"switched on" - Experimental treatment cures mans Autism/Asbergers

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

I listened to this interview yesterday in the car and had to pull over - It is hard to hear a grown man break into tears from cruel emotional pain. The NPR interview didn't get through it and was losing bit a bit at the end as well. My nephew suffers from the nearly the same form of the Autism described here so maybe it effected me more than most but it is still a very interesting interview.

John Elder Robison had a form of autism where he had a hard time feeling emotions and was unable to read any social queues in others. Over time this led him top spend more and more time alone. In his late 40's he was asked to take part in an experiment at Beth Israel Hospital. The experiment used extremely strong electromagnets and fast pulses of electricity to force activity in the outer portions of the brain.

In the interview you can hear him describe driving home after the experiment and turning on the radio and for the first time actually "feeling" music and the nuances that were suddenly there. He then described being overwhelmed by reading the emotions from people he meets and is now able to read the emotional queues.

The effects were not all positive - his brain was now able to process all his memories from childhood on and he realized how many of his friends throughout his life were actually making fun of him and laughing at his expense. He became suicidal, lost his wife...

The interviewer didn't really realize the negative aspects of this until toward the end of the interview so she did not know she was leading him to some of these dark areas.

I've linked the interview, hopefully it will embed properly.

Edit: Nope, it will not embed, The link below has a story with a pointer to the interview a bit down the page.

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2016/03/22/switched-on-after-aspergers

Edited March 23, 2016 by OnMyWayID

[smilesammich 10,727]

thanks for this, now i want to read all of his books. i have to fill the void oliver sacks left. being neurotypical, these folks fascinate me.

that did get pretty emotional at the end. do you listen to the invisibilia podcast? i think you'd enjoy it. specifically, listen to the episode "entanglement" about a woman who can physically feel what others around her are feeling (speaking of switching off and on, she was born this way i believe but she would be an example of someone switched on a bit too much).

[TBoneTX 45,288]

We need more threads like this in this forum. Sincere thanks.

[OnMyWayID 1,489]

thanks for this, now i want to read all of his books. i have to fill the void oliver sacks left. being neurotypical, these folks fascinate me.

that did get pretty emotional at the end. do you listen to the invisibilia podcast? i think you'd enjoy it. specifically, listen to the episode "entanglement" about a woman who can physically feel what others around her are feeling (speaking of switching off and on, she was born this way i believe but she would be an example of someone switched on a bit too much).

Thanks! (and to TBone as well). I have not listened to the invisiibila podcast, I'll give it a try!

[smilesammich 10,727]

Thanks! (and to TBone as well). I have not listened to the invisiibila podcast, I'll give it a try!

here's the episode i was talking about..http://www.npr.org/programs/invisibilia/382451600/entanglement

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

I'm reading the article, talk about painful. People suck sometimes.