03-23-2007, 06:03 AM
03-23-2007, 01:28 PM
silky Wrote:
Oopsy, hit the wrong button. Sorry. I think my brain was still reeling from having to reread the part mentioning "CBT". I took it to mean something else 
What did you think it meant? 
03-23-2007, 02:39 PM
It helped me with my anxiety attacks. I don't have them anymore. It also taught me how to deal with my post traumatic stress problems when they come around.
The social skills training sucked. It actually got me into more trouble because when I did make friends, they were bad people who used me and abused my trust.
The social skills training sucked. It actually got me into more trouble because when I did make friends, they were bad people who used me and abused my trust.
03-25-2007, 05:58 PM
Batman55 Wrote:
I don't think it's any reason to smile and I hope there's no applicable subtext behind that, as these kinds of things make me shudder.
I was simply curious as to what this other meaning could possibly be to cause such seeming embarrassement.
A smiling (rather than grinning etc.) emoticon appeared to be an appropriate way of trying to disarm a situation where someone apparently got upset/ashamed for having misread something I typed.
"No harm done" so to say. Why that would make you shudder is beyond me.
03-26-2007, 12:15 AM
Batman55 Wrote:
I agree with all of youse.
Therapy has been a complete waste of time and money for me, and I no longer see a point in getting it. My last therapist gave me insults that really pissed me off; it is a shame that most therapists don't like to suggest the possibility of PDD to a patient.
And why should I waste more time and money? Because of short term memory problems and executive dysfunction and also just plain oppositional defiance, about 5 minutes after the session, everything that was said is basically lost or denied. It doesn't help much, except to relieve me of anxiety, in some cases.
[/quote]
What about making notes for yourself during the sessions. I find writing down what I am trying to work out is much more effective than just talking about it. Then have sheets for reviewing and working on at home.
03-26-2007, 05:10 AM
M Wrote:
What about making notes for yourself during the sessions. I find writing down what I am trying to work out is much more effective than just talking about it. Then have sheets for reviewing and working on at home.
Taping them might work better if you have problems with handwriting, and it is more likely that you will be able to concentrate on the session if you're not having to write it down at the same time.
03-26-2007, 02:30 PM
Get the doctor to make the notes. Some people could make audio or video recordings of sessions.
Advice geared toward Nt's. I am sick of that too. You need to find someone who understands Asperger's.
Oppositional defiance -- that is a problem. Do you feel that you can not take their advice because you can not trust them. They tell you to do something and you will do the opposite.
Think about it another way. If you were trying to help someone in the same situation as you, what advice would you give them? How would you try to help them?
Advice geared toward Nt's. I am sick of that too. You need to find someone who understands Asperger's.
Oppositional defiance -- that is a problem. Do you feel that you can not take their advice because you can not trust them. They tell you to do something and you will do the opposite.
Think about it another way. If you were trying to help someone in the same situation as you, what advice would you give them? How would you try to help them?
04-25-2007, 06:48 PM
usually the therapist will avoid giving explicit advice with how to deal with a problem because they want to help the client learn their own method of solving their problems. So asking a therapist's opinion about whether you should break up with your girlfriend/boyfriend or other matter is just not going to get you an answer.
04-26-2007, 07:55 PM
Beammeup Wrote:
I’ll refer to: Cognitive Brain Therapy -- As in sitting in a therapist’s office.
In this context we are dealing with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
04-26-2007, 08:10 PM
This has a few decent links that explain what CBT actually is:
http://www.aspergerfoundation.org.uk/infosheets/cbt.pdf
http://www.aspergerfoundation.org.uk/infosheets/cbt.pdf
Quote:
Many diagnosed with AS and/or ADHD frequently experience phases of depressed mood, social anxiety and social difficulties.
Poor concentration, personal management and obsessional behaviour exacerbate these difficulties and the disruptive behaviour of children will often influence their ability to form meaningful social relationships.
