[CantExplain]

My teenage daughter behaves very much like me.
Is an Aspergic simply a teenager who never grew up?

[Sila]

Well if you consider that it's a developmental disorder...it would make sense to assume that somewhere along the line we are developmentally behind- usually in the way of maturity or emotional maturity.

[CantExplain]

Through therapy I have grown from an angry, sullen, moody teenager into a well balanced and responsible teenager. Adulthood still seems unattainable, however.

[Rapunzel]

But there are also things that tend to come naturally to teenagers that are very difficult for people with asperger's, like the complex social interaction that many teenagers have. And in some ways people with asperger's can seem more mature than others in their age group. I feel like I never really was a teenager and never knew how to be, but now I'm in my 40s and have a professional job and my children are teens and one is twenty, and it feels like time for me to do some of the things I missed as a teen. Everybody is different though.l

My son is 15 with Aspergers and my only boy. I'm having problems knowing what is an adolescent male and what is the Asperger's. For example, last week, he took it upon himself to not take the bus home from school, not contact us, and walk home by a different route than usual. (he lost his cell phone and we haven't yet replaced it). He seems genuinely confused when he got home and we were mad at him. I can his Asperger mind saying, "I know what I'm doing, I can walk home. It is the thing to do." and his adolescent mind saying, "I don't think I need to call home. I'm my own person and I can do what I want", but I don't know..... Very confusing.

[-jimi-]

I feel that people with AS are maturing slowly, but ALSO don't fit a stereotype of any age. Some kids are seen as mature, some adults are seen as childish. I feel I have traits of all ages and I always had them! Something that is teen-ish in me is that I change a lot. But I don't want to lose that, that seems boring.

[Callista]

I don't think so. I mean, as far as I can tell I was never a teenager, or really a child. I haven't changed much. I've always been quite serious, pedantic. On the other hand, I've always loved stories and I play as much now as I did when I was a child. I was a serious child--now I'm a serious adult with many childlike traits.

I don't think you can say that autistic people are children who don't grow up, because we're not typical children. We just have our own developmental schedule, one that seems to vary from autistic to autistic as much as it varies from the typical range.

[-jimi-]

I was definitely not a teenager in the normal sense. I wasn't very social, didn't care about what was "cool", didn't party. I LOVED books. So when I say I'm a bit like a teen I really don't mean the social experimenting that is common for teens. More that I try this and that and I don't have a solid self. And that I used o be prone to hurt and anger. Many people with AS have a consistent personality and are more chill about things. I think the more common thing is not to sort of go with the ages be a kid as a kid a typical adult and not even a typical older person.

[CantExplain]

Maybe it's just me, then.