Do AS symptoms progress with age?

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I'm just asking this because i've only recently even found out about AS and prior to that i had been conducting this huge introspective effort to deduce what the hell is wrong with me (well, ive been doing that my whole life, lol)... cause like within the past few years (im 24) all the things i have been struggling with my whole life just seem to be getting harder.

and the thing i cant tell is if it's cause im in a new environment... i just moved to go a college couple years back.... or if it's because maybe symptoms tend to progress as you get older.

there are a lot of things that i can attribute to my depression/issues being due to a new environment... but other things like my light sensitivity (i used to be able to sleep til lik 2pm w/o trouble... now--i dont care if i went to bed at 10pm or 3am... as soon as there's a tiny bit of light; i cant sleep) just seem to be a natural trend.

and other things, like growing up in my home town; i loved driving. no problem. yet, even after being in this town a couple years, i still cant seem to find my way around. im afraid to drive and when i do (by myself) i always get lost and freak out.

there are tons of other things, i dont want to bore you... but do any of you tend to find that some of your symptons/irratibilities are maybe more pronounced than they used to be?

I've just found out about AS myself at an age of 37, and my symptoms haven't changed much the last 20 years I think. A couple of years ago, I started doing some irrational rituals like having to check the stove several times before leaving the house, but got over that by myself. At the moment, the symptoms that I'm aware of are too much/too little facial expressions, too much/too little eye contact, 'wrong' tone of voice, and probably unusual body-language. These symptoms have been mostly unchanged for a long time as far as I know.
If you start having symptoms that you feel interfere with your life too much, you should probably work on them. I know walking around town on saturdays, eating lunch at restaurants and going out on nightclubs by myself has helped my apprehension of being around people. Now I enjoy walking around town and checking out the cute girls
If driving makes you nervous and you want to get over it, you have to start practicing it. Start with something easy, and go from there.

Maybe it's just that life gets harder when you leave home and high school and stuff.

Only that wouldn't explain your light sensitivity getting worse... Now that I think about it, my touch issues also got worse these last few years.

AS does not 'progress,' as in, get worse over time. Actually, as you get more experience with life, most people get better at coping. It's possible that things seem harder because you have become more aware of your difficulties since you learned about AS.

Getting lost in a new place is not unusual. Even though you've been there 2 years, you will know the town you grew up in a lot better. A lot of people with AS have trouble learning their way around new places, which would explain why you still get lost after 2 years.

As for the light sensitivity; a lot of adults find that they wake up earlier, even though as teenagers they could sleep all day long! The early waking may not even be related to your AS at all.

There could be other factors too, like stress of depression, which are affecting you.

'Sensitivity' issues are at their worst when you are at your worst, for instance if you are sick, tired, run-down or under extra stress. New environments are usually highly stressful for people with AS - but in this case you are not just 'being' in a novel situation, rather you are living in one, so it wouldnt be unusual for you to experiance extra stress in your particular situation, and it wouldnt be surprising if that stress manifested in heightened 'sensitivity-issues'.

No, and yes.

Overall, I've learned more coping strategies, skills, work-arounds etc. as I've grown older and acquired more experience.

When I'm tired or depressed, some of these become more troublesome to maintain, because they represent adaptations to society, not my natural (wild, uncivilised?) self.

And as I've become more aware of the implications of AS after an adult diagnosis, I've picked up an inclination to conform a bit less, and be myself a bit more.
Not an inevitable slide like a disease progressing, but a personal choice, looking for a different position of relative comfort with myself and others.

I agree. I don't think AS symptoms increase with age; on the contrary I think that the symptoms decrease as people learn to deal with them/hide them in order to be successful in life.

However, I think that life in general gets much more difficult with age. In elementary/middle/high schools, your parents and teachers have to provide for you/advocate for you/support you/etc. Then in college, you move away from home and must take additional responsibility for yourself. You are expected to be your own advocate and are no longer entitled to the care you used to get. After college, you are completely responsible for supporting yourself. I feel like I lag further and further behind my peers as I get older because life gets harder and I can't handle the new life challenges as well. But my AS symptoms aren't getting worse; they're just getting more significant as life gets harder.

yes, i suppoes life is just getting harder.

i think im just having way to many things explode in my face. im really glad i found this website and yet i guess i havent figured out what to do with it all.

and i think that's maybe my problem. ive always motivated myself to work on things ive had problems with, which is why i think i'm pretty well adjusted despite some of my quirks... only now, i just dont know what to do or how to do it.

guess this is just one of my phases

Some of my traits have lessened and some have increased. My fear of driving, travel, and new places came to "fruition" in my mid-20s. But some of my more dusturbing symptoms (that actually made me wonder if I was schizophrenic) have decreased.

I don't believe AS symptoms increase with age. I believe the ability to ignore them or rationalize them away finally results in the quest to understand. (in the case of the undiagnosed-slipped through the cracks). After you know what they are it may definately get easier to deal with them-at least then you have a framework to work within that is explainable to EVERYONE.


just my thoughts.
32 and now explainable

I think they get worse with age. I used to hug people all the time when I was little and stuff, but now I don't. I used to be able to talk to kids my own age when I wanted to and stuff, but now I can't relate to people my own age. I would usually talk to adults when I was little, though. Some things I was really bothered with when I was little have gotten better, though, like clothes. That might be because I pick out my own clothes, though. Actually, yeah, that's probably why. So, yep. I think symptoms get worse with age.

I come down on the side of symptoms do not get worse with age. I think you begin to cope better, you have years of dealing with your quirks! Things still bug you, some always will, but you have defenses and skills so as to not become so overwhelmed from them.

I do not think that the symptoms get worse with age but I know that I have less and less tolarence. My coping skills have increased as I age but I am less inclined to use them if you can not accept me as is them I do not need you I refuse to pretend to like crowds and social situations that make me unconfortable,

This is something I wrote on this sort of topic awhile ago:

http://www.autistics.org/library/more-autistic.html

Anbuend.....a million thanks for your link...it was well written and informative.I hope the original poster will read it because it deffinatly seems applicable...


I dont know if I am AS...in the process of a DX....but I do know that I have learned how to deal with many of the "traits" and sensory issues by working overnights,stopped forcing myself to be in social situations because counslers told me to do it and I would be less depressed(not only stayed depressed but became more anxious and had lower self-esteem trying to fit in and pretend )

I have had alot of memory problems since childhood...cant find my shoes or homework...cant remmber the scietific names for "nature" inspite of on-going interest and reading about these things.
this does seem to have gotten worse with age(42)maybe its because my life is more demanding, more things to remember...maybe its just "old age"(why dont many 50 year old women have children....because they would forget where they put them down....always some truth in humor)
It also maybe because I have increased stress at my job and am "retreating...less aware" of my invironment due to small periods of shut down?

One thing that has gotten much worse, though, is my intolerence of heat...I use to be outside all the time from childhood into my late 20's going camping...Now I cant stand to be outside if its over 80(very humid where I live)....I really miss being in nature but have to wait for fall to enjoy it...