How do people with mild aspergers usually fare later in life

Post Reply New Topic

by adulthood and then recognize that Aspergers explains your entire life, then you finally have a name to match the certainty that you are markedly different from most of your peers. You have the double whammy, double edged sword- knowing that you are weird and will always be so and that you may be missing a large amount of communication and social double meanings no matter how "successful" you seem, but also having tools to deal with the problems you face. Strategies that work for kids (which is all the general 'autism warrior' community tends to focus on) can be adapted for kids. Have problems with organization? Get someone with good organizational skills to help you organize your life in a way that makes sense for you. Create checklists (visual schedules) to get you through the day. I'm not diagnosed but I have enough of the symptoms to benefit from the interventions anyway. Recognize that enjoying the highly socially ambiguous world of NTs is out of reach for you and focus your attention on people who are straightforward and a bit odd even if they don't have Autism.

I have AS traits (largely communication skills), only diagnosed in a non - standard way, after my education. I improved, especially my communication skills. I have a degree, postgraduate qualification prior to diagnosis.

It depends on the AS, if the main weakness is communication skills, the outcome is better than if the problem is social interaction/social skills.

However, most people with AS cannot work with or without support. They cannot apply for jobs, even if they have a degree. In the UK people with high IQ/higher education are very unlikely to get the support. Why did they triple the tuition fees , people with AS will be in debt ? If people with AS are employed, they are highly likely to be under - employed (waste of skills, education, money).

I think people make improvements, but the overall outcome is poor.

I don't know what you mean by "later in life" and don't know how old you are. But I'm 32 and suspect I may have AS.

I have a relatively decent job, but I feel about 5-10 years "behind". I dropped out of college at 22 due to a nervous breakdown. I lived with roommates until I was 30. I've only had one serious romantic relationship in my life, which lasted 2 years from ages 29-31. I've had an average number of sexual partners (I'm female and have slept with 5 people), but can't manage a romantic relationship to save my life. It requires too much work and too little personal space. I've always wanted to have a child or two, but am not sure if it's still in the cards.

I just feel behind. And I feel that while I'm mature in some ways, emotionally, I am also woefully emotionally immature in others.

So, I've achieved a few things, but at a slow rate and it's always stop-start-stop-start with progression.

For me it got better.

Asperger's didn't officially exist in psychology when I was a kid. And I did well enough that my parents never saw a need for me to see a psychologist anyway even if it did. I think that they chalked up my eccentricities to just being an gifted intellectual. Because of that I'm not officially diagnosed, but I think that the evidence is too strong to say otherwise. Like I said: it got better, so there's no need for me to get a diagnosis now as an adult.

Grade school sucked because of the bullies and lack of girlfriends, and the inability to keep them in the rare times when I got one. When I was in college it was totally different. People behave more like adult. You are also not forced to be with people you don't like all day. Classes tended to have different people. You're not stuck with them during lunch. Etc. Though still no girlfriends.

Thus the only thing that was depressing was finding a woman, or the lack thereof. But then a few years after college I was lucky and found a woman who seems a perfect match for an aspie dude. I consider myself extremely lucky in this regard because it's clear to me that the vast majority of women would not work well with me. I really can't imagine any woman beside my wife whom I could put up with and conversely whom could put up with me, much less have a meaningful loving relationship. So I don't consider this normal but rather lucky.

Even had I not had that l luck, I believe that my aspieness + giftedness has allowed me to excel in an IT career. I'm one of the most valued IT employees at a Fortune 500 company. It's a fun career and pays very well, the perfect combination. Although I did go to college, I think I could have done the same without the degree. Had I not found my wife then I was pretty good at drowning myself in my special interests (computer programming and sci-fi/fantasy books) to stay sufficiently distracted from that deficiency. And having a job that is my special interest helps; I can drown myself in work and feel fulfilled. Maybe that would not be good for long term emotional health, but it seemed to work while I was single.

As of later in life: im quite curious to know how I will be. But my dad who im pretty sure has AS seems to be doing fairly decent. He's really lucky that he has my mom who handles most of the social aspects of his life. As for him: himself, he has very few friends, he has a substantial amount of acquintances. He mostly socializes with the family. He works at home, brings in a stable income, he works around a rigid schedule which creates order in his life. To outside people, he comes across as normal due to many years of knowing surface knowledge of how to greet people and make small talk. Besides, he doesnt socialize outside the home much. Overall he knows very well in how to navigate his life which hes been living for many years, which there hasnt been much change from what I can see.

I think I have mild Asperger's too. I can function well enough in society, for the most part. Don't ask me about driving or relationships though.

I am 31 now and I feel a lot more confident than I did in the past. I also used to act much more childishly, though I still am quite immature. Getting involved in the workplace helped sort these things out a bit.

Good points: I can pay my bills, I take care of cleaning my apt. and buying groceries and stuff.
Bad points: I am pretty crap with money. I have no savings. I spend far too much time alone. Can't drive and have yet to have any kind of relationship.

Overall, people think I'm interesting but weird. Not so shabby

A lot also depends on what you are asking in how people with AS fare later in life.

Socially, with work, I think an AS person can have a moderately healthy social life (well, certainly better than they were used to).

Where prosperity is concerned, I think people with AS have cause to be very concerned. Without a darn good job, saving up for your future needs isn't very easy, or at all possible. I know I have a hard time getting anything more than a basic "supply today's needs" type of job. I know age discrimination is a real phenomenon among NTs, so I figure it's even worse for those of us with unremarkable skills and a social barrier to connecting with those who can open doors of opportunity for us.