Can Asperger's worsen / become more apperant with age?

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Ha!
These Exactly -

I have a theory that it gets "worse" because most of the time, we don't have an expanding social network. In school, we're in a forced socialization network, but after we get older and get out of school, all that disappears. I didn't realize how forced it was until after I got out. When people aren't forced to be with you in school, they're not going to do it, and you realize how you're not really able to make social connections. And then our relatives get older and start dying, so our network gets smaller. Other people increase their social network by adding friends and starting a family, but people with AS have a slowly contracting network that shrinks, and as it shrinks they grow more isolated. That's my theory, anyway. Autism seems to get "worse" because isolation tends to increase with age.

I absolutely agree with this last post. As I've grown older my relatives and my few childhood friends have moved on or died, and now I'm completely alone. I worry about getting sick. I have no health insurance, and no one to help me or keep my affairs together if I had to go to the hospital. I really have nothing to look forward to except more years of this, until I die.

One problem is that I know now I don't really get anything out of interacting with NTs. As someone else here mentioned, I know how to fake it, but why bother when after all it is just a bother? I don't get anything out of it except a little distraction, killing a little time. I know now I don't really have strong feelings about people, like most aspies I'm all about things and can barely remember people exist much of the time. I also know they aren't interested in my ramblings and just listen to be polite most of the time. Why continue to inflict that on them? Nowadays I usually just try to keep conversations short and ritualistic, just to be polite to people.

I think that some of the traits we have definitely can become more apparent, like stimming or in some cases, general anxiety.

However, lots of our characteristic usually become BETTER with age. We try to get well with the NT society and we learn lots of things in progress - all just by imitating the NTs.

So I think it depends on the given person. Some get worse with age, some better. But I think, in general, we AS usually tend to get better, not worse. But that is just my opinion.

Mine has certainly gotten more extreme over the past decade this i am sure of

I doubt my Asperger's has become worse; more likely it's just that as I progress through life, I am having to deal with a different set of situations than I've encountered in the past. I think this is why a lot of people with AS feel like it gets worse as life goes on.

I am experiencing real life, post-college, for the first time. I am trying so hard just to stay sane! I just have to convince myself that I will eventually adjust to this stage in life, just as I did in past stages. Change has always been hard for me, as I am sure it is for many of you.

Edit: Just re-read the thread. This is pretty much what I was getting at:

I would hazard a guess that almost everyone here who has commented on getting worse....

Could actually improve under different conditions of environment, diet, stress, detoxification of internal organs.... et al

Plus 2012 has been a stinker for so many people I know

So I see that many are talking more about when they grew up. I've had similar problems. My coping is worse when I'm stressed, and I've given up on fitting in.

But I'm interested more in when people started to show symptoms. Where they always there, then got more noticeable? Did some happen first than others later?