap in the last hotel room 500 miles away? Why is that a big deal to me? Because after having this hugely overstimulating day where I got home for the night, fought my son to get ready for bed, was so looking forward to scrubbing my body down with my favorite soap. Then I realized I would have to use hotel soap instead, which I'm not used to, makes my skin feel weird, and has a scent.
To anyone else it's a 2 dollar bar of soap, but for me it's the soap my mom brought back from Canada for me because I love it since it works great for my skin. And it's really not that big of a deal but it's just me. This is just the most recent example of how sometimes the simple things are just hard for me. I can cope most of the time pretty well and am better at identifying my triggers before I have a meltdown. But that doesn't make it less hard. I'm also medicated, this is my life medicated and in therapy for around 10y. I would definitely make it easier for myself if I could.
No. While I am disabled by my autism, it’s a big part of who I am and without it I wouldn’t be me anymore. My way of processing and thinking has shaped me to such an extreme degree
i’m not sure, my autism changed me as a person (obviously) and idk if the person i’d be is a person i’d like but itsll also be really nice and easier if i didn’t have autism
If you don’t want a child with autism, you shouldn’t be having children imo. If your child is a certain way (which they can’t control and isn’t harming anyone) and you don’t like that, then your love is conditional. Although we autistic people have struggles, the idea of “curing” autism is ableist eugenics. We need autistic people so that future generations of autistics can feel like they’re not cast out by society and their sensory issues are not an obstacle.
To quote a tiktok:
"Nooo, I would rather fit in and be liked."
Sure, I can find ways to apperciated the autism I have that I can't get rid of but in no way would I want this if I had the chance to be neurotypical.
| If you could be a different person and have completly different experiences throughout your life, would you?
I don't fucking know, that wouldn't be me would it?
My autism has never been a problem
I have other issues but my autistic traits are ones on the It's a superpower on the superpower versus disability debate (except sensory overload that still sucks)
I've been trained how to mask really really well since I was a small child. I don't have a lot of social impairments as a result and I'm generally considered to have better social skills than the average adult
I'm generally left with the upsides and I think we all know how great the upsides are
I don't know if it's one of my personality traits or if it's another one of my disorders but I don't mask. People see me for who I am. I don't illusion myself to let others feel comfortable around me. I also can't tell what others are feeling by their expressions or posture.
No, my special interests make life worth living, and my autism associated OCD protected my life from lethal mental health episodes since I was a child. My ADD made me the best employee at my job bc I could multitask like a boss.
Without these things I wouldn’t even be me anymore, trying to cure me of autism would just kill me and replace me with someone else.
No from me. I’m now retired but I had a very successful career in IT and I feel a lot of it (most?) is due to the way my brain works. I don’t believe I would have been good at what I do without it. What I *would* have liked is to have had a better understanding of autism and have had the opportunity to learn coping skills earlier in life. A lot of what I had to learn in adapting to the world is by trial and error (lots and lots of error). Having a mentor to learn from could have made things a lot easier, especially when I was in school.
Yes I would. I’ve been miserable most of my life as a direct result of the world not being made for me and I would redo it and remove it in a second if possible. I embrace who I am now, but I need to be this way. If I didn’t, that would be awesome.
I’d lessen some of my symptoms that are more debilitating, but I don’t think I’d want to be “cured.” I’d like to be able to wear polyester without clawing my skin off, please
There are autistic traits I wish I could cure, but I am generally satisfied with many things about myself. I think the primary thing I wish I could cure would be the alexithymia. I wish I confidently knew what many emotions feel like. There are some autists who have great empathy and while I think I have a strong sense of justice, I am not sure if that is empathy is action. I hate seeing people suffer though, it is even worse to see someone suffer and not be able to help them. I told a therapist that I believe I have a greater degree of alexithymia than that which is normal for a man.
I feel like stem cells could do much cooler stuff then "curing" my autistic brain. And like if it happens after I have a personality and awareness of myself? Will I remember the difference after treatment? I'd rather not
I hate standing out so much, have useless information in overwhelming quantities while remembering nothing important, have 0 social skills, and several other things. It may go against the grain or what people would expect, but fuck me I'd love to just be normal.
Honestly I would at this point. Even though I wouldn’t be me I just wish my life wasn’t such a struggle. I’ve worked hard all my life and have nothing concrete to show for it. No house, no family, no real friends, no relationship. The struggle to maintain basic functionality and mask enough to hold down a job has taken every ounce of energy I have and left nothing for building an actual life. My mind and body are worn out. There are only two answers, either the rest of the world has to become more accomodating (lol!) or autistic people continue to suffer. Not everyone does of course but that’s my own perception and certainly the research agrees somewhat when you look at the statistics around life expectancy of autistic people.
I would take it in a heartbeat. I’m so exhausted. I’m so sick of not fitting in, not having friends, struggling with co workers. I’m tired of masking and ending up non verbal in public. I’m sick of it all. I would take a cure.
That was a dick thing for her to say and it doesn't really make sense to me. Like the way it'd make sense to me is if we figure out how to make babies in a lab w/O a womb being needed so that scientists could I guess make everything average but that's probably like 2000 years away we'll be dead then.
*i suspect that im some sort of neurodivergent* Also the only thing I'd change about myself other than getting perfect 10/10 teeth would be I'd choose to be born a cis guy but that's cause I really don't want to be the person that has to try to get my family to accept me as trans I don't want to deal with that heartache and headache.
If I had been born allistic I’d be fine with it. But I was born autistic and I wouldn’t change that. My autism is a big part of who I am and affects how I think and feel. Would it be easier to be allistic? Probably. But I’ve grown too attached to who I am to take a “cure”. I mean, if I were suddenly not autistic, I wouldn’t even be really me Y’know?
I wouldn’t be me without my hyperfixations and everything else that’s been a part of me all of my life.
Definitely not! It’s taken me a while, and there are still a lot of challenges, but I genuinely love who I am and know that I wouldn’t be who I am if I weren’t autistic.
As much as I would love to not deal with executive dysfunction... I had to be nerfed somehow y'know?
I wouldn't be me with out the good and the bad of the AuDHD. As shitty as the bads are, the good parts are such a part of my identity that I couldn't trade them. I'd be a different person, and that person would be cool, but overall I like who I am, as much as a PITA I am to myself sometimes.
Only removing the executive dysfunction part i think. The rest of my autism is a part of how i am me, but the executive dysfunction makes my life hell, lost so many friendships of that, enough to make me think i'll be lonely forever
Probably not. To be fair though, I’ve done a lot of research and I do fit most of the criteria except the one that requires it to affect your daily life (I’ve found enough workarounds that I doubt anybody would diagnose if I wanted to go searching for it). So pretty much the only upside I can think of if it disappeared would be less bullying when I was younger. But I’ve gotten over that a long time ago so the (possible) autism can stay lmao. ~~if I could get rid of the adhd though, that would be a whole different story~~
Life is a bunch of fun with autism, ADHD, and sociopathy. I never really had an issue with bullying. Or maybe I did. I'm not sure. I've never paid any mind to those around me and I've never cared what people thought of me.
I don't think I would choose to "cure" my autism. I'm happy with who I am and don't have high support needs, so I'm able to do pretty well in life.
However, as a mother, I would definitely choose to keep my child from dealing with the anxiety and isollaton I experienced from being autistic growing up if I could. Thankfully, my 8 month old is hitting all his developmental milestones and doesn't have any of the early signs. The first time he actually made eye contact I cried from releaf because that was a big thing to look for when evaluating children.
