There is no evidence-based therapy for Depression as comorbidity of Autism. For the lucky-few cognitive strategies and mindfulness training works to reduce that eternal ruminating and increase physical/mental wellbeing. For the over-riding majority, however, nothing will work, except medication, if one can call that "working".
A great grey quiet may descend around them.
CHATEAU MIRAVAL, Corens-Val, Provence; Artists who have recorded here include Pink Floyd (The Wall), AC/DC, The Cure, Muse, Wham!, David Sylvian (solo and with Rain Tree Crow), Chris Rea, Sade, the Go-Betweens, Steve Winwood, Yes, UB40, Chris Braide, Shirley Bassey, the Gipsy Kings, Shakatak, Rammstein, Fonky Family, Kelly Family, Blankass, Silmarils, Jimmy Barnes, Courtney Love and Elton John. And Pitt and Jolie got married there - but let's not mention that ...
I wish I could send them all to Chateau Miraval in the Provence. Taste some wine, record some songs... . This is the home and recording studio with vineyard of pianist/arranger/composer Jacques Loussier (who finds Bach easy-peasy, which makes him suspect there might be some truth to reincarnation.... see BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs).
Jacques Loussier - Toccata And Fugue in D Minor. I am guessing from the turtle necks this is a recording from the 70's.
One of Loussier's Island discs and a favorite of mine. Although Django by McLaughlin (on The Promise) is where my love for this song stems from. Loussier cannot call John Lewis a skilled pianist, but what he manages to do with three or four fingers impresses him sufficiently.
Of course, even after these inspiring videos they won't go. The Autistics. The Autists. My sister. But let's not get personal. She'd not stand for it.
Lovaas with his ABA programme makes a claim for a 47 % recovery rate for Autism. I know what he means: the ones you've manged to train (rigorously, with unfailing dedication, one-on-one, in every imaginable situation, much like a police dog) look totally normal by the time they read adulthood, may be sociable and likeable and often rearing to get on with life. Do not be fooled. The Autism is still there to trip the person up, especially when you least expect it. Much of who they are is what it says on the tin: Applied Behaviours. This works very well for most people . It only remains obvious where their soul is clearly meant to escape the system (of dead thinking). Autism dampens all proactivity from the heart for life. The head is just too dominant. Life is the opposite of head.
Books Are the Cure!
Hardly.
A desperate book maybe?
“Bear Despair: A Charming Illustrated Wordless Story of Obsession and Perseverance” by French illustrator Gaëtan Dorémus
I adore children's picture books. I promise you I've been depressed, but I still think a world filled with children's picture books are practically the No. One Antidote to depression!
I think they worked miracles on bonding for my son and myself over the course of the 14 years or so I read to him (several times a day the first seven, and nightly for the next seven, at least. Only the other day, he wanted to reread "Madeleine" !) (Written by Ludwig Bemelmans).
Okay. So we're all grown up now. How about we give books a try? Don't take any tips from me, but how about a suggestion from a booklover? Want to start with something worthwhile - of course you do if you are autistic, every second counts, tic-toc, tic-toc, tic-toc shhh... first, relax....
Now pick a Nobel Prize Winner: "for writings marked by a broad outlook, a wealth of ideas and artistic power"(Wikipedia): Canetti, as suggested by aforementioned #booklover. Or try something French, for sophistication with an Indo-Chinese link (his second suggestion). I won't press you on the first suggestion: clear print in one consistent direction, from top to bottom, one flow left to right (or right to left, or up to down) is best for the ragged mind.
Finally -oh yes! the suggestions come streaming up to me quick and sure, most days (just look at my bookcase drama to know the floods this gives, such water fun!) - Loussier's desert island read: the obscure BEASTS, MEN AND GODS by Ferdinand Ossendowski. It MUST be uplifting, right? To take along as your only companion for ever more.
If only we could lift depression, like a cross to carry part of the way....
Disclaimer, the AS spectrum is vast and everybody is different. I write with my sister, son his father and mine in mind. My attitude to autism is fundamentally negative but this is not the same as my attitude to the people who suffer with autism. It is my objective to meet people in circumstances when they feel most at ease with themselves; where the autism prevents this it is my choice to no longer facilitate extended contact. One of us has to survive Autism to tell the tale of where the journey in our heads must stop.