"The human brain does not stop developing until age 21"

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... or even 25 ... I read this a lot of different places. It is used to explain poor impulse control, poor judgment, inability to plan, and so on, in late teen years. I think it is true, and I have used the principle to help NT parents understand their NT kids. It is also a reasonable defense for kids facing life sentences for murder.

If this is true, and if social maturity lags for AS individuals by as much as one third of their chronological age, does that mean in AS, the brain is still developing up to age 30 and more?

I do think neuroscientists have reconsidered the old "plasticity" concept, and the fact that people after a stroke can relearn language, writing with the nondominant hand, and other skills, suggests that development can occur after mid-20s. Now, no one is saying a 35-yr-old can't learn - the title quote just means that the brain is not fully mature until early to mid 20s.

What I am asking is, what is the impact of all this on the autistic brain? Does any of this seem true to you?

I do not know, but I noticed a big change in my personal confidence as I got older. When I was in college, although I was advanced academically, I was still super timid compared to my age-mates. I think I would have taken even longer to grow up if I did not have my kids. Taking care of them *forced* me to find my voice and do things like make phone calls to the doctor's office, etc. I think I would have stayed hidden for a lot longer if left to my own devices.

if the human brain does not stop developing until age 21, then it stops developing at age 21 and i can not see the importance in that fact. in 2000 years they will all be dust anyway

Don't know about what implications that has for the AS folks, but I'm not at all surprised that a typical human brain would take up until 25 to fully mature. I'm not really an authority figure in this sort of field so frankly my opinion on the matter is completely worthless.

Not if we find a way to convert humans into machines. I'll laugh and roll around in your dust with my 2000 year old mechanical body.

pfft..not worth a reply

I think it's likely true at least in my case.

Clearly you lack ambition.

Despite all this I hear, I must have been a special case. I was considered to be way ahead of myself but yet I was emotionally immature and my social skills but my responsibilities ranged in the late twenties range when I was in high school. In fact it was other kids in my school who I thought were dumb and immature and I was like goody two shoes. 15 years later I still don't feel any different except I have more knowledge because you never stop learning. I used to think it was an NT thing so I thought why would I want to be NT and be stupid like them? I was seeing drugs and teen pregnancy and cutting school, all the negative stuff and stupid things teens do. Four of them even crashed a car into a house during lunch period and the girl driving broke her arm and that was her only injury. They were going too fast so they lost control and drove into a house. I know not all teens are this way so I know not all of them are like this due to brain development.

While most 20 year olds are trying to figure out life and have problems with managing money and spending and saving, I was way ahead at that age with all of that.

Looks like the brain doesn't fully mature till as late as it's convenient to invalidate younger people of ages at which it used to be customary to live as an independent adult, but isn't anymore.

I wonder if that is why the 'typical' human brain is not maturing until the mid twenties. Childhood has been, and is being extended by the WEIRD culture dynamics, especially in the US. Other cultures (and ours in the past) had rites of passage at or near puberty. These were meant to transform the roles of the young from child to adult. We don't really do that now, plus infantilizing of the entire population (instant gratification, materialism, narcissism, short attention spans) seems to be a growing trend among all age groups except for the very old.

I don't think there's any reason to suspect AS brains are literally slower to develop. We may be slower to learn certain skills, but that doesn't necessarily translate into slower brain development. In fact, in some ways our brains may develop faster, at least in infancy - a subset of autistics show more rapid brain growth in the first 2 years than NTs do.

Keep in mind that some parts of the brain, such as the hippocampus, never stop growing, even in your 80s. And the parts that do stop growing can still rewire connections between existing neurons. What this means is that no matter how old you are, you never lose your capacity to learn. (Well, unless you get dementia or something.)

Until age 21?!


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