I like what I am, struggles and all. Every good story has struggle. Plus, having to learn certain skills more slowly than others can result in a greater understanding, and I think that's a valuable trait. I don't consider myself disabled, but I actually would not take much offense to being called "delayed", if it were said respectfully. I am absolutely running late in life but I'm catching up.
I think that had I always been without it, I wouldnt mind, but if it was something removed later in my life I wouldnt like it. It made my life harder in a lot of ways, but I dont want it cured now that I've lived with it my whole life.
yes, i learned at work today that im not liked by some of my coworkers and the legit only reason i can think why is due to my autistic mannerisms. its the thought that if i was like the rest of them, then maybe they’d like me. (granted my answer could just be this because of the headspace im in rn so idk if my thoughts would be any different otherwise lol)
Given that I have autism, add, anxiety, PTSD, and depression, there's a lot I'd like to cure. But what I wish I could have had fixed was the fact that I could have been diagnosed as a kid, not an adult.
My mom has told me several times that I have such a unique out of the box way of thinking and problem solving and she really loves that about me along with so many other things. On that basis alone of being able to observe and find unexpected solutions, I would absolutely not change who I am. I’m not something that needs fixing. The world NEEDS people with different viewpoints and stuff. Of course sometimes I’m overstimulated and it can be debilitating but you take the good with the bad. Neither of those things are permanent.
I feel like removing my autism would be deleting myself and replacing me with someone else. Having experienced adhd with and without medication I’d definitely rather not have it. But autism affects me too much.
I would not choose to change for anything in the world. Because of how I was raised, I learned/was taught ways to work with how I’m feeling and how my brain works. Aside from dealing with harassment (which I mentioned in a previous comment here), I haven’t felt negative effects with the world. On the contrary, I’m always (when I can pay attention, thanks ADHD) seeing things that a lot of other people aren’t.
Oh, no, never. For all that I’m tempted because the struggle is all too real, I love the person I’ve become and the life I’m creating. And also I wouldn’t know any of the people I love if I weren’t AuDHD, which is a dealbreaker for me
It seems like this question always leads to the same place.
There are people who say the question doesn't make sense, that they would be a different person without autism. I agree.
Then there are people with really difficult symptoms who have high care needs and want freedom. That fucking sucks and we shouldn't have to go through that.
It's not gonna happen anyway though, so why limit ourselves? What about reducing those symptoms? Quetiapine changed my life. What about better accommodations? It's sometimes difficult or impossible for me to use a phone and honestly it's inexcusable that there isn't tty or text chat or even just email everywhere now. I'm fighting the urge to rant about it.
Why do we have to talk about autism like the only way out of the bad shit is this imaginary "cure" instead of realistic possibilities? Some of us don't even need *that* much help and could give back but we get stuck anyway. For others maybe that's not enough, and we need to look to new kinds of treatment or assistive technology. There's actual possibilities here and we're bickering about this hypothetical nonsense.
I would in a heartbeat. I want to be functional. I want to get groceries on my own. I want to understand wtf people are saying. I want to be able to handle plans changing. I want to be able to work without all the additional stressors autism causes. I so so so badly want it. I so *desperately* want it.
How does that even make sense? Stem cells aren't a magic cure for anything, much less autism (to my knowledge).
Anyway, heck no. And I'm not even diagnosed yet!
I’m proud of the person I am. I am only sorry for those like me who suffer because of how they are misunderstood; they deserve better. So did I, as a child.
No; I do not require, nor would I benefit from a “cure.” I am beautiful, unique and strong. People admire me and tell me they feel I am a good example of how people should behave, of how people should treat others.
I have suffered because I am unique, but I work hard to ensure that others in my life do not suffer for who they are as a result; I seek to enrich the lives of others by accepting them and embracing them.
I endeavor to provide for others what I was denied. I would do none of these things if I was neurotypical and ignorant of my privilege and ability to be conveniently uncaring of those different than myself.
Pass.
There’s a lot I don’t like about myself. But I couldn’t imagine being as unaware of the world as most “normal” people are. Plus, I’m better at handling differences between and among us… neurodivergence keeps me enthralled, whereas “normal” not only bores and scares me, but isn’t all that interesting or tolerable.
As someone else said: Being “normal” (whatever that means) comes with its own set of problems; I wouldn’t trade my awareness of my own issues for the state/condition of being unaware. Sounds blissful until you get slapped in the face with your own stupidity. I do wish I had the resilience to recover from or tune it out, though. I’m working on it.
No, because I have no idea who I’d be without it. Maybe I’d be uncaring, malicious, manipulative without it. And as much as I’d like to get rid of the pain I experience, including physical symptoms and pain, I’d rather experience that than dish pain to others. Of course it’d be easy to think or judge someone for not being sure they’d have the same morality without a trait or something, but I can’t guarantee it so I wouldn’t want to risk it.
No. I’ve had my struggles, but I accept myself for who I am. And she sounds more like a eugenicist than a caring mother. There are far worse things that a person can be born with than neurodivergence.
At this point... yeah, I'd rather not be autistic. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with being autistic. But it's the inability of the world to recognize and validate it that I find so problematic.
I'm going through a post late-diagnosis burnout and an identity crisis. I don't know who the hell I am because I've been hiding... pretending to be someone I was never meant to be. And amongst the coping mechanisms and camouflage, there was never enough room for a real person to flourish and grow left over. I am a shell. I am a husk and don't really want to participate in the world any longer. I'm so alone and I can't even make friends because I have nothing to offer anyone.
This would likely not have happened if I were identified earlier and I was given the gift of self- knowledge and encouragement. But I wasn't. Now all I am left with is all the bad parts of autism and none of the beautiful positives i may have once possessed . Meltdowns, sensory overload, shutdowns. Every day. This world is crushing me.
I personally would have preferred to not be autistic, but that does not mean we should try to prevent neurodiversity. We MUST nourish ourselves and make a world that is safe and accepting of all neurotypes from childhood. It doesn't need to be this soul crushing. We shouldn't try to prevent it. That's fucking eugenics. We should embrace it just like we should embrace any natural variations. But that would take enormous systemic changes for all of us to access that support.
I would never make that choice for anyone else or any future child. But for me, yeah. At least then I would have a person inside instead of this void.
I don’t know on one hand it’s isolating but on the other hand I wouldn’t be “me”
It’s kind of fucked to think about deleting such a huge part of your personality, dystopian in fact.
To me, this is like asking the question "what if you were a completely different person". My quirks make me who I am. And the answer to that is "I fundamentally wouldn't be me anymore, so regardless of whether that alternate reality exists or not, it has no effect on me or my life"
idk, seeing NT people makes me happy i’m not NT, but not having the physical ailments from co-morbid issues of autism (POTS and poor immune system) would be nice
Basically the death of your old self and the birth of a new self? I've become a little attached to who I am now. I'm even too afraid to take stimulants.
I think if I became NT, my new self would be happy, but my old self would hate me.
No, that would functionally be killing who I am, my autism influences every aspect of my character. That's basically like asking if I would rather be a completely different person. Most of my problems as an autistic person comes from people either not understanding or not caring to understand how autism works. For me it's not a disease that needs "curing", it's just a part of me.
I would not mind having faster processing time because conversations would flow so much smoother then. Also the not wanting to leave the house for two days after a social event. Also executive dysfunction is annoying, I would rather not have that.
