Aspie looking ounger, physical evidence that AS is real?

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Isn't that aspies tend to look younger physical evidence that AS is indeed real, so much for those who say it's not real?

Maybe. I definitely look younger. When I was 14 people thought i was 11. I tend to get people thinking i'm 15 or so.

I have to be a bit skeptical about this one, because some people are lucky enough to look young and they might not have AS at all

Saying that I'm 24 and look about 17/18. It's possible. I just doubt it.

It's not really something you can measure, though, it's only an opinion.

You can't just say "Oh, Billy the Kid looked young for his age, he probably had autism."

Not to say that autism isn't real.

I know NTs can look young for their age as well.

I think that's a stereotype. I look about 30.

As for provable evidence, there's the visual acuity test.

The basis for this is probably that there is a higher percentage of people on the spectrum who appear physically younger than their actual age compared to the general population, but that is not to say that everyone on the spectrum falls into this category. Myself, for the longest time I have been asked how old I was because I look and sound younger than my age. I have a fairly high-pitched voice for a man, and people catch onto that rather quickly. I also am almost always carded for alcohol, though my choice in clothing and my grooming habits also have a part in that. If I wear a baseball cap, I tend to look older. If I let my hair grow out long like it is now, my face appears younger for some reason. But if I allow my facial hair to grow for a week or more, I appear the correct age or older. There is a lady at my office who calls me "baby face" and people have always told me I look like a kid. One old man even pissed me off one day when he told me that I look like either a car salesman or a computer geek. I wanted to kick that old man in his head when he said that, but I just mumbled "f**k you" and walked off.

Last edited by sbcmetroguy on 11 Mar 2009, 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I think AS look younger because of the lack of facial movement. I don't have the constant facial micromuscle activity that others engage in. That lack of scrunching and twisting makes the face smoother and fresher than one's age.

That's how Botox works. They shoot a muscle-paralyzing toxin into your face and make your face blank and motionless in places (like your forehead), so you get fewer wrinkles there.

I'm 40, not AS, facially expressive, have loads of gray hairs, and am still taken for younger than I am. Most people assume I'm in my late twenties or early thirties.

Both my parents look a lot younger than their years as well.

I think you're right because most people say I look about 2-3 years younger than my actual age.

I wouldn't say I look any younger than 15. I know a friend's brother who is definitely NT, he's 13 but only looks a little bit older than his 10 year old brother. My sister (NT) also looks a little younger than 13, in my opinion.

Wrinkles are caused not by age, but by skin damage from solar radiation.

I think most aspies don't get out much no matter what anyone says.

<<< take a guess how old i am

I am 19 but apparently I look like I'm 16.

I can't tell ages of people by looking at them.

I would attempt to guess, but I am one of those people who can't look at another person and guess their age. It's something I have never picked up on. You look very young, though, I know that!

Yes, wrinkles are definitely caused by UV rays...

We covered the integumentary system in anatomy class a couple of weeks ago, and the prof had some rather interesting pictures to show us; one was of a Native American woman, about sixty, who'd spent most of her life outdoors; she had deep, numerous wrinkles. Another picture was of a Japanese monk who'd spent most of his life indoors--he was ninety and had just barely started to get crow's-feet around his eyes. It's sun damage that causes wrinkles, UV rays to be specific. Age will decrease the skin's ability to heal itself but it won't actually cause wrinkles.

Aspies probably do spend more time indoors than most. A daily thirty-minute walk outdoors won't cause a great deal of UV exposure, especially if you use sunscreen and wear sunglasses--which I gather that many of us do, since sunburns bother you more if you are touch-sensitive and the sun dazzles you more if you're light-sensitive. We're probably less likely to have outdoor jobs, and more likely to have indoor leisure activities.

I bet we have much less skin cancer than NTs, too.