Immaturity. Autism vs. Aspergers

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A friend was telling me (oh, by the way, friend is NT), that Aspies are not immature but Autistic people are. I found that black and white, but I bit.

This actually IS a problem for me. I am old, but never got beyond about 12. This has been a BIG PROBLEM to feel 12 and look old. I remember when the kids in the family got more mature than me. I would be running around in my 30s wanting to play. I am serious. And by about 16, they would be like, "Ummmm. No"

I did not catch on till I was much later! That is one of the reasons I got tested. Is anyone else like 12 or so in how they feel? I was in shock when I realized I may never know what it feels like to be an adult. I THOUGHT I was feeling like an adult, but it started to fall into place when I saw I just do not think like an adult.

You would never know unless you got to know me. I trained myself like a dog to act grown up! But for those who know me, it is embarrassing all the time. I am not aware how often I act like a kid in glee until I look around and get all deflated because I am the only old person all excited about something dumb!

I have heard of adults who are childlike in a positive way. Different from childish. My uncles in their 30's are like that. My dad says neither has changed much from when they were kids, he means in a positive way. They are a lot of fun to be around. I remember seeing a movie where a really old man was saying he still felt like he 20 inside. And that's probably true of a lot of adults who like you act older than they feel. And I know from posts I have read here, it is common in autism to both feel and look younger than you are. For myself, even though I have been told I am mature based on how I write*, I sill feel and often act like a little kid. I still like playing with lego and stuff like that.

*Although on my gaming forum I have been called a whiny spoiled brat a few times haha.

I am immature in certain areas like my childlike autistic behaviours and thoughts/fantasies/internal dialogue as well as my ability to take care of myself and be independent that isn't explained by my physical health problems alone. In other areas I can often have intellectual conversations with others above my biological age, which has been the case throughout most of my life.

I'm childlike in ways that I like to experiment with different kinds of art and craft projects. I also like to get out my art supplies and draw whatever is on my mind. I ask myself how something would look on paper and than I draw it. I remember last year, drawing a picture of what I think a butterdog would look like. (A dog with the wings of a butterfly).

I'm also childlike in the way that I wear whatever I want if I'm not at work or visiting my parents and if people don't like how I'm dressed, they don't have to look at me.

I am very much so. I will be 50 in a few months but my emotional functional capacity does not ever exceed 10 or 12. Often times it's much younger. It usually lingers around 6 and has sometimes been much younger. I will even at times have infant like responses. This is because people who are genetically Autistic, as opposed to having Autistic traits and symptoms from environmental factors, have underdeveloped Limbic systems in the brain. This is the cause of emotional stunted development. Research done by Margaret Bauman found this in 100% of Autistic brains that they studied. She also found that in 100% of the brains they looked at, that the neurons in the Limbic system were too many and too small for adults. They were like the normal number and size of neurons for children. This makes our brains younger and since the Limbic system controls our emotional responses, it makes us emotionally younger. She also found that this abnormality was shown to have developed in the second trimester of pregnancy. Now I know that not every Autistic person has this child side so it is my logical assumption that people who developed Autism from a more genetically based source where the brain had a different development pattern in the womb have this where people who have Autistic traits and symptoms which developed from environmental factors might not. But most Autistic people I know who have this issue tend to cap emotionally at around 12.

Aspies are autistic.

If you have issues socializing you are going to be less mature in some areas because you have have less successful experiences with other people in general.

Some natural autistic traits such as "blunt talk" will be judged by others as immature.

I have been called immature a hell of a lot of times. I still think and act like a child in some ways and want to be "babyed" especially when I am ill. However, I am mature in other ways such as being straight edge and never putting myself in danger by doing drugs or getting s**t faced out late at night. I have always looked out for my friends when they have done those things. I would much rather either go to a fun fair like a child or stay at home like an old person than go out clubbing like a "normal" 20 something.

I can totally relate! I am mature in some ways, but very much stuck at 12 years old in others. I don't think it's a problem for the most part; a lot of people seem to like it, actually! I like the energy and imagination that I have, and I also like the ambition that it allows me. I genuinely do believe I can get where I want to be (or at least have a shot at it) if I work hard enough, but a lot of my peers seem to have dulled their ambitions since 'growing up'.

To quote Baudelaire 'genius is no more than childhood recaptured at will' . I think having the mindset of a child (but with the faculties, experience and opportunities of an adult) is a real creative gift. Aside from the occasional social awkwardness that comes from not acting your age, I think this is one of the better aspects of autism.