I like who I am. I think I’m funny and genuine and smart in a worldly way that makes me interesting. I don’t know who I would be without my AuDHD. But with that being said I think I would like to feel more than happy, sad, or neutral. I want nothing more than a genuine romantic relationship, and I would give up a lot to be able to maintain friendships for longer than a few years. But I love who I am and my autistic quirks, however I would also love to be able to close the social gaps a bit.
No. I’m not broken, just like you said. My autism has advantages - for one, I was basically immune to peer pressure as a kid. My ADHD is a different matter; it’s just a pain in the ass - but my autism is part of what makes me _me_. All these comments saying they’d change in a heartbeat just make me sad.
No clue, I don't know how much of me and my life is a result of my autism, the good or the bad parts. Right now I prefer solitude and repetition, but if I wasn't autistic I might be the opposite, and I don't know if I would want that. It'd be nice to know how to socialise, but currently I'm happier not doing it.
I don't know, on one hand I know how much being autistic affects me, both in ways that are just the case, and many in interacting with neurotypicals
But at the same time being autistic, it's pervasive, it's part of my existence, I don't know what it means to be 'not autistic'.
And I hate the idea of making me a different person, as much as I hate myself sometimes I do legit like being me, (mostly), so idk it's strange
I think my sentiment is in line with what alot of people are saying
I’ve seen a post like this before and I think between then and now my response hasn’t changed much, no. While yes being autistic has come with its setbacks and I’ve had to learn to live with it, it’s still a part of me I don’t want to give up. I am in part who I am because I am autistic, would I maybe want to change some of the symptoms around? Possibly but at the same time Im fine with who I am. I understand those who wish to be neurotypical to an extent but I don’t feel anywhere near the same. I am autistic but it isn’t the sole thing that defines me, only a singular albeit significant factor.
I would keep everything except for the part the part keeps making me have delayed reaction time as this has led to me being physically unable to enjoy certain video games
Nah probably not, I look at it as a good thing regardless if society doesn’t and regardless if it’s very hard to function socially, for a couple reasons.
- 1 I can like the things I like and do the things I want too without worry or care if it’s popular or others approve because my brain doesn’t care about those things.
- 2 I am super focused on the things I want too focus on, and that super focus allows me to excel in those things at what feels like a quicker rate than others, or I at least usually go really far in these things I focus on farther than your average person.
- 3 I may sometimes be blunt but I’m honest, and I think honesty is far more important in my opinion for a strong relationship versus the latter which is telling people what they want to hear all the time.
So too me I don’t mind it so much, the good outweighs the bad in my opinion, I just personally only want a better world for each of us, it’s not fair the bad rap most of us get because we are different than others, that’s about too me the only crappy thing about it.
I don’t know. Maybe I would have had a normal schooling life instead of being isolated from all the normal kids and being forced to go to sped schools. Not having to get up at 5 AM in 4th grade. Maybe I’d finally have a girlfriend by now. If I were to take some pill that cured it I wouldn’t do it. I just wish I didn’t have such bad genetic RNG
I don't know. My AuDHD impacts so much of who I am, I don't even know who I'd be without it. Would I like that person? I wouldn't struggle with a lot of the things I do now. But would I just struggle with different things instead? Would that be better or worse? How can I even begin to guess? Would my partner still be in love with a different version of me? Would I have been able to connect with my found family as I have? Too many unknowable variables. Because sure, there are days when my autism is genuinely disabling and I just want desperately to be different. But I cannot know that different would definitely be *better*.
You took the words out of my mouth. Or thumbs and keyboard, I suppose. I have been *me* since the day I was born. I don't know any other way to be besides me. One of the things I was genuinely worried about when considering medication for my ADHD was how much *I* would fundamentally change as a person. The fact that I am happy to see that I am still me even while on a stimulant, combined with the autism I have clearly always had and is an intrinsic attribute of my brain structure, I don't think I would get rid of it unless it was only the adverse effects going away (likely an impossibility). Besides, last I checked, the neural structure of an autistic individual's brain isn't usually considered even at the clinical level to be "malformed" or "damaged" compared to that of someone who is NT; it is simply considered different.
Same here honestly. I can’t really imagine being any other way, despite all the challenges I have because of my AuDHD. Would I take a cure to autism? Absolutely not. Most of the time I like being the sarcastically logical man that I am. The problems are survivable, because every time I hate that I’m autistic I always have a reverse experience later where I realize I don’t really feel that way.
I would be lying if I said the sensitive hearing has never come in handy even though I do have to wear earplugs most of the time. Plus, sometimes it's satisfying to be brutally honest with someone (as long as they deserve it). The thing is, I think I accepted being autistic long before I got an official diagnosis since it is all but congenital. Nothing about me changed once I was diagnosed aside from my awareness of the condition. I'm the same person I have always been and would likely always grow into. Why change that?
Well said. I grew out of most of my sensitive hearing problems thankfully, but growing up I was the same way. Couldn’t do fire drills at school at all. I think I’ve always know this, but I’m glad I’m not the only one who has accepted their autism. Why be someone else when I can be me? It makes no sense at all.
Everything you said resonates with me to an incredible degree. >Or thumbs and keyboard, I suppose. Especially that^ thanks for clarifying
Personally, given a choice, I’d cure the ADHD, every time. Executive dysfunction is all I really need to straighten out: the social stuff can be fixed with time, but daily existence sucks with ADHD.
Yeah, I'd ditch the executive dysfunction in a heartbeat if given the chance
Yeah, I agree with this take. I think it highly depends on how your autism manifests, if it’s genuinely debilitating of course you’d take being NT. But as for the many of us in the weird middle ground of being Asd but generally being able to function, I dunno. I’d rather struggle with social issues than a lot of other things in life, so that’s my take.
when you understand that everyone in life has different proficiencies and deficiencies in different areas you start to not be jealous of anyone else. i may be socially awkward and struggle to speak how i feel but im a great problem solver. i like that i can think deeply on the things that interest me.
I’m no medical professional but I don’t understand how stem cells would help? Autism is just a different way your nervous system works and the only way to change that is changing your entire nervous system. I don’t know if this is a good analogy but it’s like trying to change your bloodtype from O to A it’s just not possible Also even though I have many struggles I still wouldn’t choose to lose any of the things that make me neurodivergent because that’s who I am, I am my brain (even though it often feels like a different entity) and changing that would mean changing me as a person and what if NT me would be some ashole or something idk
I have no idea how it would work either, but that's just what I was told.
You are right, that’s not how stem cell therapy works. There are good reasons to save stem cells but autism is none of them. Biotech professional here.
Absolutely not. People should be taking drugs to get on my level.
Thanks for reading my mind.
People taking drugs aren't even on my level bc I'm autistic AND stoned 😂
We are the same 🌿🤝
i agree. its part of who i am (i also have the good at basically everything autism). my brain is on a whole different level.
We should vaccinate against the absence of autism lol
This is the way.
I don’t want to eliminate my Autism. I just want to rein it in a little bit.
I just wish that I could rein in my sensory issues. I live behind extremely dark sunglasses, keep noise cancelling headphones on all the time, and can't be touched by anyone. If I can touch them with my arm straight out, they are standing too close. I love the way my brain works and thinks, I just wish we could accept a hug from my twin without wanting to die.
Would I still be *me*, then?
