Published on 12, July, 2020
Do you look younger than your age?
Could this be autism related?
An autistic friend mentioned this to me the other day and then it was commented on in a thread here today.
I do look younger than my age and so does my friend - maybe by as much as a decade (on a good day).
This is something I wondered about too! I'm 35 this year and still get told I look about 19. When I was 18 someone said I looked about 12 and I remember being devastated for months over it. It's a difficult thing sometimes because I get told that I should enjoy it but honestly I get quite sick of being treated like a child by people and being dismissed as inexperienced. It's hard when I have to present my research findings to other professionals and I can tell they think I'm a young, inexperienced student. It's hard enough being taken seriously as a female without looking like a little girl too . Our laboratory roof was leaking the other day and when I asked the maintenance staff to take a look the gentleman said "I think it's just condensation little lady" and patted me on the head. That would not have happened if I looked my age! A few days later the stormy weather was pouring through our ceiling .Maybe it is related to ASD/C. But I always wonder how I can look young when I suffer from chronic stress, which is supposed to be aging.