This therapy is considered by Tony Attwood to be a very effective treatment for Asperger’s Syndrome.
Poor concentration, personal management and obsessional behaviour exacerbate these difficulties and the disruptive behaviour of children will often influence their ability to form meaningful social relationships.
This therapy is considered by Tony Attwood to be a very effective treatment for Asperger’s Syndrome.
Another quote:
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/dis...aid=364498
People with Asperger syndrome (AS) appear to have higher than expected rates of co-morbid psychiatric disorder. The main co-morbid diagnoses are anxiety disorders and depression, but eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, substance abuse and bipolar affective disorder have all been reported. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is used effectively to treat these conditions, so could it be used in people who also have Asperger syndrome?
This paper reviews important components and characteristics of cognitive behaviour therapy in relation to its use with people who have Asperger syndrome with reference to the relevant literature and to feedback from people with AS. The use of CBT in people with Asperger syndrome appears promising, but further work is needed to evaluate its effectiveness and to examine which particular aspects of therapy are helpful.[/quote]
CBT is effective with things like OCD depression and substance abuse, it is *not* convential therapy. It is also excellent for Social Anxiety, see the link below which talks about Social Anxiety in the context of Dyspraxia and Asperger's.
http://www.brainhe.com/students/types/So...xiety.html
Quote:
Cognitively, social anxiety often revolves around the feeling of being judged or being seen in a negative light by others. People with social anxiety often have a fear of being humiliated in public. When social anxiety arises, people’s minds go blank; they get confused and often think that they come across in a bad light. In many cases it is not surprising that a person with social anxiety will often avoid many social situations. This can result in poor self-esteem and depression.
Social phobia is often a secondary aspect to many types of neurodiversity, especially Asperger’s and Dyspraxia where an understanding of social situations and subtleties in communication can be difficult (helpguide.org). People with neurodiversity may have some kind of impairment or difference which could stand out. This could increase self consciousness to an extent that considerable anxiety is caused
Social phobia is often a secondary aspect to many types of neurodiversity, especially Asperger’s and Dyspraxia where an understanding of social situations and subtleties in communication can be difficult (helpguide.org). People with neurodiversity may have some kind of impairment or difference which could stand out. This could increase self consciousness to an extent that considerable anxiety is caused
It is *precisely* the sort of thing that can drag you out of a self-destructive, negativistic "rut", not psychobabble aimed at NTs...
04-27-2007, 05:30 AM
Callista Wrote:
CBT has to be adjusted for Aspie individuals, that's for sure. Our "cognitions" (thoughts and reasoning) are different from an NT's in some ways, so an assumption a therapist can safely make with an NT might be just barely wrong for an Aspie--enough to cause complications in therapy. For example, a cognitive-behavioral therapist made the assumption that I hurt myself to deal with emotions I can't handle. This is true for most NTs with a self-injury problem. It's partly true for me, but there are other dimensions added with the AS: Self-injury also helps with overstimulation and frustration at unexpected or uncontrollable events. It's as though the AS picture is just a little bit "off" the NT norm, with different emphasis, extra problems, and strengths in some areas that many NTs don't have.
The links I provided in the post before yours are all specifically about CBT in AS and similar syndromes/issues, they might be useful.
Quote:
CBT is designed for people who have the ability to understand themselves, how they think, and how those thoughts affect their actions. The basic premise is that the therapist helps you to understand those things, and then you can use that understanding to change your thoughts, and then ultimately to change your actions. It's pretty good for anxiety, since a lot of anxiety problems have this "feedback loop" thing going on, where you automatically think something that makes you anxious, and the anxiety triggers the same thought, and then you get even more anxious... if you can understand how that's happening then you can learn to break the loop. Stuff like that. Control your thoughts, and you can control your actions.
