Does Age Have Any Effect?

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Let me explain. Ok. So I am waiting for an assessment. But supposing I am assessed and it is found I am on the autistic spectrum.
Is it possible that the older I get the more issues I get? I mean... Well. Take the partial shutdowns. If they are partial shutdowns... Now I have noticed that the older I get the less able I am to cope with stress, so the more often I get these partial shutdowns. I have also noticed that ghe toughest times in my life were also the times I tended to have the most issues.
Here are my thoughts. I have heard it say that if you are autistic, you can't get more or less autistic. You remain the same. It is why I ask the above question.

Have a read of this MG https://musingsofanaspie.com/2013/12/19 ... daptation/

Ok. Will look.

Is interesting. So, in theory, as I am currently strughling in life at the moment, all could change again and I will be back to being almost normal... No... Rephraze that... There's nothing normal about me... Someone told me that! Hahahaha!

So if I was able to go on a long holiday... Not too far. Just to de-stress... I could be refressed and be able to perfectly function again like I used to function? Though I always had the odd difficult day of partial shutdowns throughout my life, it could be that the holiday breaks de-stressed me and I could recover. (I never went that far... But it was refreshing).

The problem is though, those were the days when I had an income. So I had money to holiday. A holiday for me was just a change of scenery. I have never been abroad. The thought of crossing into England is a bit much. But just getting in the car, driving a few hours to a special place which I am very familiar with, which I call my second home... That was enough to de-stress me.

Is a bit of a catch 22. As job = money. Money = holiday. Holiday = de-stress. De-stress = ability to cope in a job. ....

It works differently for everyone , there are no guarantees.

You just have to find what works for you.

All I know is the last few years have got worse and worse. My Mum says if is mid life crises.

Stress makes autism worse. If you can comfortably retire on a good pension or savings that should be even better than going on disability.

I think the lucky Aspies are the ones like Temple Grandin that finally get recognized for their expertise. Normal people don't expect experts to be "normal." They accept that genius often comes with weirdness.

Autism can become more pronounced based on stress, poor diet, lack of sleep, lack of exercise etc. Just like those things can cause anyone to operate poorly and start going downhill.

I think that's a great question. This is what I have noticed having only just found out I am Asp. When I was young, I had the capacity to do more damage to myself in a meltdown. Be it career, what few friends I had, self-harm, etc... I bounced back quicker from a shutdown too. Now, at 50, they both wear me out. I'm less likely to 'act out,' although I can still do damage with my poison pen. I require much more sleep too. It's often exhausting because I don't always know what I feel, or when I am feeling a certain way. I keep slowly plodding until I just fall over. I am NOT as rigid in my planning though, as long as the goal remains achievable.

Question. Occasionally...(These may happen twice a year or once every few years so they are not that often) I get what I call a claustrophobic brain, where I feel pressure building up in my mind and also my mind brings up all sorts of past failings. Things I should have said or done etc. I have had to really be careful when I am feeling like this that I don't write letters to people to try to explain the past, as while I am thinking in this way I could write something that might be taken the wrong way or hurt someone... As other people may have even forgotton anything about it. I remember once that I wrote a letter which after I wrote it I had release from the feelings of claustrophobic pressure, and I sent it. But my fear was that I do not want to hurt anyone. I did find the pressure sudenly lift after writing, but I was tired... These events... I noticed they happened in the evenings... Usually winter evenings when it is dark and quiet outside. I would feel claustrophobic and pressurized, and many ofter feelings... I wanted it to suddenly be daytlime and be a an out of town shopping centre where I could see people going about their daily lives as a way of reassuring my mind that everything is ok... (If that makes sense?)... Very hard to describe, but all the feelings and thoughts would start to build up, and mh mind would be thinking fast. Unusual as I am a slow but very deep thinker, but during these times my mind could go like the clappers thinking about all sorts of things and I would want to find the handbrake to slow it down! Haha!
I do not know what these odd occasions are, but when you said about poisioned pen, it almost sounds like you have had the same.
The odd thing about them is that I feel them building up and up and gettinb worse and worse and them just when I feel like it can't get any worse, and that I can't cope... Then release... I am then suddenly like a dead calm sea. I am tired and exhausted, but I am peacefully calm. I then go to bed and get some sleep!
It puzzles me why I don't get them in the day, but thinking about it, it could be that at night I want it to suddenly be day and to aatch people going about daily life as a re-assurance to my mind that all is ok? And maybe in the day I can see that it is all ok? Or it could be that in the dark winter nights is when I am under pressure from having a claustrophobic brain because if I go outside, then everyone is indoors and where I live is a rural place... I do not know.
Yes, I may get these in the day and my mind is able to cope so I don't notice so much other then feeling pressure? I just don't know.
Is a mix of stress, lonliness, claustrophobia, homesickness (Even though I am at home!), hurt, emotional pain, panic, .... When it builds up and my mind goes fast it is like my brain wants to swell to cope with its rappid thoughts and my skull is not able to provide this feature so the pressure comes!

