Aspergers & Mental Age

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Why Aspergers have a mental age problem & can REALLY act & think very very young?

Because Autism/Asperger's is a developmental disorder. That is what a developmental disorder means. It means that the brain does not develop evenly. Each part of our brains develop separately and independently from all the other parts. In a neurotypical brain all the parts develop at relatively the same rate like one unit. For us, the emotional part of the brain does not tend to develop as much as the analytical part and the social part does not tend to develop as much either. That is why so many of us are socially and emotionally much younger than our intellectual or actual ages.

Maybe an aged brain is defined by increasing connectivity between different parts of the brain. If I remember correctly, the Default Mode Network (DMN) connectivity increases with age. DMN is the brain network which is active while you don't do anything specific. If I remember correctly, there are disruptions in the DMN of autists.

As far as I know, the global connectivity (between different parts of the brain) in the autistic brain is significantly reduced compared with neurotypical brains, while the local connectivity (within certain parts of the brain) is significantly increased. Seems the autistic brain fails to form long distance connections, and forms short distance connections instead.

So if an aged brain is defined by increased connectivity between different parts of the brain, then it would make sense that the autistic brain seems "younger", even childish. Yet it would still be significantly different from a child's brain.

I've had a look at my DNA and it shows there is a gene variation ( rs4307059(T;T) ) which leads to decreased adhesion between neurons in the brain. So maybe that's a possible reason why a brain could form less long distance connections and more short distance connections during development.

"Mental age" is just a crude was of describing either intellectual disability or immaturity in behaviour which is not always ID but sometimes caused by other things

Mental age is a demeaning concept. It's always used to say someone is younger mentally than their physical age and deny them things. My mother wouldn't let me learn to drive at 16 or get a part time job because "You're younger mentally". I also was forced to basically babysit this bratty teenager girl because "you're autistic and can't make friends your own age". I also had to take swimming lessons at 13 specifically for autistic kids. I was 13 but all the other kids were 2, 3 and 4. Whenever I complained about this I always got, "You're younger mentally!"

My mom told me I should not drive when I was in teenager, I took driving lessons anyway, I wasn’t good, I was taking driving lessons from a professional, but I got scared behind the steering wheel, I first learned from my dad, I hit a curb, I was driving his Mercedes Benz, it was a classic car from the 60s, I think, I don’t know if he still have it, last time I saw it was 10 years ago. Anyway, I was practicing driving in an empty parking lot next to the Rose Bowl, I remember my nose was soooo itching, I did bad, I hit the curb, that was the end of the driving lesson. My mom was nicer about me having Aspergers, but she wouldn’t let me ride a bike or roller skate, maybe because of my Cerebral Palsy.

If people are struggling, why do they compare themselves to autistic people? I maybe struggling ALOT, but I’m struggling cuz of other things too, like having Cerebral Pasly, Psoriasis, Learning Disability & more things.

I couldn't just go somewhere and take a driving class. I lived in a forest in the middle of nowhere and was homeschooled. I didn't know anyone.

That would explain why I have a good grasp on facts and such but can still end up throwing a fit like a 5 year old if something upsets me. yes it's embarrassing and not proud of it but it happens.

Yes I think so. The concept becomes less pejorative at my age though, when I can use it to see myself as less senile and inflexible than my chronological age suggests I should be.

You too?

I do that too, I get frustrated and start getting upset and five minutes later I've calmed down and back to normal again.

ACTUALLY, AS requires that your mental age CAN'T be over 1SD below average! SO, AT LEAST ACCORDING TO THE LAST DSM Your IQ can't be below 85. So if you are 18, your MA can't be below 15.3. Of course this IS based on the COMPOSITE score. ON THE OTHER HAND, however, you can have AS and have a mental age of 36 or whatever, with your chronological age being 18. That would put your IQ at 200.

Well, you can ACT like a little kid, or a baby, when you get upset, but that doesn't mean that your mental age is that of a little kid. Temperament and intelligence are two totally different things.

my scumbag of a father uses this as a defense for me making important decisions like for my transition, because if I make poor decisions emotionally or misinterpret things, obviously I am a moron in everything else too

if your emotional processing capacity caps at 5, you are not ACTING like a baby. Your brain LITERALLY IS that age.