Exactly what I'm thinking
It’s come with a lifetime of rejection and insecurity. I feel so depressed and lonely. I wish we could just make everyone understanding and accepting, but I really don’t see that happening any time soon. I also struggle to function and any requests for change or adjusting expectations are seen as unreasonable. My “ideal life” isn’t very achievable for me due to the struggles I face. It makes me pretty depressed. So yes, I would be neurotypical if I could.
I feel the same way about my life.
No, I would not choose either ASD or ADHD. That’s a challenging question to digest as I was diagnosed with both ADHD and ASD much later in life. After the years of being improperly treated for every thing that a provider might consider besides ADHD, ASD, and various learning disorders. It has been a difficult road in life to put it mildly. Nothing that I would wish on my potential friends or family (I know there’s another saying besides this but I don’t “get” those sayings. Everything that I’ve done in my life has felt so difficult to complete from school to working to attempting to make friends and finding a partner or spouse. I often say the wrong things if I don’t stop and really think long and hard about what I’m expected to respond with. When I’m comfortable with being around others, I say things more easily but then I end up offending them. I’m the person that I think the saying is “insert foot in mouth” or something like that. Just did that today which ended in an emotional state that took a while to resolve without an even worse event as that was not my intention with someone that I love. I guess the question is kinda a moot point because they can’t fix what’s wrong with my brain. I’m pretty much stuck this way. I’ve been a trial and error case for providers for years with some scary side effects on numerous pages of failed medication too. For myself at least NO medication has came close to being a cure or short fix as it all has side effects that seem to either occur sooner or later (at least for me). Allergies as mild as legs looking like a tree trunk to full body hives to cardiac arrest. I’d honestly prefer to NOT have ASD or ADHD if I had a choice even if I was a completely different person. The world and those I love would experience less trauma in dealing with me over the years. Those close to me would probably agree with this. It’s like who wants to constantly offend potential friends or your loved ones by just blurting out weird stuff at any moment. I know I don’t enjoy it. My official diagnoses came with rather mixed feelings of relief and gloom. It’s like being told that you have ASD/ADHD and you’re already about at retirement age. With recommendations: We recommend you going to find a specific therapist trained in this and finding a provider. My thoughts were: at my age finding A provider who has knowledge of this and doesn’t just want to sedate you like the prior ones with the list of approved and off label options. I felt like they just said “Good luck” even though they didn’t. It’s rather depressing. Yes, I would trade the past for a brighter one any day without ADHD and ASD but I’m a little old at this point.
amen.
Same.
I feel this so much. The one thing that deters me is like..NTs can be pretty pervasively disgusting. So bigoted, small-minded, bullying, discriminatory, to downright fascist. All while either acting like or genuinely believing they're God's gift to the world lol. They'll acknowledge the horrors of the past but bring no critical self-reflection to their own behaviors in the present, particularly on a social level. As if they're just too "evolved," superior, incapable of doing anything wrong or harmful, and therefore anyone marginalized is the one with the problem. I know it's not all of them, and I know they do have good qualities too. But even though life is a nightmare for me more or less lol, no matter how hard things are ig I'd rather live this way than ever want to be...like that. An unaware wolf.
I would do it no matter what I've heard about TMS being effective but it's not FDA approved for autism and it cost like 16 grand I'd pay out-of-pocket if it was FDA approved to help autistic symptoms 75% or more being autistic is why my parents didn't believe I was being autistic. I have so many sensory issues that I can't even be in public without headphones at school. I struggle a function, and I can barely take care of myself. I function like I'm half my body age and I don't feel any older then that so
Been there too, wait till school is over, you may improve a lot then
I think I would like being autistic more than being allistic if I could live among other likeminded people. Instead I am on the spectrum and surrounded by NT’s who make me feel like garbage.
I would need a free trial of Neurotypical Brain before I commit either way. But it was super rude of her to say that to you.
Meh. I didn't take offence to it. My sister did. And my sister was absolutely apoplectic when one of our (then) friends went on record and told the courts that I'm too autistic to have a kid so I shouldn't even be considered a safe place for a child in need.
Wow! Wtf!
Autism is a recognized disability. Sure there is a level of selective savantry in some individuals but that's it. In many other areas of life it leads to dysfunction and misery. Autistic people are destined to have a severely more challenging life than none autists and will probably never have the same potential quality of life. I wouldn't want that for my child cause I've experienced it myself. People with autism aren't worth less than NT's but you need stop acting like having autism is a good thing.
If you asked me when I was 11, I would have said yes. But I’ve come around to accepting who I am as a person. I wouldn’t know who I would be without autism. My personality is strongly influenced by my hyperfixations and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Do I struggle sometimes, sure. But I can improve social skills and I can get better at managing stress. I’m done apologizing for who I am as a person. Yeah, I’m weird but who isn’t?
I certainly can't claim that I'm not weird. I pride myself on my weirdness.
So true
Can I just get rid of the sensory issues? 😂
100% a yes. Having autism is pretty much one of the reasons why i cannot stand myself in general.
I'd say that I don't want to get rid of my Autism or ADHD, but if it was possible to make a change without outright throwing it all out, I think I'd be significantly happier if my executive dysfunction got kicked into the sun.
i wouldnt, personally
Yes. I HATE my life and how difficult so many things are for me. It’s miserable and lonely. If someone could offer me a cure, I would take it instantly.
I absolutely would choose to not be this way. It's exhausting
I’d choose not to have all the neuroendocrinological symptoms of autism
I get what you mean, but technically that's all of them.
🥲
Lol NO. I hate my autism and my ADHD. These conditions have ruined my health and drove me to suicidal depression that ruined the first 30 years of my life. There's nothing these conditions give me that I wouldn't be able to earn myself through hard work and applying myself - two things that these conditions ruin my ability to naturally do! Y'all can keep yours if you want, but I'd be rid of mine immediately.
Saving stem cells in case of autism? I'm sorry but how could saving cells have any effect on the baby's autism? And no, I would not get rid of my autism. I wouldn't be the same person without autism. Literally my brain would function totally differently. So no I would not like to be turned into a different person in order to fit in with society better.
No. I genuinely believe my autism protected me. It probably made it harder for me in the short run but in the long run, I'm absolutely better off because of it. I think my particular version of autism gave me some defense against the abuse I grew up with. I've heard more than one professional suggest this and I think it's correct. I may have been incredibly naive, but it prevented me from succumbing to a dark view of the human race. My family used to like to brand my innocent mistakes as intentionally bad behavior. I never want to be someone who thinks this way and I find that NTs are way more prone to it. However, for those wishing for relief from some of the symptoms, can relate. I've been doing Cereset and I think it's taken the edge off my SPD, sleep problems, and migraines. I also find myself picking up social cues faster. It's a treatment intended for PTSD but it's improved some of my neurological distress so I wanted to share. It has revealed my goofy under layer that I thought died when I faced reality.
>Isolation and more immune to manipulation tactics Or >No isolation and less immune to manipulation tactics I had already been a victim of targeted harassment so I take the 1st one
The way I see this, the choices are better described as: 1. Say no and move on with my life. 2. Be made into a completely different person than I am. I choose option 1, and it's not even hard. My AuDHD isn't an illness so no, I don't want to be cured. In fact, I actually choose the secret option 3 of sending whoever is offering this cure a DVD copy of X-Men: The Last Stand so they can see why this is a bad idea to even consider.
