This disclaimer was originally posted in our episode, Treating Social Anxiety in Adults with Autism with MDMA and LSD – Voices in the Dark, and it feels important to post it on this episode as well.  Caution/Disclaimer A few important notes. This is an episode of an individual experimenting with powerful drugs to see if he can get any sort of relief from autism. In this case, it appears to have been successful. That said, this came with a substantial amount of risks, and people need to be aware. Please read the below bullets so you understand.  Autism is not what is treated. The thing being treated would be a symptom like social anxiety. "The field of autism science includes a long and shameful history of quack treatments and parents taking desperate and harmful measures to “fix” their children. Autism is a spectrum of congenital and neurocognitive variants, and there are no published research data in support of any compound that can influence its course." Alicia Danforth, PhD Please do not administer these drugs to children with autism. It would be highly unethical to do so.  There are only two researchers investigating where MDMA and autism meet - Alicia Danforth PhD and Dr. Charlie Grob. A scientific paper will likely be available on this in the next few months. Expect to see more here.  These drugs have not been shown to cure or treat autism, but in some cases, just like with neuro-typical individuals, some have seen meaningful changes.  Even if changes are noticed the person is still autistic no matter how many high doses of psychedelics they take. Obtaining pure drugs is very difficult if not impossible in black markets. Verifying purity will require the resources of mass spectrometry from organizations offering these services like Energy Control or Ecstasy Data Providing unsafe, dirty or compromised drugs to people can cause serious harm or death. If you are planning to use MDMA to alleviate some suffering on your own, please wait or don't. Do substantial research and have skilled people available to help.  Thanks to Alicia Danforth for helping us understand the nuance's in this area. ..autism is a genetically determined cognitive variant. It's pervasive, and it affects the whole person, not just the brain. No chemical compound has been shown to treat, cure, or alter the course of autism. However, for some people, substances like MDMA can help them manage symptoms such as anxiety, social anxiety, and trauma effects. - Alicia Danforth, Ph.D In this episode, Joe sits down with Aaron Orsini, Author of Autism on Acid. In this powerful episode, Aaron shares his moving story on how LSD gave him life-saving relief from his struggles with Autism Spectrum Disorder. 3 Key Points: Aaron spent the first 20+ years of his life suffering from the struggles of Autism Spectrum Disorder. He changed his life in an unexpected way through the use of LSD. LSD gave Aaron the emotional installation of perception to see the stimuli in life that he had been blind from because of his disorder. Aaron is the author of the book, Autism on Acid, a self told story on his autistic perceptions before, during and after his LSD experience. He goes into great depth on his experience in the show. Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Aaron A large part of his psychedelic journey stems from his Autism His diagnosis didn't affect him in school so much as it affected him in his adult years with socialization His childhood friends were more based on similar shared activities When he was thrusted into more social situations, he had more issues with non-repetitive and non-scheduled socialization He was anxious in the idea that he would go into avoidance, he wasn't very afraid, just more confused Most of his knowledge was based on repetition and me