what happen to older aspies?

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Sue, I did have you in mind when I wrote my post.

b9, thanks for posting the video! The lyrics define me perfectly.

Afternoon all, from a very very cold snowy UK! Seems the whole country has collapsed, how typical! Britain not so great after all! Yes I am a Brit before you all hurl snowballs!! I can say it!

Interesting question here, personally my solid belief is that I was born on the spectrum and I will die on the spectrum. There is no cure, I am me in all my rainbow glory!!

So the bit in between life and death? Mmm something I have been giving careful consideration to! Now put down the snowballs and ditch the custard pies, what I am about to post is partially MY OWN THEORY, it is not based on any conclusive empirical evidence!! Now we have got that straight, here are my thoughts.

I am a trained nurse of many years experience. Sadly most wards, apart from the maternity and childrens wards held elderly patients some with Alzheimers. For the family who watch and the sufferer themselves it is a tragic end to a life, heartbreaking for all concerned. Alzheimers is a terminal disease, its average life expectancy is approx 5yrs.

So why as a nurse do I see many patients diagnosed with Alzheimers living many more years, up to 20yrs sometimes? What keeps some alive whilst others die? My theory is that elderly autistic spectrums are suffering from a 'hippocampus burnout" BUT it is not TRUE Alzheimers!! Does that make sense?

All my life I have had trouble with my working memory, I can remember a school trip 40yrs ago but what did I do yesterday? I have to think hard sometimes...................keys? Aaagh, losing them all the time, yes folks my memory has always been poor so why should it get any better with age? Looking back through my heritage, I notice many of my own family that were obviously on the spectrum (undiagnosed obviously) BUT all went a bit doolally as they got older!! A couple of them diagnosed with Alzheimers, looking back I doubt it somehow! They all lived until they hit their nineties!! Actually my best friends mum was diagnosed with Alzheimers 10yrs ago, lives in a home now and is having a whale of a time, dancing, singing and flirting with some of the men even!! Alzheimers? From my experience Alzheimers is not a happy disease, it is extremely cruel and sad to watch.

So my suggestion is that actually many of our elderly are being WRONGLY diagnosed with Alzheimers when actually it is just a developmental memory wear and tear thing!! Why are there soooo many elderly patients sitting in homes 15yrs after diagnoses of Alzheimers? Why are they still alive? Similar I suppose to many wanting to diagnose me Bi-polar treating me with Lithium when actually I was ADHD/Autistic all along! Schizophrenics wrongly diagnosed that are Aspergers, yes sadly I have heard of that too. Many of us who are not diagnosed or wrongly diagnosed are prescribed anti depressants by the bucket load..........for what? Aaaghhhhhh!

I have my snowsuit on now with protective shields just in case anyone feels naughty!! !

What do you reckon?

Snow kidding? topic

I think we in Canada should have lent you Brits some snow plows and ice-melt mixture(calcium chloride and/or salt). When I saw photos/videos of the London snow it looked like any typical Canadian city during/after a snowfall.

We go through this for many winter months, but if you are not used to it, I guess it sucks. We have had more than three meters of snow this winter, and this is a record here in Ontario.

Good luck. Spring is coming.

Don't know whether to laugh or cry!! The whole country is in CHAOS!! No buses, trains, schools shut, hospitals in crisis, and NOW NO SALT TO GRIT THE ROADS!! ! But I had to cringe as Jeremy Clarkson (in my opinion on the spectrum) inappropriately (what a surprise!) announced that our PM Gordon Brown was a 'one eyed Scottish idiot'! !! !! ! THE UK IS IN TOTAL MELTDOWN! Well not quite literally but when the thaw comes we will be!!

You cold countries have a lot to teach us! Trouble is in our defense (gotta try!) we are not used to these severe snow conditions and therefore have no equipment on standby to help when it does arise! Last time the UK was like this it was 20yrs ago!! But I seem to remember when I was a child I trudged to school in the snow?? We are a load of wimps now!!

old aspies don't die ithey just smell that way

seriously, my experience is that they go through life learning very slowly how they should

behave/act in situations, kind of like Pavlov's dog but slower on the uptake. And even

whenthey learn the lesson they are going through the motions as if learnt by rote and never

fully understanding the logic to a certain course of action or behaviour.

As I became older and more accepting of myself, life became easier. I didn't need so much acceptance from others as I did when I was growing up. Age has given me boundaries and self-appreciation. 30 seemed to be the key age. Remember Popeye the sailor! "I yam what I yam!" We have to stand others and they too must stand us. So, it's even.

Padium, our lowest temps are -8!! ! And it is CARNAGE!! ! Salt? What's that!! !

But I am hanging onto both of my femurs!! So far in tact!!

As I get older my creakiness gets worse, but then I guess NT's go throught that too!!

I don't envy you one bit, respect for coping, it is more than the UK is doing at the moment!

It depends on the person.

Cold weather isn't that bad, although it can take a toll on the old timers. It is something you get acclimatized to. I will say at around -30 breathing feels like you are constantly out of breath, but not needing to catch your breath, and is probably bad for your lungs. Piece of advice: Dress in layers, if for 0 you wear a winter coat with a normal shirt underneath, -10 wear a winter coat with a sweater underneath. At the university I attend, a Bermudan girl had a very very hard time with the cold because she expected a light coat to be fine. Yes a windbreaker is fine, but only if you wear a sweater underneath. Long Johns were designed with cold weather in mind, and people actually wear them in the cold. if it is -8, with the windchill it can feel like -18 or worse, because of how the wind works. I was lucky, on the day it was -29 there was no wind, but it was still hell.

I may be one of many lucky ones whose eccentrictiy more or less formed the foundation for their eventual career or job paths. Without being on the spectrum I might have ended up being dull and boring. Thankfully now I'm just boring and dull. There is a difference.
I have used my skills and talents, which are unusual, to make a living since I was 14 years old. It is only in the past two years that I have had an interruption in work and that is becasue I'm getting old, 62 this January, and running out of patience dealing with people and playing social games. I plan on living happily until I'm at least 82 as I have several dozens of interesting projects to finish and hopefully make some kind of contribution to the world, even it's just adding to the biomatter while I slowly rot in my grave. Nothing one does is insignificant or without purpose but sometimes we can't see the forest for the leaves as another autistic once said.
I think most of us live at at accellerated pace compared to 'regular' people and one of the most intrinsic characteristics of autism is not having a mind that is 'timed' to process input the same as other people do.
We should take advantage of this gift even if it sometimes makes us miserable.

Cheers Padium. Luckily for me, I have supplies in and have taken the weathermans advice and stayed in!! But for those souls out there trapped in their cars on motorways all night, I fear your advice may have come too late!!

We are just not used to it! Pathetic though. I will have to stock up on windchill clothes, it is a biting wind that is doing the damage right now and rain that is freezing on the top of already frozen packed ice! Now we get told there is a Health and Safety check (routine) in the salt mines so all mining has had to stop!! With 200 lorries queuing up to load up!! TYPICALLY STUPID BRITAIN!! Aaaaaghhhhhh! Anyone afford to send me a ticket to get the hell out here??? Oooh shucks, just remembered can't go anywhere airports all closed!! Double aaaghhhhhhh!

Sorry OP totally off topic, I will behave now!! Told you my memory was going!

jelibean, what you say may very well be true. I see my autistic father at 83, his memory is not what it used to be (he was borderline savant in terms of memory) and I wonder if it's Alzheimer's but it doesn't look like it. I'm taking him for a brain scan soon, we'll see what the doctors say.