At what age is living with AS hardest?

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I chose "other" because there wasn't a "every year of life" option.

College for me, because some of the people I was friends with aren't on the same schedule as me. And college is hard, ya know?

wow, my teen years have been great.

Tomboy, what a similar life we've had!

My teen years were okay. I was homeschooled and my parents are not curebies so I didn't have to take anyone's crap.

19 with me.

it is hard to get your foot in the door when employers want someone that has loads of experience already.
i mean how are u supposed to get experience when people won't give u a go?

anyway someone will give u a go so keep trying.

Childhood for me. Worst time of my life at school.
Teenage years were okay, kids were mean, but never usually enough for me to care about. The only real time I remember was when some kids saw me going about OCD rituals and this boy said something really bitchy, and I burst into tears .The girl looked really ashamed, the boy was just a prick. Also I had enough to worry about with servere OCD ages 12 - 14 so nothing else really mattered.

For me, it was during childhood, ages 7-12. Those were the years that I was mercilessly teased by the other kids. For some reason, I wasn't teased a lot past seventh grade. I was teased the most in second grade and sixth grade. I think it was the hardest for me, because I hadn't yet learned to ignore teasing. After sixth grade or so, I developed my current "I-don't-care-what-you-think-of-me" attitude, so I think that was a main factor in why teasing stopped. The kids knew that they couldn't hurt my feelings, so they got bored with the teasing. Unlike many Aspies, I actually really enjoyed high school. I didn't have many friends, but I don't care about having friends. I just relished in the harder academic environment that high school brought.
-OddDuckNash99-

I am the same way...Childhood ages 7-12 were awful. I was so clueless and clumsy and uncomfortable....My family life was really dysfuntional. I was bullied relentlessly at school..I was constantly going home from school or going to the doctor for psychosomatic stress-related illnesses...I was so sensitive and everything seemed to give me a headache or make me break out in a rash..or something...Despite all the difficulties I had, I um..did have the highest standardised test scores in the school...I did manage to pursue my interests...and those little thing were a source of confidence that kept me going.


When I got to Jr. High, i tried to make a fresh start....I was in honors classes...and despite my lousy grades in those classes, I participated in academic tournaments and wrote for the school newspaper...I had a few friends..even a sort of boyfriend...we would watch Moonlighting together over the phone...I was still teased alot...but not perpetually...I semi-worked out the problems I had with clothes...ah...blah blah blah....my obsession was the Beatles....most particularly John Lennon...so one would find me wearing my Imagine t-shirt with my beatles watch and my beatles this and beatles that all at once...or I would wear all the same color....or dress completely like a boy...depending on what phase I was in.

I was able to sorta resemble a normal teenager by the time I got to high school...High school was semi-decent. I had a peer group of smart kids and nonconformists...the group I ate with at lunch was all-accepting...and sorta broke the boundaries that seem to exist in the steretypical high school scenario...nerds and goths and trailor park kids and cheerleaders would all hang out toghether on equal terms..on the surfaces I found a niche but underneath there was always the feeling of not-getting-something that everyone else seemed to be getting....I was the wacky zany non-confromist vegetarian hat-collecting-thrift store raggamuffin...on the surface...but I was always semi-aware fo the fact that I was somewhat clueless and stunted...and I was jealous of my friends and the way they were able to have "more evolved" friendships than I was really capable of.....then I joined a band....eeee.... it wasn't a normal teenage experience....

anyway I am rambling......

From all of what I've read on AS, the beginning of the school years onwards is equally bad in possibility, with perhaps the greatest difficulties presenting in the high school/early adulthood years.

Autism starts off bad, and tends to improve through childhood and early schooling, as people with Autism usually aren't interested in social communication/interaction (it's usually because they don't recognize the existence of others). Some people with Autism can "wake up" to others in the high school/early adulthood years, and this can pose the same problems as AS.

I voted college age, because there is so much happening then. Your friends go off to school and some are getting married and there can be alot of events to attend for other's sake.

And that's the age when people are taking dating more seriously. Oh geez I hated the he likes me, I like him and he likes someone else chaos. And then when you're dating you have to have the necessary where is this going for the both of us conversation. shivers...

It took me years to decide to marry dh. Glad he can be very patient, but as a married woman with a baby girl I am now looking at all the events and lessons she may want to be involved in. And I am much worse now then I was when I met dh.

I think as you age you can start to say "this is me and I'm doing the best I can like or leave it". And you know yourself better as to what works and what doesnt as well as knowing truely what is important over alot of material stuff and position.

I would say the teenage years were the hardest, specifically the middle school years. High school was pretty good for me. I spent a great deal of time in college in solitary pursuits, such as studying and reading.

I didn't get my first real job until I was 29, but did do a lot of writing.

My 30s were pretty good. My 40s started out fairly mediocre, but things are improving. I have been working at the library for over six years and took second place in the Literacy Council Spelling Bee, an improvement of three places over the two previous years.

I think that my life has been fairly good, except for those two very scary years in middle school where I was bullied. Even there, I found out I had some friends.

I haven't lived past 18 yet, but I think that for me adolescence and moving out on my own is the hardest point thus far (due to autism, that is - 13 was much harder, but that was because of daily assaults that the school counselor condoned and encouraged - this year I don't have depression or undue anxiety or things like that).

Basically I've gotten no support outside my family for becoming more indepnedent, and my parents work a LOT so they can pay for me to be at college, so haven't got nearly as much practice. More or less going it on my own. Fortunately I'm in touch with the disability service center on campus.

I think adolescence is hard for EVERYONE - at least, that's what they told me when I was studying to be a teacher.

For me, however, I'd have to say that my AS tendencies caused me the most pain in elementary school. I was a "Little Professor" - teachers couldn't deal with me (except my 1st grade teacher - she was a gem!) & kids were merciless. And I can't even begin to count the number of times other kids would gain my trust, only to use it against me (knowingly or unknowingly.) Elementary school was sheer hell for me.

But by the time I reached adolescence, I discovered music - and I was REALLY GOOD! Sure, there was still some occasional teasing & I was still always picked last for team sports in gym class - but never again like it was in grade school. Plus, I was beginning to learn some coping skills (especially, looking people in the eyes.)

By the way, I was in elementary school in the 1960s - no one knew what Asperger's Syndrome was. Perhaps if I (and my parents & teachers) had known, I would have been able to avoid some of the nasty situations I encountered.

Adolescence, for sure. All of a sudden, everyone was focused on building a network of peers, and I was just not equipped to do that. I am much happier as an Aspie adult.