Autism getting worse with age??

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I know there is this idea that autism, much like wine or cheese, gets "better" with age.

But I find tics and autistic-y things that used to not be a problem for me are now starting to be!
For example, I never had a problem with eye contact (I had the reverse issue I would make too much eye contact with too little blinking I guess)
But now I find it really hard to make eye contact?! It makes me seem very shy.
I've also gone mute more now than I have since I was a small small child.
I also stimm a lot more compulsively now, but I realize that's because I let myself do so instead of covering it up so much.
But why is it that things I never did/had to deal with are becoming such an issue now??? Not much has changed other than me just getting older.
I work now... but in a way that is less stressful than college ever was.

I think my repetitive behavior and dependence on routines (still pretty bad though) has lessend over time and some of my sensory issues have gotten worse/better but I find that it's my social skills which seemed to have steadily declined.

My goodness, you young whippersnappers are only 23 years old!

As for me, I test as more autistic now than I did back in 2008.
I wonder if it has to do with life experience?
Getting involved in the art world, setbacks with job and family, (job situation is better now), making a good friend then losing her to heart disease, just generally wanting to be myself regardless of what other people think.

...

Yes I think so, as you age you have more responsibility. On appearance the outside world my seem easier but the burden of time management, wider social situation that are unpredictable and having to just maintain your life in general is exhausting.

As my children grow I have seen changes in the them and some of those changes impact me greatly and I find myself constantly overwhelmed.

I think I had the most issues socially, when I was younger (in elementary, middle, high school and in college).

As I got older, I simply decided that "being social" wasn't important. These days, other than work-related stuff, I don't interact with people much.

I do believe some of my symptoms have gotten worse. Particularly, in the areas of worry/anxiety and repetitive stuff.

I don't "feel" old, I am old. Life gets better, mainly because as you know better you do better. Surveys of life satisfaction routinely show that older (retired) people are generally the happiest group overall. My autistic challenges like noise hypersensitivity have remained stable since my twenties. My vision has declined though that is common to older populations anyway, autistic or not. I wouldn't change my life now for the life I had in my twenties for a billion bucks. I am head of a three generational family that I love, and my time is my own to use however I want to.

I don't think it's got worse, but the older I get (and I'm still young, like half the average age of WP users probably) the more problems it causes me. But I have noticed I do more autistic things - increased self awareness made me think I was getting worse, but it turns out I just wasn't aware of it before. I'd also suggest looking up "autistic burnout". The 3 things combined can appear like you're getting more autistic.

Things happen, you gain experience and that changes how you cope with things.

I've felt this too. I thought it is because the adult world is more complex and demanding, autistic traits show up more. Especially people who are a bit delayed - it never occurred to me as a younger person that "fitting in" was even a thing. Not even on my radar. Now I'm aware of that and as an adult that I don't, its now a problem. Also because by 30, you're supposed to be an adult and again, because some of us are delayed, that's not happening, ostracising you from adult society. There's plenty of reasons why autism worsens in adult life.

Stress from "pretending to be normal" builds up over time leading to Autistic burnout/regression. The older we get the more is expected of us making it harder to "pretend to be normal". Some people learn enough coping skills that not only do they overcome this but thier autistic presentation eases, some don't , others do well until something in thier life changes then kaboom the regression comes on suddenly.

I think in many ways I am more severe with age because my responsibilities and stresses in life are harder and more challenging. I also now live on a street where I am experiencing much more severe sound overload much more frequently. Also when I was younger every store and restaurant and public place did not have invasive music. You could shop or enjoy a meal at a restaurant and if there was any music at all, it was very soft and soothing. The constant barrage of the type of music that people play now and how loud they play it makes me much more on edge now than I ever was. And because it's pretty much 24/7, there is almost no time that I ever get real REM restorative sleep. So all of my traits and symptoms are more frequent now and often times much more severe than they ever have been. I also have some now that I did not have before. I did not have the selective mutism and severe speech deterioration that I have now when I was younger.

I believe, in most cases, that autistic symptoms usually get better with age and experience.