Can Asperger's get worse over time?

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Looking more autistic doesn't necessarily come with being more impaired; for me, I've found that some of the time when I look most autistic I'm also the most capable, probably because those are the times I choose to ignore the NT-style skills I've picked up to try to communicate with them, and am using my own strengths, which come a lot more naturally. Of course, it's got its downside; I can do magic with numbers or data during those times, but holding a conversation is quite out of the question before I've taken a few moments (or an hour, sometimes) to switch mental gears.

Yeah, I'm guilty of this, too. It's particularly bad for me because I don't really have significant co-morbids (well, maybe mild OCD at times), and my traits never really seem incapacitating. Sometimes I would catch myself rocking back and forth in front of the computer screen. That's something I never used to do (that I am aware of, at least), so I don't know if I'm just trying to warm up to the idea that it's okay and maybe I should try it, or maybe I'm just letting it go more than I used to... I really have no way of knowing.

I used to think I didn't have any of the physical traits, but I have since realized that I do. The inordinate amount of pacing I do when I'm on the phone, the inexplicable clumsiness of my youth, my rather bizarre posture... yeah.

In my experience, becoming over aware of error in social enviroments its a bit stressful (unffortunately it´s time delayed) , but is a signal that you are adapting and learning how to deal with these situations. In the past I made errors (in the NT point of view) and have no idea what´s going on. Now I understand their grimace

I'm much the same way. When let loose to enter my deepest concentration (and, therefore, at my most productive and creative), I lose all sense of time and seem to disconnect from all body functions. If this concentration is unexpectedly interrupted, such as by a telephone ringing, it will take me 15-20 seconds to figure out just what it was that startled me out of hyperfocus. If I pick up in time, I usually answer in a mumbling verbal catatonia. It can take well over a minute to disengage from my prior mode enough to be able to focus on the conversation. I don't know whether this "looks autistic", but it sure must look strange.

A similar but much less pronounced thing happens when I am conversing in one language and someone begins to speak to me in another (as might happen, for example, in a restaurant). It may take me a few seconds to shift languages - long enough to notice.

Is that the guy from Duckman in your avatar?

To answer the OP's question, my AS got better over a few years, then got worse last year.

I agree with the stress thing.

I agree with this, too. I started a thread before about eye contact, and how looking at someone's eyes distracts from actually paying attention to what they're saying.. I think there are other things like that, too. If you're putting effort into not LOOKING autistic, you don't have as much effort available to be put into whatever else it is that you're trying to do. If you've got X amount of energy, willpower, or whatever (not saying it's that simple.. but easier to say it that way) then if you're expending some of it forcing yourself to make eye contact, forcing yourself not to stim, forcing yourself to make small talk and think of irrelevant things to say, then you have that much less energy/willpower/whatever that's still available for use. I'm sure there are some various ways of increasing the total amount you have a bit, but if it takes massive effort just to look less autistic, you just can't keep up. I went through a period of time where I thought I could be normal; it just wasn't possible to sustain that effort, though. The whole "fake it 'till you make it" bit doesn't take into account that the energy expenditure of "faking it" may actually prevent you from being able to "make it."

As my functioning level has decreased over recent years, I've noticed many of my traits have become more pronounced. In some ways I have improved, but overall I feel things worsening.

I used to be extremely anxious about revealing any atypical behaviours in public. I have had to increasingly let go of that fear because my overloads are becoming too much to handle in addition to worrying about drawing attention to myself. For example, I was out one day last week and experienced overload with extreme fatigue and anxiety. If I had expended energy concealing it, I would have become very ill. Instead, I did what was needed, which must have looked pretty odd (and people did express concern for me), and it was enough to make it through the day.

My functioning has also decreased. I would be considered high functioning AS or PDD-NOS but my functioning itself is pretty low now whereas in my early 20s I was working and studying and going out.

Yes all these things were done in really dysfunctional ways but I was doing them, whereas now I cannot manage any of the 3. I guess the problem is I didnt know about AS and I thought if I tried hard enough I could overcome my issues and be like a normal person. But it didnt work out that way, I just burnt myself out. Mostly with anxiety.

I think I would have been far better off had I known about AS as I could have come up with a plan for my life that I could manage, instead of making plans I couldnt possibly manage and then beating myself up for not managing them.

Re: The psychiatrist who said things get worse with age.. dont listen to that codswallop, I met a few older aspies in an aspie group and they seemed pretty chilled out and philosophical. I think people get better at accepting their lot as the years go by and we become wiser and more experienced. My dad, though not living the model NT life, is 63 and seems ok with his life and what he is doing with it. And be careful with the meds too.. they are not a cure-all.

As for caffeine pills... are they good to take?

Oops, didn't see your reply until just now, while necro-thread-surfing...

But yeah, it's Cornfed Pig, Duckman's assistant.