Why do people on the spectrum look young for their age?

Post Reply New Topic

I think part of it is because our special interests often keep us indoors and because keeping our mind always active helps keep it young, quite a bit. But, this is as unscientific as it gets.

Someone who was 12 years younger than me recently thought I was younger than he was (he was confused why I was giving him advice... lol). I am not kidding.

It is actually is a autism trait with real studies on morphological features done and I remember "Youthfull appearance for age" as being on of the features. I read it somewhere and had it in a text file.

I can pass for 18 and am 26. Other high functioning autistics I've met also look remarkably young for their age. So I've made the connection myself.

The only theory I ever came up with is from the context of yoga. Where it is believed that if one has a cleansed and open energy system, more energy is flowing through there system, or rather prana, "spiritual energy" in a sense. It is said the more clear your system is and the more energy flowing through it, the more clean your energetic system remains, the more it can renew itself.

I always thought the aspie 'hypersensitivty' and potential 'hyperactivity' is kind of related to this yogic context of prana, or energy. In that we just have more of it running through us naturally. It makes us hyper aware, hyper sensitive, and keeps our energetic system cleaner and renews our cells faster.

It is an interesting question, for which I dont have a good answer. It is true, though: I appear several years younger than my actual, chronological age.

When I was a kid people always thought I was older and I never got carded entering bars eventhough I was infact underage, even got served a rye and coke at 16(I ordered a diet coke). With that said i'm 23 now and everyone I work with thinks i'm still in high school or late teens. Don't know that happend although I can act like a child sometimes and put no real effort in my appearance, but none of that has changed. Not until now have I ever been asked my age entering controled areas.

This happens to me very often. =)
Im soon 28 and still pass for 18-20. I don't like to be compared to a teenager, it reminds me of me being a teenager and noticing the huge distance between me and the others of my age, such a bad feeling. And as the distance between me and the nowadays teenagers is even bigger, when someones tells me that I look like them makes it worse. I know the person talks about physical appearance only but I can't stop thinking about the mental state as well...

I often get mistaken for the youngest of my siblings, even though I'm the oldest. I always figured it was because both my younger siblings are taller than me, and the fact that I do not use make-up or dress in tight clothing.

I've only met four other people with high functioning autism.

One was in his 60s. He looked to be in his 60s, but then, he was a smoker.
One was the same age as my mother. She looked like she was the same age as my mother.
One was 18. He looked quite young, but I'm a bad judge of young people's ages, so I could not have said whether he looked older or younger than he was.
The last was 22. He actually dressed quite well, and appeared perhaps a little older than he was.

My experience of this is limited to myself.

I am 31 and people think I am a teenager. I literally have to argue with people and show them my driving license before they will believe me about my age. I have contemplated just telling everyone I am ten years younger than I am - it would be a lot easier!

I think it's probably a combination of a lot of things people have mentioned in this thread. But I think it's in large part due to something which doesn't seem to have been mentioned much (though I only skimmed the thread). Autistic people, at least the ones I have met, tend to have a wide-eyed, naive/bewildered sort of look. That wide-eyed look is childlike and will be associated with youthfulness and inexperience. If it's paired with smooth skin (and I also agree that since we do not tend to engage ourselves with the rat-race, we are usually less stressed, and since we are less likely to have outdoor hobbies, usually less affected by sun) and there you have it - the secret of youthful appearance.

It's a pity we can't bottle it and sell it.

I am 46 but could pass for 26.I really don't know why I still look as young as I do.

I'm 33 although depending on who you ask i pass for early to mid 20s. I also still ride a bmx bike and skateboard.
Possibly my lack of social skills and attempts at "dealing" with adult conversations, well at that point people realize something is wrong with me.
The trick is to sort out the people who don't care and they accept you for you
And keep those that are mean and judgemental or might want to take advantage away (i got NT help)

http://keithsneuroblog.blogspot.fi/2012 ... order.html

I'm 19 almost 20 and people often think I'm anywhere from 12 to 15

I look older if anything, but it depends on whether I get haircuts/shave.

I believe it is because we are developmentally left behind, so we tend to show the age of whatever age we've just caught up to. If that makes any sense. I look a lot older than most of my schoolmates because I tend to follow the dress of more fashionably mature woman. However, for a long time I dressed younger than my age because I was, in my head, just reaching that age. My haircuts have long reflected my age, but because of my lack of being able to care for a longer style, my parents made me cut it short and keep it that way. My face and traits show signs of an eight to ten year old girl, but the rest of me grew up a little quicker than all the other teenage females I am acquainted with. My style and body have matured already. My brain and facial features have not

My daughter, in her school photos looks younger by about 5 years, and now at 15 her friends that are 14 look about 18,19. I dont know why, but my daughter is on the 3% per cent tile on growth charts.always has been. She could pass for a sixth grader at 15.

I get told that I look young for my age. That's a nice compliment, however, that "mutation" could also be the reason why I have cardiomegaly or an enlarged heart. I don't know if there are studies in this area but it should be interesting.