If an ASD cure was made would you use it?

I agree with that. It is exhausting! What football team do you support? I support Wycombe Wanderers but also Chelsea because I grew up there 

The only thing I'd like is something to help me feel less tired - masking, concentrating in social situations, being useless at time management and trying to stay focused are exhausting and I'm fed up with falling asleep on the sofa at 7.30pm (before the football has even kicked off). Apart from that I wouldn't change anything. It's who I am, for better or for worse.

I'm sorry to hear you feel that way. I have no idea how old you are but one thing I would say that may be of comfort is that the older you get the more at peace you become with your autistic self and the more accepting you become of yourself which is a big part of the battle.

Personally, if there was a magic cure for autism I would not even consider taking it. I love my autistic self. Yes it causes me a lot of destress and stress at times but without it I wouldn't be me and see the world in the unique way I do. Sometimes I feel like NT people are all wandering around under the influence of something that I am not under if that makes sense. I can see through things they can't and I love that

I am always reminded of the singer Robbie Williams who suffers from bipolar. He was once asked whether he would want his condition cured. He said "no because if I didn't have this I wouldn't be able to write the songs I do"

I think every autistic person has their own unique song and without our autism we wouldn't be able to sing it

No.

I have no real concept of what it's like to be NT; it's difficult to understand and in fact quite alien to me. 

If I was to be 'cured' I wouldn't be myself any more, I'd be somebody else that I wouldn't know or recognise.

The empathy that I have with ND children would vanish, and I couldn't do my job. I wouldn't feel at one with animals and nature. 

No, absolutely not. 

I suppose sometimes when I’m really struggling,  I wish I wasn’t like I am. Generally I am okay with being autistic, I like being able to think diagonally. The more I observe the human race, the more I’m glad I’m not like the majority of them. So my answer is no, I wouldn’t take a cure for autism, I do just wish the constant anxiety was more controllable. Obviously autism also isn’t a disease to be cured.

At the moment I'm just over a month post diagnosis, so on the "trying to make sense of it all" journey.  But Martin  100% with you , saying "No" to curing my ASD, but "yes" to dampening my anxiety

Its a real tough question but I guess my answer would be no. Not sure who I would be, as my whole persona would be so different, something I can't imagine at all.

This is a brilliant response 

Understand and respect your comment Berlusconi 

Not a disease so question isn't a valid one is my immediate response :-)

That said would I like to not demonstrate the negative characteristics that go with the diagnosis - yes.

Happy to have the hyper-fixation and hyper sensory awareness capabilities, attention to detail, focus, creative problem-solving, and specialized knowledge.... maybe with an easy and non damaging off switch.

Wonder if some lucky so and sos do live like that?

Changing the way one is?  This is possible.  It happens as we live our lives in many ways already.  Trick is maybe not what is done but how it's done and whether one has a sense of agency about it.  Whether it's "life changing" well that's all a matter of scale perhaps?

Can any of us ever be exactly who we want to be? Surely all of our lives have been a mixture of advantages and disadvantages as well as the experiences we've gained through our lives?

If I was "cured" of ASC would I suddenly understand maths and tech?

Would I lose the ability to be an extremely empathetic alien, a talent that made me such a good counsellor?

Would I suddenly feel a need to watch Eastenders?

At my age, would I have enough lifespan to be able to learn all these things that i supposedly can't do because of ASC? I'd have to start right at primary school level with maths and probably tech too, as I don't think anyones thinking that all this information would be downloaded into our brains along with the "cure".

Would I even like an NT me?

I think that apart from the youngest of us, most of us would find our new NT world just as confusing and disabling in a different way to how we are as ASC, I think it would be really really, scary. I've had 63 years of being the way I am, would I want to start clubbing, partying and stuff? How would it change my tastes, would I suddenly think musical theatre was something I'd enjoy? It's not just because I don't like crowded places, it's because I just don't like it.

Other things would be exactly the same, I'd still have arthritis, hyper mobility in my joints, frozen shoulders and a rotator cuff injury. My legs would still be too long for most trousers, my feet would still be an awkward shape, I'd still swim like a brick and have balance issues.

SpikeyMark said:

This is a philosophical conundrum that is beyond my ability, but what I am saying is, if all these things happened would "you" still be there?

