How Come My AS seems not as strong as I get older?

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Okay,

I am diagnosed with AS and I clearly have it especially if you look at my childhood and some of the same struggles continuing today.

But as I am in college, all of the sudden I have learned how to carry a conversation with stuff. I still get obsessed with stuff and get focused on one thing at a time but for some reason my obsessions don't seem to be as unusual as they were when I was a kid, and I have a MUCH greater ability to say no to myself when it comes to obsessions. I am starting to catch people's body cues when they talk to me and I am starting to realize more whether it is my turn to talk or not.

Sometimes it seems as if I am slowly just fading into neurotypicalism, and it is a little bit discouraging because when it comes down to it, deep down inside I really don't want to be like everyone else around me. With Asperger's I feel like I can be something different and outside of the norm. I would rather not look just like everyone else in my social skills and stuff.

So what is going on here?

A Question also is, does Asperger's fade away for some people. I know I have not lost Asperger's at this point but is it possible for someone to lose it as they get older?

I almost worry sometimes if that is where I am headed. I do want to function in the world, but that doesn't mean I just want to be like everyone else.

god damn I wish mine would go away
I f*****g hate having AS

I envy you man

It is because you are learning. Also it might also be a combination of the fact that you can choose more so who you interact with than in grade school in which you have no choice who you sit next to. With the major you choose you tend to be around those who have simlar interests to you and also by the time you are in college you learn better how to talk to people. Same thing for me. I interact better with my classmates but I can't carry a good conversation with anyone I work with. And in college there is a better diversity of people I think and more chances to interact with people you have more in common with.

Like if I bring up something I am really interested in they will probably respond back and we might have a conversation about it, but if I do the same thing at work, people just give me blank stares and immedately change the conversation and start talking to someone else. Like I have an antenna project I have to do and I can go on and on about the different software I am using and what they want to do with their antennas. But the moment I say the word antenna at work the conversation is over. So yeah. Also at work I pretty much go on automatic response now sometimes the responses get mixed up.

But I still know that I have AS, but that doesn't change the fact that I still need to make an effort to succeed in social situations to go forward, that doesn't mean that I can't do it. I just do it with a whole lot more anxiety than the person next to me. But that is ok I get over it. If I made a big deal over the fact that I can't talk to people or socialize then I wouldn't be where I am today. AS doesn't mean the inability to socialize.

This post is so disorganized.

Mine had faded some. I wonder where I will be at in ten years on the spectrum.

We develop the ability to compensate for social deficits as we get older. I know it is true for me, at 40, although I still scored low on the percentile for socialization skills during my last assessment. I am cheerier and say hello to people and act interested in them and things like that.

I don't think it fades away or disappears, but you learn ways to overcome some of the difficulties with it.
I don't say inappropriate stuff anymore, or interrupt like I used to.
I can talk to people for a short while.
I rarely stim, though it comes up when I get nervous.
I still have some problems like taking things too seriously and getting angry/sad too easily, but like they say practice makes perfect.
I was undiagnosed for 22 years, so I would try to be like everyone else because I had no idea what was wrong with me.

It's like Whitetiger says. Everyone develops more skills as they become older. It makes sense that adaptive "work arounds" would be developed by many with AS as they get older. Further, non-autistic people gain skills in directing their attention as they grow into adulthood. There is no reason to expect people with AS would not also improve in this area, relative to their own strengths as weaknesses as children.

So we have established that people with AS improve.

One question though is do you think someone with AS can adopt social skills so well that they no longer have AS?

Of course people with AS can adapt to the world as they mature, introduce coping strategies, self control over behaviour and we learn from rejection.

I'm assuming you are not married or in a long term relationship, no children and have no major executive decisions with paying a morgage etc. Your AS will come back with a vengence with stressful issues such as the abovementioned.

Let us know in ten years time when you have experienced some of the above and how faded your AS has progressed. Periods of high stress in your life regress your AS very quickly IMO.

For me, it fluctuates, depending on what's going on with me.

By the way just so you get an idea of my age, I'm a Junior in college.

I agree with the replies above...

Through the trial-and-error method, you've probably learned enough skills into your adult life to survive basic social situations.

As an adult, it is easier to retreat from a stressful situation and escape from your problems at least on an immediate basis. You can choose(if anyone) who you associate with and you don't have to struggle with the preps/bullies daily like in middle school. If you spend most of your time solo in your home, your AS won't surface while watching TV.

I think though that if you were suddenly thrust back into a situation of extreme stress, such as having to work at a Fast-Food restaurant or being involved in a lawsuit, the AS would resurface quickly. It is not gone, just dormant.