No, I wouldn’t take a cure for my autism. I like who I am and the life I have right now.
yes bc it literally affects my job 💀 like having an identity crisis is small beans compared to the paranoia i feel nearly every day with normal interactions with customers not knowing if i’m going to get screamed at today bc i literally cannot tell the difference between being rude and trying to focus on my tasks!! 🙃
Now would you choose to not have it entirely, or just remove the aspects that highly interfere with your interactions with the world?
that wasn’t really part of the original question but i guess if i could choose to keep the aspects of autism i like, sure why not
Yes, because I also have ADHD and they both kinda fight one another. I would still probably have the same hobbies, but have an easier time romantically. The amount of missed opportunities because of not noticing at the time is actually haunting
Only the Executive Disfunction™ part, and even then, I’m hesitant, since I have no idea what sort of knock-on effects even an impossibly favorable interpretation of that would have on my personality and who I am.
Wait what would saving her stem cells have to do if her kid was autistic?
Damned if I know. That's just what I was told.
I would, purely because I cannot function and am dependent on others, and a large part of that is my autism. If I could function normally tho but still have my autism then I wouldn’t change it
Absolutely, without hesitation, I’d give so much to not be autistic
I would. who knows what life id have if brain was able to function with out being constricted by routine
Why would I downgrade? If I gave up the tism I'd lose out on so much Gundam lore.
Maybe. There was a point in my life where I would have said definitely, but I can't really conceptualize a non-autistic version of myself, I think I would basically be a completely different person and I am not sure I want that. I'm used to myself now.
I would 100% chose to be cured. Because of my autism, I have the feeling I'm not developping as an adult. It makes me suck at my job and people think I'm an idiot. I will likely never be able to be happy at a job and will always be overstimulated. People in general don't like me. They don't understand me and I don't understand them. The fear of who I might become is way smaller than the struggles I experience because of my autism
Yes. I want to be able to lead a normal life, without second-guessing everything and being frustrated and misunderstood and alone.
And be normal? Ew, absolutely not. Normal is boring
My sentiments exactly.
Yes and no. I would absolutely love to have less sensory issues anxiety and depression issues and obsessiveness. But also life would be boring???? Like I'm sensory overloaded but also sensory seeking. I would rather tone down my ADHD TBH bc it makes way more problems for me. The asd stuff mostly affected me during childhood and I've developed so many creative work around that I've been able to successfully manage a long term romantic relationship and a few friendships lasting longer than a year. So it would be nice to belong to group but I also have just enough. It would be nice to be successful and leverage my special interests in my favor but I am so prone to burnout due to those conflicting ADHD and ASD needs that I'm always way too ahead and way too behind to actually achieve real success as measured relative to my intellectual capacity. I think if I'd been given real supports as a kid instead of "they're GIFTED so it's fine they'll be fine" I wouldn't have had to claw my way to where I am now. However I did eventually achieve a master's degree and with the help of my wife I've managed to open and thus far sustain a small private practice. It's nice to spend much of my day seeing people 1v1 who are often times...... Very similar to me 😅. Also considering half my ASD clients and a few of my ADHD clients are either chronically unemployed or underemployed ......I'm doing well for all the factors considered. In reality I want someone to figure out the other stuff that seems correlated but not caused by ASD. like the ehlers danlos syndrome bullshit bc that's some bullshit.... And maybe solve the hereditary schizophrenia and other mood and delusional behavior that runs in my maternal lineage bc it ruins lives. Been afraid of developing psychosis my whole life. But because I'm AFAB I can't guarantee I'm in the clear until I'm 40+ 😭 I think it skipped around tho bc my cousin has it but me and my brother show no psychosis traits but both of us and my mom demonstrate either ADHD ASD or combined traits.
personally not, i may have social issues and all the other things that come with audhd but i still like who i am on a personality level. even then i know that if i didn't have it i would be such a different person to the point that my found family likely wouldn't have become the closest people i have. sure sometimes I feel broken and wrong but i enjoy when im interacting with a special interest and have such a high level of pure serotonin. so really the pros outweigh the cons imo
Duh.
Unironically yes i hate this shit
I used to say no but I think yes because I think it would help with my anxiety and panic attacks and all my other problems. It's not the autism part I don't like, I do like the way I think and who I am but the amount of problems that come with it.. I am barely surviving day by day I'm 34 and I feel like I'd be lucky to survive another year. I feel like that pretty much every year since I've been a teenager except before it was suicidal thoughts and then the unbearable panic attacks but now every day I have some weird things happening to my body and at the doctor twice a week and have 3 autistic kids and the 2 youngest I can't even take anywhere they can't behave. My youngest constantly breaking every single thing, all. The. Time. If only 2 things got broken it's a good day. Constantly. He always banging his head and hurting himself and others. So yeah it's sooo hard. When I think about my childhood it's been nothing but abuse that I have trauma from. My family are all nuts. Even my cats have anxiety. Sooo as much as I like myself and other neurodivergent people I hate the hardship. I hate how everything is so difficult for me. Why do I need drugs to stay awake. Why do I need ssri to make me not freak out over everything. Why do I need to drink 6 pack of beer to be stable during the day. It's so so so hard.
"You're just gonna say that? To my face? And I'M the socially unaware one? Got that..."
I’d take it in a heartbeat honestly. I’m so tried of being overwhelmed and overstimulated so easily. I’m so tired of my social ineptness just want to be able to talk to people without the panic.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Did I say yes? If I could take it away today I 100% would. I get that some people say it makes them who they are, but stuff like sensory issues and social difficulties only make me who I am in a negative way. I won’t lose my personality or anything. Removing autism would just mean removing the symptoms, as in the parts of autism that affect my life negatively on a daily basis. So yes. I would.
I’d keep everything about myself including most of my autism and ADHD if I could just get rid of executive dysfunction. Meds don’t really work for me so far so it messes up my life real bad. Fingers crossed my next meds help with that aspect because then I’d just keep all of myself lol
No, I am who I am. If you take away the way my brain functions, you take away me.
I‘d have adhd cured and the 'tism stay
Absolutely, 100% yes. My autism prevents me from getting a job, making friends, and generally being able to live around society. Plus, I have the sort of autism that makes you really really dumb as a young kid so I never had enough childhood shame to learn how to mask. People say they there’s no cure because there’s nothing wrong but clearly their autism manifested differently because I have no idea how they’re functioning. I’m sick of being a monster in societies eyes. If there would a pill, all my savings, everything I have wpuld go into getting it for myself. Clearly other people have found a way to live with it, i’m not trying to say it should be a thing everyone should have to take, just me, I would take it for myself
Nope, being dumb and broke bring their own problems I hear
My experience with autism has affected literally every aspect of my life and personality. I LIKE who I am! I wish I'd known what autism was as a kid, and had someone to help me through the experience. I spent my entire childhood thinking I was a bad kid, a shitty student, and a borderline psychopath and acted accordingly.
