Am I 20 Years More Advanced due to being Autistic?

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I recently posted a comment on Facebook due to some experiences that I've had with a lot of friends--not to mention former friends--waxing nostalgia, wanting things back how they were, and getting apparently sorta worried about growing up.

I also notice that a lot of the merchandise my partner and I carry on our website people mention they buy due to being nostalgic over having had the vintage version when they were kids.

The weird things is, I could indeed relate...back when I was 15-22. It's like I no longer can.

And some of the things I wanted when I was much younger I no longer do...I feel like I've really moved past that, and am just embracing the coming years of adulthood, whereas most other folks my age are kinda scared about it, and intimidated by me because of it.

It got me to look up the age of director Ridley Scott, as we did the movie Legend, and there was a particular line in the movie that really got me "the dreams of youth are the regrets of maturity". I discovered that he's now 72...which means that quote was said around the time he was 50 or so.

I'm beginning to believe that in a way I'm at the point of being mentally 40-50, and of course most folks my age can't relate to that, as what they can relate to I already hit from age 15-22..back when they just wanted to "live in the now".

What I found funny was that one of the posters here seemed to like what I said on Facebook...making me wonder if this is a normal thing for Autistic folks or not.

So you're saying you no longer look to the past and wish, now you look toward the future hopefully? Sounds pretty healthy to me. You say you "embrace" the future, which is more than I can say for myself, and I'm 4 years younger than you. Looks like from your avatar you still have a bit of childish playfulness going on, and youth in the mind keeps the body and soul young.

FWIW, Ridley Scott directed Legend, but William Hjortsberg was the scriptwriter. He was 44 years old in 1985.

You seem like a great guy, why don't you add me on fbook?

There is a point in one's life where they no longer see the world as their oyster. A time where a person starts weighing the risks of their actions. It's not regretting the dreams, it's regretting to not having the balls to go after them when there is less to loose.

Now that I am older, I have a family..and my responsibility is not to risk their well being by a poorly planned dream.

My my dreams rest in my weekly power-ball ticket.

So if you feel you have the mindset of a 50 year old, what are you afraid to loose?

PM me your info, and I will.

Ok, so between 40-50, like I said!

When I was your age--four years younger than now--I was still a tad apprehensive of the future too, good sir.

Oh, and btw.....the reason for what I'm wearing is that it's my costume for my business; it's also the most recent photo of me. It's my character, basically.

Last edited by TheDoctor82 on 04 Dec 2009, 12:22 am, edited 1 time in total.

I think I might've mis-explained partially.

It seems as though my desires of youth no longer carry me as they did before, and I simply look to pursuing my long-term goals now.

I used to enjoy the prospect of a social life, just "hangin' with the guys", and having a job that paid my bills but also gave me loads of "fun money". I used to wax nostalgia a lot, and want things to be as they were when I was younger, and no longer really do, instead preferring to embrace what is to come in my life.

I have a day job, yes...but I also have a career I'm hard at work on, and a beautiful girlfriend.

I often tend to get discouraged in my fields of choice though, as I'm not up to the point in life where I feel like I should be..but the thing is most normal folks don't get to that point 'til they're like between 40-50.

Will do, sir.

Well, I know that "things were better in my day" is the battle cry of geriatric folk, but I truly believe that the world is slowly, but steadily, becoming a better place to live. I too wish to have a career someday to be able to take advantage of the fruits of the brave new world, but I cringe at the loss of a social life and the loss of the ability to have fun. That happened to my father about 10 years ago.. strangely, 10 years ago was the last time I remember him being genuinely happy. Now he has no time or desire for a social life, no time or desire to do the things he used to enjoy. He's 54 by the way. I hope I'm a fun middle aged and old guy, but at the same time I hope I'm able to fulfill my obligations to society and my future family.

there's actually a quote from a theme song that got me thru what your dealing with now. It comes from Perfect Strangers, and it goes like this: "sometimes the world looks perfect...nothing to rearrange. Sometimes you just...get a feeling like you need some kind of change..."

