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”?
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.
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.
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If there was, they’d already have us on it from childhood.
I recommend psilocybin mushrooms.
I’d love to try these, but I’m only Colorado adjacent. Is there a reliable source of psilocybin you can recommend?
You can buy the stuff to reliably grow any strain you want on the clearnet with a credit card nowadays. Just grow them.
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.
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.
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?
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”.
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
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.
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Don’t forget that adhd can result in underdeveloped areas and overdeveloped areas when left untreated.
Edit: what about a GABA drug like GHB?
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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.
Please update if you do, I always like reading about that kind of thing.
My bad. It was something different, but it felt like something that might affect similarly.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251110021114.htm
No worries, that was a good read too!
No. Autism is a different development of the brain, hence there is no ‘fix’ or drug, as can be read in medical literature.
Yeah mushrooms
Yummy champignons
i always feel like i act more like a normie when i’m a bit drunk. have you tried that?
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.
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.
Cocaine?
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.
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Do we have less data on drugs like Ketamine or MDMA? I’ve seen fairly recent tatgeted clinical trials for those for things likes PTSD and MDD. I just assumed no one tried to study cocaine in those types of settings yet.
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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.
I have both, and I feel like Vyvanse helps against both.
That’s not how that works
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.
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.
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.
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
