Is My Friend...

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Is my friend in denial about having Asperger's Syndrome? One day she said that she had it but whens he explained it she said, "I'm not Autistic." Lately, she said, "I grew out of it." Is this at all possible?

No, you cannot grow out of it. Adults who "grew out of" their childhood diagnoses, never really had the condition to begin with. It comes from a different brain structure that is created in the womb. That cannot change to become NT, no matter how much a person thinks it can. It is possible your friend is not autistic. It is not possible for her to have TRULY been autistic and then to have grown out of it. Why are you so certain she is autistic, anyway?

She told me she has Asperger's Syndrome.

Alternatively, your friend may have learned to cope with it so well that they are unable to recognize that they still have it. Or they may lack the self-awareness (theory of mind) to know that they are impaired. While the symptoms may seem to go away, the underlying condition will not.

She said that she still has to sometimes meet at the special education department in her university because of it. (Although she is very smart). I don't know why?

Was she diagnosed with Aspergers, or was she self-diagnosed? There are a number of issues that it could be. First of all, if she was diagnosed as a kid and has now "outgrown" it so much that she no longer qualifies for the diagnosis, then she did not have it in the first place. If she self-diagnosed, perhaps she no longer feels that the label truly fits her. If she was either professionally or self-diagnosed, she could have an aversion to the label "autism". You said she declared that she is not autistic (rather than saying she does not have Aspergers?) Some NT people, and even some people on the spectrum have negative connotations of the word autism. They perceive it as a low-functioning disorder. Many people with Aspergers do not mind referring to themselves as autistic or high-functioning autistic. On the other hand, many others do mind this. So perhaps that is where the problem is coming from.

I think of myself as smart (I have a GPA of 3.82) yet I also use the disability services at my school. That doesn't mean I am dumb, it just means I need some accommodations (like a private exam room). She could be going there for similar purposes. The way I see it is that everyone at university is smart enough to be there. Some cannot take the pressure, but they are all smart enough to be there. That includes people with learning disabilities, other disabilities, and no disabilities.