Well, that feeling happened to me around the time I was 24-25.

Ya sound like you're still in your early '20s. Enjoy it, embrace it...believe me, there'll be a point where you'll go "yeah...it's nice..but I don' know...getting kinda boring...and I want more out of life". Trust me.

You sound more like someone in their mid-20s to early 30s that has a good head on their shoulders. Looking at long term plans and goals. By the time a person hits 50 their goals should already been in play for a while & just fine tuning to make sure things hold together.

One of the biggest complaints by us 'older folks' is that today's youth have no since of personal responsibility. It's good to see someone taking responsibility for ones life and actions. Planning for the future is not the 'older' thing to do, it's the smarter thing to do.

I know many in their 40s & 50s that do not have a clue.. they just live one day to the next, paycheck to paycheck.

See, that's just the thing though: it's why I get frustrated that I haven't already accomplished these things; I'm wondering if honestly my mental maturity is around 20 years ahead of my fellow peers, seeing as how I want things in my life that most folks don't want for quite some time. One of the reasons I'm really beginning to wonder it now is cause one of the folks on this forum posted a comment on my Facebook page, approving greatly of what I'd said to such extent.

If you're wondering what I mean by "haven't already accomplished", well...basically even though my career has only been in business for about a year and a half now, I wish we were getting more orders like several sites that have been around 5-10 years, with that seniority backing them up, and people knowing them.

I also wish I could afford to pop the question to my girlfriend, and though I may have something in the works for that, it will still be a couple of years, and I find it so frustrating, cause it seems so far away.

Everyone always tells me "you're young yet"...and granted, my girlfriend also needs to mature dramatically, but still, it's as though I believe I should be further along in my goals and my life...but then most people my age haven't even gotten this close yet.

People older than me( like around up to 35) are waxing nostalgia over their childhoods....while I was doing that when I was 15.

When I was young, toys were magical.

I think when the Transformers series started rehashing the old designs just to sell to a new generation, I lost interest.

Redoing Optimus Prime is sacrilege.

for me, they still are...but what does that have to do with anything?

Well, I for one think it's awesome that you even have a business at the age of 27 - that's an accomplishment in itself, whether or not you turn a huge profit or have a large following - the only things that matter are that you break even and enjoy what you're doing, both of which it seems like you're accomplishing with no problem.

And I certainly wouldn't worry about proposing late, either. I know so many of my peers, people from 20-24 years old, that are already married, and I think "why? why so soon?" Many of them haven't even graduated college, traveled, or done anything that helped to expand their views of the world beyond their home state. They may say they're happy, but I often wonder if they'll feel regret in five or ten years.

It's all relative; you are neither 20 years ahead or behind anyone. You are doing well, it seems, and share some perspectives with those who are older than you. Given the amount of information bombardment that seems to be common on the spectrum, it is not that surprising that there might be a sense of more 'experience' in some aspects than someone of the same age. I've found that as I've gotten older, I've gotten younger in more regards than older, but I tend to do better with my students and my customers (who are generally between 1.5 and 2x my age) than my "peers" in terms of trips around Sol.


M.

I doubt that you're more 'advanced.'

I do think that we have a harder time with our teens and early twenties. NTs like it better, but we don't think the rapid changes and expected social whirlwindiness is that much fun. The stability of proper adulthood is much nicer, at least if you're actually independent.

Wait 'til your thirties, it's great.

I'm kind of weird with how I think vs how I act my mind is probably pretty up there in age, I think and have philosophies and ideas that people my age don't really have until way later in life..... yet my actual personality is like that of a child. I'm very child-like in person!

r-really? I really hope your right..... I'm 23 and I hated my life as an auspie teen and being in my mid-twenties has gotten better [in a way] but it still really sucks..... so I'm bet my money on your words hahah! It gives me hope