At what age is living with AS hardest?

Post Reply New Topic

Adolescence.

High school, hands down. I think even NTs would name that as the toughest period.

I would have to say my early high school years were the WORST! It's a hard time for anyone with the changes happening but if you are under the spectrum its much worse. The best time of my life I have to say was during college. I did okay in college.. had a group of friends that I enjoyed hanging out with, I did a fair bit of traveling.. I just wish I was able to appreciate it more then because my life now is quite chaotic (but would choose it over my early teen years at anytime) My senior high school years were not too bad either.

I'm only just starting college, but there is nothing that would make me go back to junior high or high school.

Im 19 years old and this is by far the toughest year of living with AS because during this age is where you have to adapt to alot of changes and begin taking on responsibility in your life. So yea i would say the teenage years.

For me, it was my twenties. I wanted desperately to date, but was terrible at it. I wanted a GF, but seemed stumped no matter how I tried. Very lonely, and friends were NO help at all.

Gotta be the teen years. Younger people are given more leeway in their behaviour, while older people are more likely to eventually become adept at mimicking NT behaviour. Teens have enough trouble trying to acquire social skills without having to do it through an Aspie filter.

its not hard, its other people that m,ake it hard

I'd say that adolescence is hardest for aspies as we have a harder time fitting in, as teens aren't accepting of differences. The 7th grade was the worst year for me, as that's when the bullying was at its peak. Once I moved across town and went to a different middle school and high school, things were slightly better. There, I managed to find a small circle of friends among band and debate geeks.

College was much better because most people have matured to the point where they're more likely to accept those of us who are different.

I chose other. I think that there are difficulties at every age. And every age feels like the worst age while you are going through it.

It depends on the person but for me it is childhood. Now that I am a teen I can be independent but when I was a child I dependent on people and I had to communicate with them to do so. Also as I get older I learn to adapt to things more.

The teen years were hardest for me. I don't know much about anything past young adulthood, obviously. There's just something about being a target with very few rights that makes life pretty tough.

Granted, I did have a lot of drama as a young adult; but all in all, it seems like it was more like the shock waves from what happened when I was a teen.

Maybe it's not so much that the teen years are the hardest, but that they're so very crucial to a young Aspie's development. They're the years where your social problems will likely be the most overt and intense. They're the years when your education is starting to get more difficult and less personal. They're the time when you're trying to establish your independence as a separate individual, not to mention learning the skills you'll need to support yourself.

They can be the hardest years of your life; in a bad environment, they almost certainly will be. In a supportive environment, "hard" can just mean "challenging"; but in a hostile environment, "hard" can mean "crushing". But then your own resilience is a factor; the more easily you tend to bounce back from disappointments, failures, and other negative events, the more easily you'll survive your teens.

Oh, yeah, I've had problems as a young adult; don't get me wrong there. It'd run a close second. But at least now I have a great deal more self-determination than I did as a teen; the power to change your own circumstances, even if it's a great deal less power than you wish you had (or even than you should have), seems to be a great factor in how difficult life is. If you have problems, but you know they have solutions, those problems don't seem nearly as hard.

I chose other. For me, all ages have been a challenge. I can't really say which one was the absolute hardest though. Particularly my younger years, childhood as well as adolescence. But even though I have gotten older, life has still been difficult. I got married in my mid 20s & as hard as I tried to make it work out, it didn't. Although I kept at it for nearly 13 years. I had no support from family, friends disappeared (at least I thought they were friends until they all bailed), & once again I was completely on my own & nearing 40. I ended up nearly homeless & had to move back home with my parents when I was 42. More issues cropped up with my parents, & I was at the end of my rope wishing I was dead. Mom & dad just can't be nice, let alone supportive. After 1 year, I moved back out, & back to So Cal. Things have gradually gotten a little better, but I still have all the social issues, still don't know how to fit in, or how to get along with others. I still have a lot of bad days, still have people yelling at me (even total strangers), & don't feel much different than when I was a kid! My parents are not well, mom's health is failing & she still says mean things to me. I can't change her, or make her see me differently. I can only take care of myself, & hope that I someday have peace!

Teens, twenties and early thirties were the worst. It wasn't until I turned 36 that things started to get better. It was then that I discovered that I have celiac disease and once I got that under control things changed. I lost a lot of weight and the gluten induced brain fog was gone. The celiac diagnosis lead to the AS diagnosis because there is a strong link between the two. Now that I know what the hell was wrong with me I am able to use that to my advantage. My social skills are still very limited but they get the job done. The 40's are turning out ok.