48 going on 15

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I am 48 years old and honestly I feel like I am the exact same person when I was 15. It is like I never mentally developed.

Meanwhile everyone else is completely different when they are 48.

Am I the only one?

I'm perpetually 14. Nice to meet you!

I'm the same, I was 12 for a very long time, now I like to think I'm more 14/15. So maybe we are aging mentally, just much more slowly.

I was stuck at 17 for most of my life
But I reckon I might be over 20 nowadays
Having kids and going through marital separation forced me into adulthood, I think

I miss being 17

I was going to start a similar topic but you were first Yes, I feel an exactly the same person (minus the natural differences caused by the normal process of evolution of my personality over the course of years - in the next 20 years I won't be exactly the same as now, either) since I was in my early teens and developed the ability of abstract thinking, though - what a paradox - back then I wasn't immature at all, on the opposite, at thirteen I acted, thought, perceived the reality surrounding me, spoke and wrote and so on like I was a generation older. I was even once told when I was in my early teens that one could talk to me like to a person in her late teens rather than to someone so young. Now I still behave, think, speak and so on like an adult - but this is normal now, when I'm an adult indeed. But I still like the same stuff I liked as a teenager and I'm the same bad at taking care of myself on my own

I think I am 10 years behind where I should be which is kinda bad considering I just turned 30 ...

I never have been married or had children.

I wonder if that is more the reason rather than autism.

I think I'm a very young 47, but like you, have never married nor had children, and have always lived with my parents

One reason the early teen years are cited as a line of demarcation, it that it is at this point where NT development significantly diverts to adulthood from childhood. The sullen withdrawal during the early teens years has been likened to someone who suddenly awakes with telepathy. It is overwhelming to be considering deeper meaning that one has been previously oblivious to. For example, an eight year old upon hearing someone declare, "You stink", would not be to disconcerted. However, a teen girl who hears someone make the same comment to her might be horrified to consider the possible implications (that she does smell, that people hate her, or that someone she trusts has betrayed her).

The transition into the perception and processing of deeper and abstract thoughts can take years to assimilate just as if someone were to become telepathic would take years to sift through the unwanted to find the essential.

It is not uncommon fro Asperger people to resist the conforming influences that so much shape the development of NT people. The Asperger child often has a strong idea of what he likes and is reluctant to exchange it for something without being convinced of superior value.

In a similar way, it is difficult to put forth a convincing argument for why Peter Pan should grow up. NTs are often on a path of maturity that is created by peers, the expectations of others, and a lemming like patterning of their environment.

Since so much of Asperger life is self-directed, these conforming influences often have little effect resulting in developmental delays.

I definitely still feel like I'm 15. I think the only thing that has changed me slightly is how differently people treat me. People expect a lot more of me now that i'm 24 but I don't feel capable of what people are asking of me.

I would probably consider myself developmentally in my 20s, despite being almost 55. I got my first driver's license at 48.

I'm 44 years old. I have the mindset of a 21 year old Mod leftover from the 60s. I'd rather be that 21 year old Mod than be a proper adult, to be honest. I think that I would be very miserable as a proper adult.

I feel like I'm at the level of a 15-year-old at the age of 35. This slow maturity caused a lot of problems for me as the workload of school increased beyond what I was emotionally ready for. By the time I graduated, I was NOT ready to go to college or have a job. At the age of 19, when I graduated high school, I was emotionally no older than 8 or 9. At this rate, I'll be old enough to retire by the time I'm emotionally ready to have a normal job. I think that, rather than IQ, states looking to ration services should assess and look at EQ.

Yep, I never left my early teens, either. Heck, when I get too emotional or upset, I'm barely even 10.

37 going on 16 with hints or mid 20's. I have owned houses, have a wife and 3 kids and still feel like im 16 most of the time. I still skateboard with the kids, play around etc. Im ok with where i am for once, id rather enjoy the time then get old and wish i did.

I can relate. I'll be 28 in a few days (happy birthday to me) and I feel like I've barely changed at all since I was about 15. Both physically and mentally/emotionally. I've gained some weight and I wear glasses now (I didn't need them when I was younger) but that's the only thing that makes me look any different than I did then. I still have the exact same baby face. And again, I just feel like I haven't caught up with my peers as far as social/emotional maturity. I do still feel like I'm pretty much the same person as I was at 15. I always feel very awkward when I run into old high school classmates, because they always seem so much more mature and put together than I am. And of course, they have actually aged a bit physically over the last 10 years! And people still think I'm a teenager, too. I feel like a lot of it is just because I look young, but I think the way I communicate and carry myself plays a big role in it, too. I still just seem so childlike.