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wondering if my brothers issues with ageing is connected to autism

Pianist_Louise

My brother has been told by someone (in metal heath I believe) aspergers, mild autism but doesn't believe its ever been officially diagnosed but the way he reacts and what's written in his notes suggests he has. he's clearly is in denial, and is adamant he doesn't have the traits. I'd be surprised if a neuro typical person could could do an impression of Matt Lucas as Vicky Pollard in Little Britain.

He says he doesn't want to age and wants to look like a child forever even though he's 30. I know women are know to struggle with aging but not to the point of not wanting to look over 18. 

It makes me wonder if this is connected to autism in some way or maybe his fear is more having to have responsibility in and adult sense, that he's never had to have and maybe masking the real reason?

I'd love to know if anyone else has experienced this?

Parents
  • Pianist_Louise said:
    the way he reacts and what's written in his notes suggests he has. he's clearly is in denial

    Unfortunately many people, autists included, have a strong preconception that being "on the spectrum" means that they are defective, mentally ill or otherwise undesirable which leads to them rejecting a diagnosis. Sort of a "what you don't know can't hurt you" sort of denial.

    There is nothing you can do to force the issue and it is best to respect his wishes I think, but you could do some research on it if you are interested and may be able to suggest some ideas for him to deal with his issues if you undestand how other autists deal with them.

    The impressions thing he does could be a form of "scripting" which we commonly use to find ways of interacting using pre-prepared & practiced phrases or quotes, sometimes as impressions.  These are often used to gain credibility (eg cause others to laugh) or to ease conversation.

    The rejection of aging is possibly linked with the fear of change that many autists have. When we find a sweet spot where we have things going the way we like then we don't want it to change and this can cause quite extreme reactions for some when it happens anyway.

    If you do want to look more into autism then a start would be to look at the traits you can identify for him (and yourself since it is genetic)

    https://thespectrum.org.au/autism-diagnosis/checklist-adults/

    The nature of a spectrum condition like autism means he will have some symptoms and they will be at varying intensity. If he has enough at a severe enough level then he would proably quality in a diagnosis as autistic but otherwise he could still be "on the spectrum" but not badly enough to merit the disabiity label that the diagnosis provides.

    It could be interesting to see who else in your family has the traits but be careful in broaching the subject with them as many still have a stigma around the subject.

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  • Pianist_Louise said:
    the way he reacts and what's written in his notes suggests he has. he's clearly is in denial

    Unfortunately many people, autists included, have a strong preconception that being "on the spectrum" means that they are defective, mentally ill or otherwise undesirable which leads to them rejecting a diagnosis. Sort of a "what you don't know can't hurt you" sort of denial.

    There is nothing you can do to force the issue and it is best to respect his wishes I think, but you could do some research on it if you are interested and may be able to suggest some ideas for him to deal with his issues if you undestand how other autists deal with them.

    The impressions thing he does could be a form of "scripting" which we commonly use to find ways of interacting using pre-prepared & practiced phrases or quotes, sometimes as impressions.  These are often used to gain credibility (eg cause others to laugh) or to ease conversation.

    The rejection of aging is possibly linked with the fear of change that many autists have. When we find a sweet spot where we have things going the way we like then we don't want it to change and this can cause quite extreme reactions for some when it happens anyway.

    If you do want to look more into autism then a start would be to look at the traits you can identify for him (and yourself since it is genetic)

    https://thespectrum.org.au/autism-diagnosis/checklist-adults/

    The nature of a spectrum condition like autism means he will have some symptoms and they will be at varying intensity. If he has enough at a severe enough level then he would proably quality in a diagnosis as autistic but otherwise he could still be "on the spectrum" but not badly enough to merit the disabiity label that the diagnosis provides.

    It could be interesting to see who else in your family has the traits but be careful in broaching the subject with them as many still have a stigma around the subject.

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