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Comment by colordrops | Hacker News Reader

I'm pretty sure I was on the spectrum until my mid 20s. All social interaction was very painful - I couldn't look anyone in the eye, and didn't say anything to anyone. I made weird sounds and movements that others noticed, got lost in daydreams without realizing it, bright light sensitivity, obsessed over meaningless objects and toys, etc.

Then I forced myself to travel, take lots of hallucinogens and empathogens, and do projects that involve working directly with multiple people throughout the day. It was a very painful process, but by the time I was 35 I don't think I had many symptoms left.

I do think some minor cases are highly treatable if not curable if the sufferer takes matters into their own hands.

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One of the weird things about the DSM-IV definition of Asperger's/Autism was that it was defined by certain criteria applying during childhood.

The literature that I was given during my diagnosis was very clear that even if all the symptoms disappeared in adulthood, you still "had it". (And of course, the doctors were all trying to give the parents hope, so, "oh, yes, it's very likely your child will have a normal adult life".)

(I'm still not 100% sure whether this also applies to the revised DSM-V definition.)

From my experience, it can definitely be learned. I went through a very deliberate process of approaching social interaction and communication skills as I would an interesting programming problem. I refined a mental model and tested it out (yes, with occasionally hilarious misfires). Thankfully none of the failures went beyond 'highly embarassing'.

It felt like most people have a social automatic pilot while I was flying entirely manually. Once I developed some models and internalised them it was as if I'd built my own approximation. It still takes a little effort to keep things level, but much less than it used to.

Care to expand on the hallucinogens and empathogens? How did they benefit you?

I believe that at least for me, one of the causes of my symptoms was extreme focus on certain aspects of my reality while being completely blind to other parts.

Hallucinogens and empathogens showed me these blind spots, making me a more rounded and open person. It was sometimes extremely pleasant and sometimes so hellish I wished to leave this world. But the hellish experiences were maybe the most effective at getting me to let go of old obsessions and compulsions. I liken it to the difficult coming of age rituals that many tribal cultures subject their teenage boys to to transition them to adulthood.

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