this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2025
59 points (98.4% liked)

Autism

9032 readers
451 users here now

A community for respectful discussion and memes related to autism acceptance. All neurotypes are welcome.

Community:

Values

  • Acceptance
  • Openness
  • Understanding
  • Equality
  • Reciprocity
  • Mutuality
  • Love

Rules

  1. No abusive, derogatory, or offensive post/comments e.g: racism, sexism, religious hatred, homophobia, gatekeeping, trolling.
  2. Posts do not need be related to autism, off-topic discussions are allowed. This is a safe space where people with autism can feel comfortable discussing whatever they feel like discussing, as long as it does not violate the standing rules.
  3. Your posts must include a text body. It doesn't have to be long, it just needs to be descriptive.
  4. Do not request donations.
  5. Be respectful in discussions.
  6. Do not post misinformation.
  7. Mark NSFW content accordingly.
  8. Do not promote Autism Speaks.
  9. General Lemmy World rules.
  10. No bots. Humans only.

Encouraged

  1. Open acceptance of all autism levels as a respectable neurotype.
  2. Funny memes.
  3. Respectful venting.
  4. Describe posts of pictures/memes using text in the body for our visually impaired users.
  5. Welcoming and accepting attitudes.
  6. Questions regarding autism.
  7. Questions on confusing situations.
  8. Seeking and sharing support.
  9. Engagement in our community's values.
  10. Expressing a difference of opinion without directly insulting another user.
  11. Please report questionable posts and let the mods deal with it.

.

Helpful Resources

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Asking because my gf has ADHD and she told me that, the first time she took ritalin (methylphenidate), she thought to herself "So this is what it feels like to not have ADHD?"

That got me thinking, is there a drug that has a similar effect on autists, that allows them to experience what is it like to "not have autism"?

all 39 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] paultimate14@lemmy.world 37 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I appreciate that from the responses here, it seems that a lot the autistic community views normal people as the equivalent of just being drunk or high. In other words, raw autism is like being extra sober.

I agree (moreso THC for me personally), but I also think it's really funny.

[–] DaGeek247@fedia.io 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I suspect that the usual alcohol/weed choices don't actually change anything. They just deaden our ability to care as much about not messing up and whatever the current sensory shit is doing. So, less autism, but only because it's less of our experience as a whole.

[–] VerilyFemme@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

If there was, they'd already have us on it from childhood.

I recommend psilocybin mushrooms.

[–] OldQWERTYbastard@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I'd love to try these, but I'm only Colorado adjacent. Is there a reliable source of psilocybin you can recommend?

[–] FridaySteve@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

You can buy the stuff to reliably grow any strain you want on the clearnet with a credit card nowadays. Just grow them.

[–] TheBluePillock@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

If you're the type that can learn stuff online, growing your own is very easy. You can do anywhere from just a couple inoculated cups of instant rice to turning it into a full blown hobby.

Best practice is usually found on the shroomery message boards. Even if you end up just buying some, they have a wealth of advice for newbie psychonauts too. There's no shortage of reading material for those with enough interest.

[–] VerilyFemme@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 month ago

Just ask all your friends if they know a guy, or take a trip to Denver. You only need like 1 or 2 trips for lasting effects, the rest would be just for fun.

[–] noxypaws@pawb.social 20 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I've got ADHD and stimulant meds help me get distracted less, but they don't do much to help me focus on the right things sadly. Still definitely helpful though.

But no, I (a complete amateur with zero qualifications) highly doubt such a drug is possible, and if there were one it'd be kinda uncomfortable to ponder the very concept of making neurodivergent brains work like neurotypical brains at some point.

Like, why should we have to change when it's society that sucks, not us?

[–] AddLemmus@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 month ago

Same, but meds in combination with my learned copes and methods, before and after diagnostic, is a miracle drug.

For example:

  • I catch myself focusing on a news site or lemmy -> set a 5 minute timer when to stop
  • pick an item from my todo-list. If no list is present, only make the list, then allow myself to do whatever I want
  • don't feel like any of those things -> just simulate doing them in my head. If still none appeal to me, I can do what I want. It happens often enough that I want to do one after the "simulation".
[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 2 points 1 month ago

Like, why should we have to change when it’s society that sucks, not us?

I'm not really interested in "becoming a full-time normie", but I would be lying if I said I wouldn't want to experience that life for like a day, maybe up to a week, tops, to get a better understanding of both sides

[–] Jojowski@sopuli.xyz 14 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I feel most normal when I'm around other neurodivergents. One person in my peer support group said that autism is an environmental problem rather than a personal one.

