Did your Autism get better with age?

Post Reply New Topic

I would def be seen as a major loser when compared to my peers & I always have been. As a kid I was very immature & said & did various things others found weird & offensive. I did not have friends nor went out & socialised with anyone outside of school. As an adult I keep to myself a lot more, when offline anyways. I only worked about 38 months in my life & I'm 42. I got on on SSI at 20 & it switched to Social Security Disability when I was 25 after I had last worked. I don't have any offline friends except for my girlfriend who I've been l've been living with for 12 years now & I'm also friends with my former supervisor who I almost never see in person since I moved in with Cass. In lots of ways it's like I mostly been stuck in a rut throughout my life but the rut changed at various points.

The times in my life when I was the most functional when compared to my peers was when I was going to school as a kid & teen & when I was working in my early 20s but I was still very far from their level. However I do not equate being unemployed for the last 17 years with my autism being worse. I can explain not working as me having physical disabilities. That said I admit on this forum that while my physical disabilities are part of the reason, another major reason why I haven't worked is related to my autism or autism comorbids. If I was more outgoing & had a bigger social circle I could find out about jobs that I could potentionally perform OK & would make better impressions on interviews.

It got better when I was a child.

Now it got worse - I'm a classic example of autistic burnout, but in mid 20s, not later in life.

Worse. autistic burnout stuff at 15 or 16ish lead to lots of repeating high school and doing special school stuff. comunication issues worse with age and meltdowns, although less mentally unwell as I was first at those ages now. but it has been 10ish years

I got sick (in severe depression) when I was 16. Then I started having outbursts of aggression, sometimes to the point that the police had to come and get me.

I also felt very lonely, the whole high school was a disaster so I didn't get a full grade.

I still got a job at a factory and it worked out at first, I advanced there. But lately it's been part-time work. In the end, 30 people, including me, were laid off.

I was put on sick leave, and retired when I was 23, even though I made a few attempts to get into the workforce, including training to be a security guard, but never worked like that.

I went to a psychologist and I was very aggressive, made threats against people and threatened to bomb the union. I also took a lot of drugs during this time.

But later I started hanging out with some girls I met, and it became much easier, I wasn't aggressive at all anymore. We had a lot of fun and I got two girlfriends during that time (I've only had one girlfriend before, at the age of 17).

All aggression disappeared, but my depression remained. But because of my autism, I prioritized completely different things than, for example, hanging out with my girlfriends, so nothing lasted even a year.

But when I was 41, the depression finally let go, and I have accepted my Asperger's diagnosis, which I had doubted for quite a while.

So things have gotten much better now. I sent a letter to my former psychologist, who has retired, and wrote that I was ashamed of how I expressed myself during the period I went to her.

older...yes... PTSD + autism = lousey outcomes . but You do start to learn to stay away from the wrong people, if you can help it . also you figure out what foods of drinks disagree with the above conditions.
So in someways it can be better . Also learned to walk out of Doctors offices if they behave in a less than desireable way. Upset one to the point of his calling security police. When his ego did not allow for his patient to walk out on him.
Very childish . Security caught up to me in the Patients advocates office , As I was there to complain about , this dept head of Infectious disease . The advocate was not in . And the police said , they just wished to make sure I was alright.
( but the real reason was intimidation) Lolz ..and Without any conversation , other than wishing them a better day , than I had just experienced. As I left the building slowly.

I'm 64. If I had to give a short summary, I feel like I am getting 'more' autistic with age, but have gotten much better at accepting and living with it. I no longer struggle to be something that I'm not, then feeling like a failure or a freak for failing.

One thing that makes life "better" for me is being more of control of what happens to me. When I feel like I am losing control over what happens to me, anxiety spikes, and shutdowns start welling up. I am self employed now, and generally have structured my life to be in control of what is happening to me - this has been a huge life improvement for me.

Thought experiment: If they developed a pill that would make your brain function like a NT brain, would you take it? When I was in my teens and 20s and desperately trying to fit in and be deemed cool, or at least normal, then yes, I would have taken the pill. Today, there's no effing way I'd take it. I am 100% cool with my autistic self. So to answer your question, yes, it's better.

Yes and no. I seem to have adapted by shedding some habits that put a target on my back, people seem to respect me more but... I feel burned out and tired. My threshold for certain things is not as strong anymore and I just see dealing with other people as a chore.

Married with 2 children and 3rd on the way. Burnout is seemingly perpetual now. I may be learning now that no gym time might make me more miserable. Have also been doing nightshift for over 2 years now and had to deal with some severe (by my standards) depression. Somehow, the bills still got paid, kids got to school. The relationship with wife and friends are what suffered. I simply chose not to bother communicating with most friends as I do not know what I would say to them anyway.

With that being said. I am aware of the differences between 20 years ago to now. I do not know how to mask anymore and Covid taught me not to care too much.

This question has been the subject of entire threads in the past. I'd take it if it was harmless and had an antidote. I suspect that if it (temporarily or not) totally switched my brain so that I was NT, I wouldn't feel myself any more, and that I, my friends and family, would feel like they'd lost something they'd loved. But a permanent change? No, definitely not. ASD gives me powers as well as weaknesses. I might lose my eye for detail and my ability to hyperfocus in the right environment, for example. I like being me, and I always did. Some aren't so lucky, I suppose, or they don't know themselves yet. Quite possibly the former.

I'm not sure, it depends what the pill would do. I also think my ASD has upsides or rather not the ASD itself, but it has to result from the same reasons as what makes my life enjoyable and successful. I know many languages and work in IT and science, it's very interesting by itself, but to be honest, I don't know any non-autistic person or very few who are able to learn so much. There has to be a link. I have read studies concluding that the same genes are responsible for autism and a high IQ. That makes sense to me, that the way the brain works has the same nuts and bolts in both groups. So I would call the exchange of the upsides for the deficits fair.

But if the "cure" cured only the deficits... sure why not? They're a pain. But at least mine are manageable though lifestyle choices, sensory aids.

Its getting a bit better with finally finding out I have it.

No.

Love the Art work on your Moniker .... Always liked insightful Artwork . Pokeysticker
Yeah meltdowns seem to want to act up more as I age. Hate to do anykind of serious business or legal affairs with anyone especially on the phone ..Am Trying not to do any business after 2:00 pm each day .

I suspect telephone business has generally become harder for all customers. For one thing it used to be possible to phone up and get a human to talk to pretty much immediately, rather than a menu and muzak while you wait in a queue, which is enough to wear anybody down before the actual conversation even starts. And I think they're better trained in how to get rid of people who don't seem like they'll be spending much money. They're getting good at wasting customers' time instead of their own. Certainly I tend to dread the whole thing, and there was a time when I just did it.

I think it's because it's the internet. The internet hosts a lot of sites for a lot of niche topics, including autism and this site, so it's easier to find a community on the net than in real life. Just my thoughts. I'm also very coherent and social on here while not being this coherent and social like you said you are outside of the internet. I relate as well to what you posted here!

I'm only 28 so I may not be able to reply accurately. I do hope some parts of my condition do get better with time.
However, I do notice a difference between younger me and now me.
In my 20s I have achieved.

• Less meltdowns
  Less shut-downs
  An Improvment in executive functioning where I can live by myself for a few days at a time
  More verbal
  More tolerance for sensory "icks"