I believe you are who you choose to be, mixed with the aspects of your mind / body that place constraints on you (clearly a a balance impairedl person could not pass the requirements to make a fighter pilot for example).,

If I could remove one or more of these constraints then it would allow me to achieve more of the things I believe i could be, making me a subtly different person.

This would affect my self image, my abilities and would influence the "me" behind my eyes - in my opinion.

My counter to your point is, are the constraints placed on us by autim making us LESS than we want to be? Is it affecting who we are?

When you see the number of people on here who say they wish they could have friends, not suffer such crippling social anxiety, not be afraid of driving, not be so afraid to go the the dentist / doctor because of having to engage with people etc - would the removal of these issues not allow them to be what they want to be?

It is a good thing this is a hypothetical question. It is an interesting thought experiment though.

Dear Mark

We are so sorry to read that you're unbearably lonely and "literally want to die." Many people have similar thoughts when coping with so much and we hope you’re okay.     

 If you are unable to cope with the distress or despair, it’s very important to tell someone about your feelings or thoughts of suicide. Call your GP and make an urgent appointment. Your GP can make sure you get appropriate help and support.  

The National Autistic Society does not currently operate a crisis or emergency service. We advise you to contact 999 or any of the mental health crisis lines listed on our Urgent Help Page if you are at risk of immediate harm: https://www.autism.org.uk/what-we-do/help-and-support/urgent-help  

If you are not at immediate risk of harm, we would encourage you to speak to your GP or another health professional about this if you haven’t done so already. If it’s outside your GP hours, call 111 to reach the NHS 111 service. In England, Wales and Scotland there is now an option to speak with mental health professionals by selecting ‘option 2’ when calling NHS 111: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/urgent-and-emergency-care-services/when-to-use-111/  

Help for anyone struggling to cope  

• Samaritans: Call 116 123 for free, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.  
• Mind Infoline: 0300 1233393 for information and signposting (9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday)   
• SANEline: 0300 304 7000 for anyone experiencing a mental health problem or supporting someone else (4.30pm to 10.30pm, every day)  
• Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM): for men 0800 58 58 58, (5pm to midnight every day).    
• Shout 85258: a free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone struggling to cope.  

We hope this is helpful to you.  

Kind regards 

Sharon Mod  

Yes. Being so limited in my ability to communicate with people verbally and having such awful social skills is making me unbearably lonely! I literally want to die!

I want 100 friends!

No. I wouldn't be me. 

My argument against this is if all those things were changed about you, would you still be Iain? That person you describe is already out there. This is a philosophical conundrum that is beyond my ability, but what I am saying is, if all these things happened would "you" still be there? I don't mean an airy fairy character change, I mean the you behind your eyes.

My childhood especially at school was also awful but even if cure existed, i wouldn’t take it because they wouldn’t erase that awful experience I had. I just need 1-2 friends, no more and my rich inner world, film-like memory and creativity that I have and wouldn’t trade it for being “normal”. For me more important, than being normal is being sane. So I do everything in my power, to stay sane in this often insane world. I hope, that the next generations will be treated better than me. 

To paraphrase Dr Evil, "How about 'No'?"

This could well go into dangerous territory. With the prescence of Transhumanism, the possibility of eradicating sickness, and disability, would come at a severe price.

Would it be possible that there'll be Mandatory Euthanasia?

Or, even worse, the Mark of the Beast?

The Technology is geard up for a Global Government. With US Liberals, and US Conservatives, bickering over nothing more than who'll get to develop, and pay for, this Death Star Society. While I'm glad that Trump won, his Son-in-Law seems to be one of those Faceless Entities.

It's too much of a can of worms.

No I wouldn’t as I haven’t anything to be cured, and I don’t want my mind to be that of a person I can’t identify with and who isn’t me. Of course there are aspects of me that mean I have struggled where non autistic people haven’t. But I have attributes that some non autistic people are envious of eg, the ability to focus on specific interests. 

No, I see my autism having benefits as well as drawbacks. I would welcome something that is effective, with no adverse effects, in controlling my levels of anxiety, however.

On the whole, I see autistic people as kinder, more honest, more loyal and less manipulative of others than the average neurotypical. I would not wish to lose these qualities, or have them diluted.

I totally agree Ann.