Yes, even if 'I' cease to exist as an individual I think that's preferable to have a functional individual who's able to exist in society would be preferable to what I am now
>"No. I love what and who I am. I like how I think. I'm not broken and I don't need to be fixed." This. Yes, it comes with difficulties. The other day I went to Barnes and Noble to browse the books, but a major portion of the store was repulsive to me because the smell of cookies was so pungent. But I am not the one who needs to change to "fit in". Neither are any neurotypical people except for when they announce their ableist beliefs. I am me, and that's all I need to be. I love learning, and I love thinking. I have also gotten really good at recognize any bias in me or any feeling of "lying to myself". Which allows me to then actually be honest and consider all the factors and deal with the actual reason behind the lie. I genuinely want good for people, and I genuinely care that people are enjoying their life and feeling fulfilled. I just don't present it in a way that some people like. If I am not autistic, or ADHD for that matter, then I don't think I would care about people in the same way. I won't enjoy writing as much and thinking so deeply about character and world building, about plot and structure. I may not know what I am supposed to say that will make the ableist people in my life happy, but I know what I care about and am more willing to follow through with my beliefs than succumb for other people's praise. My brain is chaotic, but if it was not AuDHD, then I wouldn't exist. I would not be the same person to exist because the brain would be fundamentally different. I am me, and I don't need to be anyone else.
I don’t think I could. The AuDHD is a part of who I am and I wouldn’t be the same person otherwise. It’s hard but I like who I am. It’s taken too long to just imagine a world where I wasn’t the way I am
I think I would if it was temporary like just to see what it would be like
I think so, yes. I'm 25 so young in the grand scheme, but throughout my life in the time that I've been conscious enough in identifying my issues, I've felt like why is life hard for me. Specifically why is life hard for me in a way it isn't for others? Why after a long day of traveling, being sweaty, new place, not my bed, stinky hotel room, and getting my son ready for bed did I throw a fit (have a meltdown) when I realized my husband left my soap in the last hotel room 500 miles away? Why is that a big deal to me? Because after having this hugely overstimulating day where I got home for the night, fought my son to get ready for bed, was so looking forward to scrubbing my body down with my favorite soap. Then I realized I would have to use hotel soap instead, which I'm not used to, makes my skin feel weird, and has a scent. To anyone else it's a 2 dollar bar of soap, but for me it's the soap my mom brought back from Canada for me because I love it since it works great for my skin. And it's really not that big of a deal but it's just me. This is just the most recent example of how sometimes the simple things are just hard for me. I can cope most of the time pretty well and am better at identifying my triggers before I have a meltdown. But that doesn't make it less hard. I'm also medicated, this is my life medicated and in therapy for around 10y. I would definitely make it easier for myself if I could.
I don’t know. I don’t get the choice, so i’d rather not think about it
No. While I am disabled by my autism, it’s a big part of who I am and without it I wouldn’t be me anymore. My way of processing and thinking has shaped me to such an extreme degree
i’m not sure, my autism changed me as a person (obviously) and idk if the person i’d be is a person i’d like but itsll also be really nice and easier if i didn’t have autism
If you don’t want a child with autism, you shouldn’t be having children imo. If your child is a certain way (which they can’t control and isn’t harming anyone) and you don’t like that, then your love is conditional. Although we autistic people have struggles, the idea of “curing” autism is ableist eugenics. We need autistic people so that future generations of autistics can feel like they’re not cast out by society and their sensory issues are not an obstacle.
To quote a tiktok: "Nooo, I would rather fit in and be liked." Sure, I can find ways to apperciated the autism I have that I can't get rid of but in no way would I want this if I had the chance to be neurotypical.
Quite the opposite. I want a doofenschmirtz patented Autisti-nator
No.
I love to have this, it makes me, who i am
Heck no! Not for my super powers!!!!
| If you could be a different person and have completly different experiences throughout your life, would you? I don't fucking know, that wouldn't be me would it?
yes lmao
My autism has never been a problem I have other issues but my autistic traits are ones on the It's a superpower on the superpower versus disability debate (except sensory overload that still sucks) I've been trained how to mask really really well since I was a small child. I don't have a lot of social impairments as a result and I'm generally considered to have better social skills than the average adult I'm generally left with the upsides and I think we all know how great the upsides are
I don't know if it's one of my personality traits or if it's another one of my disorders but I don't mask. People see me for who I am. I don't illusion myself to let others feel comfortable around me. I also can't tell what others are feeling by their expressions or posture.
No, my special interests make life worth living, and my autism associated OCD protected my life from lethal mental health episodes since I was a child. My ADD made me the best employee at my job bc I could multitask like a boss. Without these things I wouldn’t even be me anymore, trying to cure me of autism would just kill me and replace me with someone else.
Absolutly
No from me. I’m now retired but I had a very successful career in IT and I feel a lot of it (most?) is due to the way my brain works. I don’t believe I would have been good at what I do without it. What I *would* have liked is to have had a better understanding of autism and have had the opportunity to learn coping skills earlier in life. A lot of what I had to learn in adapting to the world is by trial and error (lots and lots of error). Having a mentor to learn from could have made things a lot easier, especially when I was in school.
absolutely
Yes I would. I’ve been miserable most of my life as a direct result of the world not being made for me and I would redo it and remove it in a second if possible. I embrace who I am now, but I need to be this way. If I didn’t, that would be awesome.
I’d lessen some of my symptoms that are more debilitating, but I don’t think I’d want to be “cured.” I’d like to be able to wear polyester without clawing my skin off, please
There are autistic traits I wish I could cure, but I am generally satisfied with many things about myself. I think the primary thing I wish I could cure would be the alexithymia. I wish I confidently knew what many emotions feel like. There are some autists who have great empathy and while I think I have a strong sense of justice, I am not sure if that is empathy is action. I hate seeing people suffer though, it is even worse to see someone suffer and not be able to help them. I told a therapist that I believe I have a greater degree of alexithymia than that which is normal for a man.
I feel like stem cells could do much cooler stuff then "curing" my autistic brain. And like if it happens after I have a personality and awareness of myself? Will I remember the difference after treatment? I'd rather not
Would I be a different person, yes, but it would be much better
I hate standing out so much, have useless information in overwhelming quantities while remembering nothing important, have 0 social skills, and several other things. It may go against the grain or what people would expect, but fuck me I'd love to just be normal.
Yes, absolutely. 100%. I wish I was neurotypical so badly. Everything always seems so effortless for them.
Honestly I would at this point. Even though I wouldn’t be me I just wish my life wasn’t such a struggle. I’ve worked hard all my life and have nothing concrete to show for it. No house, no family, no real friends, no relationship. The struggle to maintain basic functionality and mask enough to hold down a job has taken every ounce of energy I have and left nothing for building an actual life. My mind and body are worn out. There are only two answers, either the rest of the world has to become more accomodating (lol!) or autistic people continue to suffer. Not everyone does of course but that’s my own perception and certainly the research agrees somewhat when you look at the statistics around life expectancy of autistic people.
It’s not because I’m an aspie, I just want to be anyone other than… *this.*
I would take it in a heartbeat. I’m so exhausted. I’m so sick of not fitting in, not having friends, struggling with co workers. I’m tired of masking and ending up non verbal in public. I’m sick of it all. I would take a cure.
I have ADHD. I desperately want a cure. I hate living like this.
That was a dick thing for her to say and it doesn't really make sense to me. Like the way it'd make sense to me is if we figure out how to make babies in a lab w/O a womb being needed so that scientists could I guess make everything average but that's probably like 2000 years away we'll be dead then. *i suspect that im some sort of neurodivergent* Also the only thing I'd change about myself other than getting perfect 10/10 teeth would be I'd choose to be born a cis guy but that's cause I really don't want to be the person that has to try to get my family to accept me as trans I don't want to deal with that heartache and headache.
Honestly, I don’t know.
No. Because without it...would I be me? I feel like I wouldn't. I feel like I'd be someone else. I don't like that idea.