I have AuDHD and amphetamines make me feel "more normal" (easier) when I'm in a work setting or similar social environment with lots of stimuli. Then again when I'm at home they make me feel less normal (in those bigger doses that I need to function "outside"), I need to change the dosage according to amount of expected stimuli, I've heard other AuDHD people share the experience.

[–] Kojichan@lemmy.world 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I've tried Escitalopram, Paroxetine, and Foquest... I'm not "normal", per se, but I'm not freaking out as much as I am when I'm not on something...

That said, I feel "normal" after having a couple of drinks, or having some thc+cbd... obviously not a great idea to rely on either.

I've heads that the regions autists need help with chemically is a different region and chemical than regular adhd members. I don't remember the exact chemical imbalance, something similar to SISG or something... not SISS. Hmmm...

I'll try to find the science paper I read about it.

[–] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Please update if you do, I always like reading about that kind of thing.

[–] Kojichan@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

My bad. It was something different, but it felt like something that might affect similarly.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251110021114.htm

[–] Catoblepas@piefed.blahaj.zone 1 points 1 month ago

No worries, that was a good read too!

[–] Strider@lemmy.world 7 points 1 month ago

No. Autism is a different development of the brain, hence there is no 'fix' or drug, as can be read in medical literature.

[–] RedMari@reddthat.com 7 points 1 month ago (1 children)
[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 2 points 1 month ago

Yummy champignons

[–] lime@feddit.nu 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

i always feel like i act more like a normie when i'm a bit drunk. have you tried that?

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I get a lot more talkative, like stupid chatty drunk, but my faulty social filters end up failing more often, so I don't think that could be considered a "normie experience". If I go a bit overboard with alcohol, I get super depressed.

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago

For me a couple drinks makes me more social, less literal, and less prone to overthinking. For me, the key is not overdoing it, starting in the tipsy pocket without leaning into drunk.

[–] possiblylinux127@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 month ago

That's not how that works

[–] AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)
[–] nondescripthandle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

IIRC cocaine functions as a reuptake inhibitor for dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, while things like SSRIs and SNRIs inhibit the reuptake of just serotonin, or serotonin and norepinephrine. Clinical trails on coke could be interesting but id expect it more to target things like depression or maybe anxiety, which I know a lot of us develop trying to cope with the tism.

[–] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

This is the answer. Cocaine says fuck all your social anxieties and awkwardness, you are going to have a passionate conversation with those around you and it's going to be hella engaging.

[–] mech@feddit.org 4 points 1 month ago

I have both, and I feel like Vyvanse helps against both.

[–] JTode@lemmy.world 4 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I figured my shit out by reading John Elder Robison, and followed him in medias for a while. Some time back, 5-10 years, he tried out a thing where they stimulate an area of your brain with (IIRC) electromagnetism, and he talked about it the way some people talk about being born again (the Jesus kind of born again). "I once was blind but now I see!"

I'm sure a google will turn up how that's going, it was just a study or something that he got to participate in at the time I think.

[–] MelodiousFunk@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 month ago

a thing where they stimulate an area of your brain with (IIRC) electromagnetism

Transcranial magnetic stimulation, probably. I did a round earlier this year. The only noticeable effect is that I now barely bite my nails after doing it my entire life. Like, that's not why I went, but it is indicated as a treatment for compulsive behaviors. So that's neat I guess.

[–] webghost0101@sopuli.xyz 3 points 1 month ago

Feel “normal”? Yes, the drug that works. (High dose of cbd for me, a little alcohol can also work in a social setting)

Actual Neurotypical experience? Biologically impossible.

Your neurodivergent self is your real “normal”.

But when you no longer experience symptoms that cause the everyday problems you struggle with and feel like you just function optimal.. that’s an amazing feeling allright. But it can almost feel like a high in contrast. Its definitely not what “neurotypicals feel like all the time”

They have their own days that they struggle or function more optimal.

The main difference is that there struggles are “normal” ones that “everyone has” and “understands” (y)ours are different and can cause social strife, exclusion.

Its possible that while your symptoms are gone you fit in better amongst neurotypicals and this sense of belonging is a big part of the neurotypical experience, but your brain is still a neurodivergent one at its core, with all the good and bad that goes on in it.

[–] nate3d@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Op, you should talk with your doc about starting Spravato. It’s an outpatient medicine assisted therapy using es-ketamine and it’s literally changed (and saved) my life

[–] BradleyUffner@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

For me, it's called "stop forcing me to be social when I don't want to"