Psychedelics Helped Joe Overcome Autism And Become Social
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A stock photograph of an autistic child. This is not a photo of Joe. (Photo: Flickr/Lance Neilson)
Joe, a member of Anonymous who has autism, believes that his use of psychedelic drugs is what enabled him to overcome his autism and learn how to become more social. Joe agreed to tell his story under the condition that his real name was not used in order to protect his right to privacy.
The Volcano, a vaporizer used by Joe to vaporize his DMT (Photo: Michael Israel)
Michael Israel interviews Joe about why he decided to use psychedelic drugs and the benefits he thinks psychedelic drugs provided to him. (Audio: Michael Israel; Photo: Michael Israel; Music: Ab Soul)
Joe decided to try MDMA only after reading about a doctor who used MDMA to help treat autistic people who had treatment-resistant social anxiety. Joe said, “I wasn’t looking to cure my autism I just wanted to see some crazy shit because I was bored. Curing my autism and learning to be more social was just delicious cake. I just wanted to see beautiful fractals and lose my mind for a minute because I felt and always feel a profound sense of apathy.”
Joe agreed to share the test results of the on-line autism quiz he took to show the world the benefits he derived from psychedelics as long as his identity was kept private.
The results of Joe’s on-line autism assessment test before and after he started using psychedelic drugs. (Infographic: Michael Israel)
The results of the autism test that Joe took in November 2016, after using psychedelic drugs for years:
The results of the autism test that Joe took in September 2010, before trying psychedelic drugs:
When asked what is the primary reason he has not decided to go on an ayahuasca retreat, Joe said “I am worried about ayahuasca because it is DMT with an MAO-I to make the effects of the DMT last longer. I just want to ensure I am not taking any drugs that would react poorly with an MAO-I before I take ayahuasca.”
For a detailed explanation explaining why what may work wonders for one autistic person is not guaranteed to help everyone who has autism take a look at the cartoon that Rebecca Burgess made to explain what it means to have autism to people who don’t have autism:
Parents should be warned that just because psychedelic drugs have helped Joe is no guarantee that they will also help your autistic children. Psychedelics are not something that should be played around with, Joe was very lucky he got the results he got from his psychedelic drug use, your children may not be so lucky.