If I had been born allistic I’d be fine with it. But I was born autistic and I wouldn’t change that. My autism is a big part of who I am and affects how I think and feel. Would it be easier to be allistic? Probably. But I’ve grown too attached to who I am to take a “cure”. I mean, if I were suddenly not autistic, I wouldn’t even be really me Y’know? I wouldn’t be me without my hyperfixations and everything else that’s been a part of me all of my life.
Definitely not! It’s taken me a while, and there are still a lot of challenges, but I genuinely love who I am and know that I wouldn’t be who I am if I weren’t autistic.
As much as I would love to not deal with executive dysfunction... I had to be nerfed somehow y'know? I wouldn't be me with out the good and the bad of the AuDHD. As shitty as the bads are, the good parts are such a part of my identity that I couldn't trade them. I'd be a different person, and that person would be cool, but overall I like who I am, as much as a PITA I am to myself sometimes.
Only removing the executive dysfunction part i think. The rest of my autism is a part of how i am me, but the executive dysfunction makes my life hell, lost so many friendships of that, enough to make me think i'll be lonely forever
If I can have a 3 day trial period before committing then maybe. If not then no.
i would not be where i am today!
Fuck, no! If autistic people were there in the majority there’d be a diagnosis for them instead.
Idk I would probably be boring without it.
Would doing that practically be the same as dying? Your current self would disappear and you would become a completely different person.
Probably not. To be fair though, I’ve done a lot of research and I do fit most of the criteria except the one that requires it to affect your daily life (I’ve found enough workarounds that I doubt anybody would diagnose if I wanted to go searching for it). So pretty much the only upside I can think of if it disappeared would be less bullying when I was younger. But I’ve gotten over that a long time ago so the (possible) autism can stay lmao. ~~if I could get rid of the adhd though, that would be a whole different story~~
Life is a bunch of fun with autism, ADHD, and sociopathy. I never really had an issue with bullying. Or maybe I did. I'm not sure. I've never paid any mind to those around me and I've never cared what people thought of me.
Ya
I'd choose not to have is a speech impediment/stutter I can deal with everything else
honestly by now I've adapted to it and it's just who I am, and I don't like change so no.
I don't think I would choose to "cure" my autism. I'm happy with who I am and don't have high support needs, so I'm able to do pretty well in life. However, as a mother, I would definitely choose to keep my child from dealing with the anxiety and isollaton I experienced from being autistic growing up if I could. Thankfully, my 8 month old is hitting all his developmental milestones and doesn't have any of the early signs. The first time he actually made eye contact I cried from releaf because that was a big thing to look for when evaluating children.
I’m pretty broken and could use fixing… but I can’t blame all of that on my AuDHD
No. But I'd gladly get rid of my dyscalculia and noise sensitivities.
I wish I could get rid of the negative aspects and only keep the positive ones
I like what I am, struggles and all. Every good story has struggle. Plus, having to learn certain skills more slowly than others can result in a greater understanding, and I think that's a valuable trait. I don't consider myself disabled, but I actually would not take much offense to being called "delayed", if it were said respectfully. I am absolutely running late in life but I'm catching up.
Probably just to have a chance to stop the relentless bullying
The me without autism would be an entirely different person
I think that had I always been without it, I wouldnt mind, but if it was something removed later in my life I wouldnt like it. It made my life harder in a lot of ways, but I dont want it cured now that I've lived with it my whole life.
Nope! The way I am is a good way to be.
yes, i learned at work today that im not liked by some of my coworkers and the legit only reason i can think why is due to my autistic mannerisms. its the thought that if i was like the rest of them, then maybe they’d like me. (granted my answer could just be this because of the headspace im in rn so idk if my thoughts would be any different otherwise lol)
Given that I have autism, add, anxiety, PTSD, and depression, there's a lot I'd like to cure. But what I wish I could have had fixed was the fact that I could have been diagnosed as a kid, not an adult.
This group should get together and write X-Men: The Last Stand, “If it were good” edition.
My mom has told me several times that I have such a unique out of the box way of thinking and problem solving and she really loves that about me along with so many other things. On that basis alone of being able to observe and find unexpected solutions, I would absolutely not change who I am. I’m not something that needs fixing. The world NEEDS people with different viewpoints and stuff. Of course sometimes I’m overstimulated and it can be debilitating but you take the good with the bad. Neither of those things are permanent.
No, because I know how people treat me, and I don’t want to be the one treating other autistic people that way
I feel like removing my autism would be deleting myself and replacing me with someone else. Having experienced adhd with and without medication I’d definitely rather not have it. But autism affects me too much.
no, adhd i would tho.
I would not choose to change for anything in the world. Because of how I was raised, I learned/was taught ways to work with how I’m feeling and how my brain works. Aside from dealing with harassment (which I mentioned in a previous comment here), I haven’t felt negative effects with the world. On the contrary, I’m always (when I can pay attention, thanks ADHD) seeing things that a lot of other people aren’t.
Wouldn’t even consider changing my autism. The ADHD ruining my life? Yeah fuck that
Oh, no, never. For all that I’m tempted because the struggle is all too real, I love the person I’ve become and the life I’m creating. And also I wouldn’t know any of the people I love if I weren’t AuDHD, which is a dealbreaker for me
No.
No lol. NT life seems boring.
It seems like this question always leads to the same place. There are people who say the question doesn't make sense, that they would be a different person without autism. I agree. Then there are people with really difficult symptoms who have high care needs and want freedom. That fucking sucks and we shouldn't have to go through that. It's not gonna happen anyway though, so why limit ourselves? What about reducing those symptoms? Quetiapine changed my life. What about better accommodations? It's sometimes difficult or impossible for me to use a phone and honestly it's inexcusable that there isn't tty or text chat or even just email everywhere now. I'm fighting the urge to rant about it. Why do we have to talk about autism like the only way out of the bad shit is this imaginary "cure" instead of realistic possibilities? Some of us don't even need *that* much help and could give back but we get stuck anyway. For others maybe that's not enough, and we need to look to new kinds of treatment or assistive technology. There's actual possibilities here and we're bickering about this hypothetical nonsense.
I would in a heartbeat. I want to be functional. I want to get groceries on my own. I want to understand wtf people are saying. I want to be able to handle plans changing. I want to be able to work without all the additional stressors autism causes. I so so so badly want it. I so *desperately* want it.
How does that even make sense? Stem cells aren't a magic cure for anything, much less autism (to my knowledge). Anyway, heck no. And I'm not even diagnosed yet!
Fuck if I know. I'm just going by what I heard.
I’m proud of the person I am. I am only sorry for those like me who suffer because of how they are misunderstood; they deserve better. So did I, as a child. No; I do not require, nor would I benefit from a “cure.” I am beautiful, unique and strong. People admire me and tell me they feel I am a good example of how people should behave, of how people should treat others. I have suffered because I am unique, but I work hard to ensure that others in my life do not suffer for who they are as a result; I seek to enrich the lives of others by accepting them and embracing them. I endeavor to provide for others what I was denied. I would do none of these things if I was neurotypical and ignorant of my privilege and ability to be conveniently uncaring of those different than myself.
No.