I don't get these often and when I do I am thinking that maybe something causss them like stress during the day? The last time I had one was when I heard the news that HST's (Trains) were no longer going to be used in and out of London on express passenger services, and it hit me so deeply. It was like time had suddenly shifted... Goalposts had not only moved but dissapeared! The odd feeling of massive change which hit me and I was not ready for it... And it caused me to get one of these emotional pressureized events... I can still type and function but I have to be very careful if I type, and even more careful if I write... As though typing can bring release from the pressure, it can also hurt other people, as I am not in a calm logical thinking mindframe, so I may type something without restraint if rhat makes sense? I am like a car zooming along at warp speed without brakes!

My situation has definitely improved in the last six years, as I gained skills I needed to become more independent. I have a long way to go in achieving typical adult milestones most people have attained by their 30s. I hope to fill in the remaining gaps before I turn 60, and reach other goals as well, goals related to some of my greatest passions in life.

I've been learning to cook and have now gotten pretty good at it. I can now cook a number of things at once.

And I've learned useful exercises to help my flexibility and balance. I know lots of people that have been injured by falls. I almost lost my balance today by getting out of the way for an old lady and backing into a wheelchair. But, I kept my balance even though my ankle made contact with the wheelchair.

I'm around your age, not feeling terrible fulfilled right now and I can definitely say that I'm spending more time losing things, looking for things, feeling empty, patchy in my thoughts, dropping things and making silly mistakes. I do think that it's related to where I am in life and that things could improve if there were positive changes in circumstances. It could be age, but it could be to do with low level frustrations and preoccupations. What do you think?

It's true that if you're Autistic then you are always Autistic. However the autistic symptoms can lessen or become more pronounced.

When we're young our brains are still developing so in some cases we can 'grow out' of some symptoms(or they may just lessen). We also tend to adapt and develop coping skills that can diminish the appearance of the autism too.

As for aging toward the golden years I think it would make sense that some symptoms and our ability to cope with them would become a little more challenging. Like in the same way that our memory tends to diminish as we get old.

There are other factors that can aggravate the autism - like what EzraS said. So sometimes a 'worsening' can be temporary if the 'aggravation' is removed. But while there is that aggravation is there it can be debilitating. Sometimes we don't even realize how much we are carrying too. I've noticed in myself that although most of the time I'd say I'm fine or good but when I'm happy, actually really happy my entire functionality improves. This made me realize that my fine and good actually aren't as decent as I think, I'm just use to existing this way.

I feel for you. For me I am finding things are not easy when they should be easy. I have and am doing all I can to strip myself of responsibilities and this includes posessions... What I mean. I know that I need a long term rest for recovery... To recharge. However, the more I try to de-stress the more others think I need more in my life...

Most of the stress at the moment is coming from outside sources. I may write about these in the future, but I don't really want to as it could be taken the wrong way... And by outside sources. It has nothing to do with anyone on this site, and it is no ones fault. I will wtite a little in another thread maybe.

I've got worse, particularly with sound sensory issues and becoming overwhelmed, but I'm not sure if it's my age itself OR the extra responsibilities that have come with age.