Do aspies never grow up or mature?

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Do aspies want to stay kids forever and never grow up or do we not have to ability to grow or mature? I have never wanted to grow up ever since I was a little kid. I have always feared growing up and entering adulthood. I hate all of the changes that you have to go through and all the expenses and responsibilities that you have as you grow up. I am 21 and I feel like I am in my early teens. I am nothing like my age. I am not into dating, sex, drinking, searching for jobs and careers, competition, and other grown up stuff. I do go to college, have a part time job, and still live at home. I still do not want to grow up and get any older. Life just gets harder as we grow and I just don't want to deal with it. I don't know if other aspies feel this way or not. I don't like changes and leaving my comfort zone. I feel like I am far behind from my NT peers and I don't have any problem with that. If they want to grow up that is fine but I have no desire to.

Good question, and to be honest, I don't really know the answer. I'm 21, which is older than most of my friends (well, the people who used to be my friends anyway...), yet I feel like I'm way behind them in life.

They're going on to live "adult" lives with cars and girlfriends and jobs and post-secondary educations, while I'm single, sitting on welfare, living with relatives, and taking high school level courses through a community college, all while I don't have a car or even a learner's license.

I would like to be more independent and have a place of my own, but that's mostly just so I can get other people off my back and live my own life. I don't really want to "grow up", but I'll have to at least fake it if I want to get into an ideal situation.

The only things I like about being an adult are being able to drink, not being forced to attend public school, and not having to have my parents control my life. That's it.

I hate whenever my birthday comes because I don't want to become older I like my age from 6-17 but more than that no

While I have grown older, I've refused to grow up.

I am the opposite. I was wishing to be an adult, and imagining myself in intellectual environments, learning, and working hard for long hours.

When I was a kid I promised myself I am going to commit suicide as soon as I hit 18 because I didn't want to be an adult. Of course I didn't do it in the end - nothing in my life changed with my 18th birthday (except getting the ID in my pocket) so I didn't see a point. Now I am 26 and I still don't feel any older than 17. But I no longer think of myself as a 14 year old as I used to, my "mental age" is gradually changing, just slower than NTs mental age does. Now I think I am on the same level as most of 17 year old teenagers: I am getting interested in relationships, I am about to finish school(my 3rd graduation since I am an "adult") and this time I actually think about getting a job and moving out of my parents house instead of going to another school. Adulthood is finally coming! Hopefully...

So much of my life (age 8 and beyond) was spent behaving as an adult, I now enjoy doing things that I missed out doing as a child. I am currently re-reading all the Curious George stories (even the one that was censored for some years where he breathes the hospital Ether). I have a summer road-trip vacation for one planned for this July. I only wish I had some loyal friends. I have acquaintances with whom I enjoy having coffee or lunch, but it comes at the price of driving them to their appointments or desired destinations, and lending (giving) money to them. That part, at least, hasn't changed at all since childhood.

I really do feel like a twelve year old in the body of a thirty-three year old

I ask the same question about NTs.

There's an old saying in some parts of the psychology fraternity that "there's no such thing as a grown up!".

But yes, people on the spectrum do mature - it may take longer as there are more obstacles on the journey, not just internal factors but the square peg/round hole barriers which cause delays. Just like NTs, different people mature at different rates, and some seem never to gain much maturity at all. I think that maturity relies on developing insight, taking responsibility, seeing beyond your own personal ideas, needs and egocentric desires. This takes time for everyone.

The least mature people I know are typically those who have chosen (perhaps subconsciously) to be carbon copies of their parents, they don't develop any personal individuality, and are a bit like parental clones, and articulate the same sentences like parrots, way beyond childhood.

I think I've matured at different mostly slower pace than my peers, I've changed a lot since between when I was 18 and now almost being 24 and I expect the same will be true 6 from now as well. Becoming an adult is hard and hasn't come naturally, you learn from trials and tribulations. Its hard not to feel inadequate when you compare yourself to others and I just hope to one day be at peace with myself and feel on the same on the same level as everyone else.