CBT really does depend on the patient's involvement, though. A sufficiently determined patient can end up overcoming problems even with just a mediocre therapist; but even the best therapist in the world can't do a thing for you if you aren't willing to work pretty darn hard. (I highly recommend asking about antidepressant therapy if you are undergoing CBT for depression, since depression often undermines the very motivation you need to work on the thoughts which keep you stuck in the cycle of depression.)
CBT really does depend on the patient's involvement, though. A sufficiently determined patient can end up overcoming problems even with just a mediocre therapist; but even the best therapist in the world can't do a thing for you if you aren't willing to work pretty darn hard. (I highly recommend asking about antidepressant therapy if you are undergoing CBT for depression, since depression often undermines the very motivation you need to work on the thoughts which keep you stuck in the cycle of depression.)
This pretty much describes what I seem to have been doing "to myself" since my diagnosis, slowly but surely. Only after that was I able to really put together the reasons for my many anxieties and confusions, and this allowed me to break them using methods quite similar to those described in the brain.he site I linked above.
Someone recently told me in a PM that I shouldn't bother giving advice because I didn't understand a certain issue, but their assumption about me in this regard was wrong - just because I am not socially aware enough to worry about what other people think of me doesn't mean I haven't had to work *** hard to overcome many non-socially-motivated difficulties and anxieties.
As a kid and teen anxieties and phobias (which all stemmed from sensory issues) were the main thing my parents *did* notice as being "wrong" with me, they dominated my life. Water scared me ("sudden water" is what is the worst), although once I realised it was the abruptness of it, the shock of unexpected events. The same goes for dogs and balloons, fireworks as well as steam/pressure coookers. (Although in those cases it was a mix of sensory issues and abruptness)
Fears of fire and gas (gas cookers, heaters etc.) and of frying things in frying pans were all mostly due to the same issues as the fireworks problem, and also due to attentional problems that genuinely at the time made handling these things dangerous.
But I have learned to tolerate them and this has enabled me to handle them APPROPRIATELY and without danger now.
Other things are crossing the road and traffic in general, admittedly there I think ADD meds helped too because they allowed me to focus enough to hold at least both sides of the road traffic (left and right) in memory so I didn't forget what was coming on one side the second I turned my head to check the other.
Realising the reason for my avoidance of having to cross the road unaided has helped me find ways of teaching myself to hold these things in mind better as I am preparing to cross, and soon, the anxiety disappeared. I am still a bit cautious and reluctant when crossing roads but not unreasonably so any more.
There's more, and I have overcome every single one of them, or at least found compensatory measures that made them copable with. I know there are a *few* situations where avoidance is the only solution (although again, with the phone attention shifting, practice does help, but things like earplugs in the other ear or facing the wall so I don't see the other person who is with me really help too)
04-28-2007, 01:32 PM
Pakrat Wrote:
Good for you. Just provided you can realise that we are not all at this stage of enlightenment just yet. We have to find our solutions in our own time and maybe people such as Batman55 and me are still struggling to understand how we think and not quite ready for any CBT.
But the whole point is that someone experienced with CBT AND autism or AS would be able to help you *understand* these things about yourselves. They don't expect *you* to tell *them* why you do or fear certain things. They work it out *with* you.
Someone who doesn't know about AS or who doesn't know *you* have AS might assume the wrong thing, but one who both understands AS *and* is aware that you have it can treat you the way you are comfortable rather than reading NT motivations into your actions.
04-29-2007, 01:48 PM
tenaciouscj Wrote:
But I found that most people I saw had the attitude "you're wrong and I'm right". What makes them the authority on what is right?
Were they specialists in ASDs?
04-29-2007, 05:14 PM
Pakrat Wrote:
Probably not - they are very rare in Australia.
Mind you specialists aren't automatically *right*...
04-30-2007, 11:09 AM
Noetic Wrote:
Pakrat Wrote:
Probably not - they are very rare in Australia.
Mind you specialists aren't automatically *right*...
Of course not! But lots think they are and act accordingly.