My 17 year old brother has autism (low functioning) and for the past few years he has attended a military boarding school. People have said that he has "grown out" of autism since being at the school. I was just wondering if this is physically possible.
2007-08-06 12:17:23 · 9 answers · asked by Mrs. Depp 1 in Health ➔ Mental Health
I want to say first that autism is not a mental illness, and if his condition is truly autism, he will never "grow out of it." It is a lifelong condition. guess it is similar to mental illness in that it is considered to be a disability/ or a different way of learning and experiencing the world than most other people do. People with autism tend to do well with regular routines and schedules. It is possible that given this kind of regularity in his day to day life, he is making some positive changes.
2007-08-09 16:51:19 · answer #1 · answered by Lady J 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He's low functioning? Meaning he doesn't function well at all, or meaning that he's almost normal.
No, people do not grow out of autism, but they can be taught methods of working around it so that they seem almost normal. There is no way, at this time, to fix a person's brain so that autism goes away. Nor can a person's brain fix itself. Boy, the moms & dads that would thrill!
My son has PDD (just almost autism) and he has been taught different ways to accommodate his weaknesses. He takes lots of meds, and does things differently than some teenagers, but we are happy to have him functioning on grade level and having learned to socialize with other kids so that he seems cool. My son is 17, too. And boot camp was a part of his past, as well.
Best wishes,
d
2007-08-06 12:29:30 · answer #2 · answered by TX Mom 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You can't "grow out of" autism, but it's possible that since he went to school he has been functioning differently and his life has been improving. This is very possible; for example, I was in Best Buddies, and my Buddy was autistic. At the beginning of the year, he left school every day fairly early in the school day. By the end of the year, his teacher told me he had improved so much he was staying almost the whole school day. (I also somewhat noticed this difference throughout the year; he was talking more, etc.)
2007-08-06 12:25:55 · answer #3 · answered by Lycanthrope777 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well autism isn't exactly a mental illness in the truest sense of the word, but it is true that autistic people often do become higher functioning after they reach adulthood. I know a guy who is in his 40s and you would hardly know there was anything unusual at all unless you were with him for a long period of time, even then hardly weirder than your average guy.
2007-08-06 12:32:45 · answer #4 · answered by CB 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
What the hell is a low-functioning autistic kid doing at a military school? Unless it has a program specially geared for autistic kids, this sounds like bad news.
At any rate, with treatment, autistic kids can improve, but they are still autistic.
2007-08-06 12:31:59 · answer #5 · answered by robert f 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No autism is a life long brain condition. It is highly likely that he had learned how to cope with his condition in ways that he couldn't before.
2007-08-06 12:33:09 · answer #6 · answered by ? 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
You can grow out of Autism in the sense that you've received help and can function on the same level as people your age. Most people are self-aware of their disorder, thusly they know their stims and teach them selves alternate "stims" and prevent themselves from doing it.
2007-08-06 12:46:36 · answer #7 · answered by razzlephrat 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I don't know if it's due to growth, but like any illness, sometimes mental illness is cured by nature.
2007-08-06 12:26:06 · answer #8 · answered by HyperDog 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I grew out of schizophrenia when my soul escaped my body
2007-08-06 15:43:42 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