Anybody feel much younger than you are?

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I feel like I’m at least 20 years younger too, I’m 52, I just had my birthday few days ago. I look very young too, I have young skin I guess & no kids, I hear having kids can age you & wearing makeup. I guess it cuz of Aspergers/Autism mental age. I remember those phones, since I was born in 1970, I feel like I was born in the wrong decade, the 80s were my fave decade. Dialing those phones could hurt my fingers, I could dial the wrong number, then I used a pencil to dial. I took typing classes in high school, I learned how to type with all ten fingers, one of my fave classes. When me & my mom got the internet, I was in a chat room, I ended up typing with two fingers, I don’t know why.

This has been my experience my whole life, I seem to be perpetually lagging behind my peers. Growing up I was forever disappointed when I finally figured out 'the rules' of being whatever age I was only to find that all the kids around me had moved on to the next stage. Now in my forties I see my home-owning, business-running, pension-investing peers and yes, I'm still some way behind.

I would think so. Because feeling younger keeps you in the present, you just feel like a younger version

I can relate so much. And family expectations make it worse.

I'm 32, but in my mind I really am in my early 20s, therefore someone who has barely some college experience.

If the formula for people who have AS/HFA is real, by the time I turn 40, I will behave like someone who is 26, by the time I will turn 50, I will behave like someone who is 33, and the time I am 60, I will behave like someone who is 40.

I feel like I can’t hold an adult conversation too. Right now, I feel like I went backward in life.

Wow! Kinda neat

It’s funny when I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to grow up, now I’m an adult wanting to be a kid again. I really really cannot handle the adult responsibilities, I have a cat,it’s hard to take care of her half of the time, but I love her sooo much, without her I would be very very lonely, feeling like nobody love me, nobody care about me & I wouldn’t be happy.

You are much younger than you are. That is one of the hallmark signs of Autism. That is part of the definition of developmental disability. Our brains do not develop evenly across the boards as neurotypical brains do. That is part of what makes us Autistic. Each part of our brains develops individually and caps at a different level unlike an nt brain that stays even as it develops. So our social, emotional, and analytical ages will be very different from each other. I am 55 like the speed limit . My analytical intelligence age level is beyond comprehension but by social age functioning level is about ten years old and my emotional age functioning level is about 4 years old. It is very common for Autistic people to have much younger social and emotional ages than their chronological ages.

In fact, there was an autopsy study done by Margaret Bauman, I don't know the year, but she compared Autistic adult brains with nt adult brains. In every single Autistic brain she found that the neurons in the limbic system were too many and too small making them just like the limbic systems of children. So yes, your brain is actually much younger in certain areas than your chronological age. That is part of what defines a developmental disability.

That explains a lot thanks

You are welcome!

I was into forms of entertainment like movies & video games in my 20's similar to how a 10yr old would have been. Whereas a lot of people I knew had mostly left those things behind, maybe just casually indulged in them.

That's very common in Autism

I grew up way too fast and took on adult responsibilities as a child, but somehow managed to feel like I'm stuck as a permanent teenager who has been thrown into the adult world. I can manage to do most adult things I need to...I get my bills paid and clean my house, I live alone and mostly do alright buying food for myself...stuff like that. I managed to get married and divorced twice. I have a few kids and even a grandchild. But I still feel like I'm some teenager lying to the world and just pretending to be a grown up. It's weird to me. Still, at the end of the day, I think (if I'm being completely honest with myself), I'm more child than adult. I need more help than I care to admit to. Some adulting I rock. Some, I fail at quite miserably. Sometimes that bothers me, sometimes I'm fine with it. It does have its pros and cons, I suppose. I mean, if I was some super serious adult, I might not embrace the wonders of things like couch cushion forts in the living room or rolling around the floor laughing at a stupid song. I never have figured out how to take this whole life thing too seriously, and I thank my 'young-ness' for that.

working this week, i noticed the level of nervousness i feel around strangers is intense around people that my mental age sort of matches. ironically, they're usually the most stuck up (it seems) late teens early 20s

I just rounded my 69th birthday, but physically I don´t feel different from my early 40es. I don´t feel "elderly" at all. I am probably "boyish" - driving about on a boy-bicycle, doing woodwork, fishing...... and am a member of a musical practise community - practising classical piano.