This happens to me all. The. Time. When I was 21, I tried to buy mace and was told that I had to be at least 16 to buy it and did I have a parent with me? When I took the bus to university, a bus driver told me I didn't have to pay because kids 14 and under rode free. One time my mom told me she showed a picture of me in my 20's, decorating a Christmas tree in my Santa hat and pyjamas, to a co-worker, and asked her how old she guessed I was. She estimated eight or nine.
I'm 26, but I stopped growing after reaching 4'11", and I weigh roughly 90 lbs, which according to medical growth charts, is literally the average size of an 11-12 year old female. I wear baggy clothes, and I'm very underdeveloped (barely fit an A-cup), so people often get the impression that I haven't hit puberty yet. It doesn't help that my dress style tends to be very juvenile, because kids' clothes are far more comfortable than those made for adults, plus, it's really hard to find adult clothes in my size.
Sometimes I get frustrated at being mistaken for a child all the time, like when waiters in restaurants offer me a kid's menu and crayons, but sometimes it's nice. I know I can get away with stimming and running around and chewing on my chew tube in a way that would cause people to look at me askance if I actually looked my age. It's definitely a double-edged sword.
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"Survival is insufficient" - Seven of Nine
Diagnosed with ASD level 1 on the 10th of April, 2014
Rediagnosed with ASD level 2 on the 4th of May, 2019
Thanks to Olympiadis for my fantastic avatar!