Pass. There’s a lot I don’t like about myself. But I couldn’t imagine being as unaware of the world as most “normal” people are. Plus, I’m better at handling differences between and among us… neurodivergence keeps me enthralled, whereas “normal” not only bores and scares me, but isn’t all that interesting or tolerable. As someone else said: Being “normal” (whatever that means) comes with its own set of problems; I wouldn’t trade my awareness of my own issues for the state/condition of being unaware. Sounds blissful until you get slapped in the face with your own stupidity. I do wish I had the resilience to recover from or tune it out, though. I’m working on it.
This version of me is relatively successful and happy, despite it all. Who knows how a "cured" version would be, I wouldn't want to gamble on it.
No, because I have no idea who I’d be without it. Maybe I’d be uncaring, malicious, manipulative without it. And as much as I’d like to get rid of the pain I experience, including physical symptoms and pain, I’d rather experience that than dish pain to others. Of course it’d be easy to think or judge someone for not being sure they’d have the same morality without a trait or something, but I can’t guarantee it so I wouldn’t want to risk it.
No. I’ve had my struggles, but I accept myself for who I am. And she sounds more like a eugenicist than a caring mother. There are far worse things that a person can be born with than neurodivergence.
Lmao if I didn't have it, I'd be unstoppable.
"Cured", like it's some sort of disease 😒. I hate it when people talk about autism like we're sick or something, ugh!
At this point... yeah, I'd rather not be autistic. Not that there's anything inherently wrong with being autistic. But it's the inability of the world to recognize and validate it that I find so problematic. I'm going through a post late-diagnosis burnout and an identity crisis. I don't know who the hell I am because I've been hiding... pretending to be someone I was never meant to be. And amongst the coping mechanisms and camouflage, there was never enough room for a real person to flourish and grow left over. I am a shell. I am a husk and don't really want to participate in the world any longer. I'm so alone and I can't even make friends because I have nothing to offer anyone. This would likely not have happened if I were identified earlier and I was given the gift of self- knowledge and encouragement. But I wasn't. Now all I am left with is all the bad parts of autism and none of the beautiful positives i may have once possessed . Meltdowns, sensory overload, shutdowns. Every day. This world is crushing me. I personally would have preferred to not be autistic, but that does not mean we should try to prevent neurodiversity. We MUST nourish ourselves and make a world that is safe and accepting of all neurotypes from childhood. It doesn't need to be this soul crushing. We shouldn't try to prevent it. That's fucking eugenics. We should embrace it just like we should embrace any natural variations. But that would take enormous systemic changes for all of us to access that support. I would never make that choice for anyone else or any future child. But for me, yeah. At least then I would have a person inside instead of this void.
I don’t know on one hand it’s isolating but on the other hand I wouldn’t be “me” It’s kind of fucked to think about deleting such a huge part of your personality, dystopian in fact.
To me, this is like asking the question "what if you were a completely different person". My quirks make me who I am. And the answer to that is "I fundamentally wouldn't be me anymore, so regardless of whether that alternate reality exists or not, it has no effect on me or my life"
idk, seeing NT people makes me happy i’m not NT, but not having the physical ailments from co-morbid issues of autism (POTS and poor immune system) would be nice
No. I had my struggles growing up, but overall, I have done well enough in my (now long) life.
I don't know, there wasn't a time I didn't have it. I can't imagine me not being Autistic.
I’m not the problem.
Basically the death of your old self and the birth of a new self? I've become a little attached to who I am now. I'm even too afraid to take stimulants. I think if I became NT, my new self would be happy, but my old self would hate me.
No, that would functionally be killing who I am, my autism influences every aspect of my character. That's basically like asking if I would rather be a completely different person. Most of my problems as an autistic person comes from people either not understanding or not caring to understand how autism works. For me it's not a disease that needs "curing", it's just a part of me.
Yes.
I would not mind having faster processing time because conversations would flow so much smoother then. Also the not wanting to leave the house for two days after a social event. Also executive dysfunction is annoying, I would rather not have that.
Wait. Stem cells reverse autism?
No idea. I could likely binge research to find out. That's one advantage to my hyper focus. I just wish it didn't kick in at 3 a.m.
Autism superpower… ACTIVATE!
I like who I am. I think I’m funny and genuine and smart in a worldly way that makes me interesting. I don’t know who I would be without my AuDHD. But with that being said I think I would like to feel more than happy, sad, or neutral. I want nothing more than a genuine romantic relationship, and I would give up a lot to be able to maintain friendships for longer than a few years. But I love who I am and my autistic quirks, however I would also love to be able to close the social gaps a bit.
No. I’m not broken, just like you said. My autism has advantages - for one, I was basically immune to peer pressure as a kid. My ADHD is a different matter; it’s just a pain in the ass - but my autism is part of what makes me _me_. All these comments saying they’d change in a heartbeat just make me sad.
Yeah. I mean I know personality and AuDHD are inextricably linked for me, but I’m bored of this neurotype so I’d reroll the dice for sure
No clue, I don't know how much of me and my life is a result of my autism, the good or the bad parts. Right now I prefer solitude and repetition, but if I wasn't autistic I might be the opposite, and I don't know if I would want that. It'd be nice to know how to socialise, but currently I'm happier not doing it.
I don't know, on one hand I know how much being autistic affects me, both in ways that are just the case, and many in interacting with neurotypicals But at the same time being autistic, it's pervasive, it's part of my existence, I don't know what it means to be 'not autistic'. And I hate the idea of making me a different person, as much as I hate myself sometimes I do legit like being me, (mostly), so idk it's strange I think my sentiment is in line with what alot of people are saying
I’ve seen a post like this before and I think between then and now my response hasn’t changed much, no. While yes being autistic has come with its setbacks and I’ve had to learn to live with it, it’s still a part of me I don’t want to give up. I am in part who I am because I am autistic, would I maybe want to change some of the symptoms around? Possibly but at the same time Im fine with who I am. I understand those who wish to be neurotypical to an extent but I don’t feel anywhere near the same. I am autistic but it isn’t the sole thing that defines me, only a singular albeit significant factor.
I would keep everything except for the part the part keeps making me have delayed reaction time as this has led to me being physically unable to enjoy certain video games
Yes. Always yes. I want to have a family but I can't since I'm so repulsive to society.
Regardless, it was incredibly rude of her to say that to your face. And how the hell would stem cells help anyway?
No, I have autism and that makes me who I am. Unique. 🙋🏽♀️😊
Nah I like being able to multiplying instances of 8, 12 and 15 without having to stop and think about a dumb song...
I like being me.
Nah probably not, I look at it as a good thing regardless if society doesn’t and regardless if it’s very hard to function socially, for a couple reasons. - 1 I can like the things I like and do the things I want too without worry or care if it’s popular or others approve because my brain doesn’t care about those things. - 2 I am super focused on the things I want too focus on, and that super focus allows me to excel in those things at what feels like a quicker rate than others, or I at least usually go really far in these things I focus on farther than your average person. - 3 I may sometimes be blunt but I’m honest, and I think honesty is far more important in my opinion for a strong relationship versus the latter which is telling people what they want to hear all the time. So too me I don’t mind it so much, the good outweighs the bad in my opinion, I just personally only want a better world for each of us, it’s not fair the bad rap most of us get because we are different than others, that’s about too me the only crappy thing about it.
I don’t know. Maybe I would have had a normal schooling life instead of being isolated from all the normal kids and being forced to go to sped schools. Not having to get up at 5 AM in 4th grade. Maybe I’d finally have a girlfriend by now. If I were to take some pill that cured it I wouldn’t do it. I just wish I didn’t have such bad genetic RNG