I feel like I was, for the most part, at a level similar to my peers until I hit my teens. Everybody else matured—if you can even call it that—quickly and were now all of a sudden interested in all of these new experiences and I kind of hit a wall in terms of development. I would say that I have matured and grown up quite a bit if you compare myself with myself even only a year ago, but it has also been in ways that are different than my peers. Still feel like I'm emotionally a child, definitely, but I've at least been progressing when it comes to functional skills of day-to-day life.

Aspies are said to have an emotional maturity age approximately 2/3rds of our chronological age, so it makes sense that you feel like a young teenager.

I have an ASD friend who's nearly 29yo. He's a true "Peter Pan" & will always be a bit child like in spirit. It's just part of who he is and it's awesome.

I'm 32 and have felt frustratingly behind my friends at some points in my life.. but I've caught up big time over the last 2 years of treating my asd symptoms via diet & probiotics, and have matured a lot, too - in terms of social interaction, emotions, professionalism w/ work etc. But I think in some ways I'll always be a bit immature, and I'm ok with that.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

Im just as high functioning if not higher functioning than someone with Aspergers. So I kind of have the same of the maturity problems aspies have. When I was a child I enjoyed childhood just like an NT child. I even became interested in adult interests with my brother like 007. But since I was 11, it became apparent when I was a bit back behind (in a few areas) when I watched "Ready Set learn", a program designed for preschoolers. However, at the same time I had some knowledge and interests in Dinosaurs, with as much knowledge as a grown up archeologist, and I also liked Need for Speed/Fast and Furious like if I was a teenager. I did have age appropiate teen interests when I was a teen though. But during my teenage years, I had the maturity as if I was a preteen yet I graduated as a Valedictorian of my high school.
This is wierd even to me. But the reason why I was this way is because ASD people tend to be scattered in abilities, rather than everything delayed all toghether as in the case of someone with Down Syndrome or intellectual disabilities. What I mean scatterd in abilities is that people with an ASD like us may be gifted in one area, such as academics and delayed in another area such as socioemotional functioning.
However, I am aware of this and I am trying to put an end to this so that I grow up. Though I kind of acted like a teen during my teen years in culture and interests, I still did childish stuff like watch "Peter Cottontail" and do egg hunts on Easter up to age 19:
Along with that I still waited for Santa and his reindeer with milk and cookies for the big day as if I was still 6 years old. When I went to birthday parties up to age 19, I would join the pinata games with 2-8 year olds and collect candy.
I bet that many aspies have very similar issues.
I have turned 20 last month, realizing that I might be missing out on the rest of society. So I, myself choose to grow up normally. And right now I am on a hunt for a date.

The main reason I enjoy being an adult is because I don't live like most other adults, with their jobs and families and social lives. I have my own apartment and can handle things like shopping for food and taking care of my pets. I wish I could drive a car but I have never even tried, I could never even ride a bicycle and I can't afford a car anyway. I can stay up late because I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn every morning to go to school or work which is the worst thing ever especially if you don't fall asleep until 5 am. I spend most of my spare time (and I think I must be the only adult left on the planet who has any) playing video games. It seemed like only yesterday when I was still in my twenties and now suddenly I'm 41 and it's like what happened? I've had dreams where I feel very anxious because I'm more aware than usual that I'm aging and it's scary, the way people go on my body and mind should be completely falling apart, and my life should be ending and not beginning, and I don't know if something unusual is my age or something else, like being more forgetful.

I was not looking forward becoming an adult even though I hated my life as a teenager. Other 18-year-olds get a job, move out and start college. I was stuck at my parents' until I was 21 and then put in a group home for people with chronic mental illness. If living in a college dorm is anything like being in a house with ten chain-smoking schizophrenia sufferers I know I would not do well there, except that in the home things like alcohol or sex was forbidden.