Do the 'symptoms' /'traits' of autism increase and are more noticable with age? Would that be less masking in a more familiar space. Could it be one or the other or both?
Do the 'symptoms' /'traits' of autism increase and are more noticable with age? Would that be less masking in a more familiar space. Could it be one or the other or both?
I was diagnosed with ASD at 53 and ADHD-i 8 months later, it is a steep learning curve.
I was unsure whether it was just my brain giving me permission to allow my "quirks" out for a while as now I'm diagnosed.
The other option is that as you get older your active memory doesn't work quite as well as it did, so you can't actively monitor and correct your natural behaviour in real time.
Those are my theories anyway.
I know what you are saying. No generalisation but this can appear the way.
Also, taking what people say literally then discovering that maybe thats not what they meant, or it was a 'shocking' strategy is all too confusing.
There is no noticeable correlation between my age and my autistic traits. However there has been a huge increase in my presenting as autistic since my diagnosis in 2023. This isn’t all good as I now have no restrictions to speaking my mind, taking people at their word then debating with them when it turns out their word wasn’t what they actually meant, and being outspoken about things which annoy me. All this has caused tension in our family, lost me my volunteer role with a large animal charity and nearly got me thumped (or worse) by the ignorant and arrogant.
What I find very much is that people and organisations will say all the right things, sign up to inclusivity, claim to be inclusive - but when they actually get a full on autist in their family or organisation suddenly they clamp down and revert to narrow mindedness and traditional discriminatiory beliefs. I have many friends in the LGBTQ community and they find the same sort of thing. People are for example, cool about LGBTQ people until they discover their child is gay or trans or questioning.
This is just my personal experience and opinion, I have no intention of generalising or ever imposing my views on anyone else.
As a woman myself, who is in menopause, I have to say Yes!, traits can “increase” or “become more noticeable” or “more difficult” as you age. Menopause lowered my tolerance for sensory sensitivities - noises became more of a problem for me and I started wearing earphones to block out noise. Sometimes I listen to music and drown out stuff around me, sometimes I just have earphones in to block noise some what.
Menopause has reduced the energy I have to mask. Or I guess, to put it another way, masking seems to drain my energy more.
However, now that I know I’m autistic, I’m learning how to take better care of myself.
This is just me and my experience, though. Everyone is different. There’s no “one size fits all”, so to speak.
I guess I've been more the quiet one with little to say, generally not outspoken but accept and put up with stuff. I am finding it hard to navigate and have found I withdraw and have even less words to put out there generally when challenged.
I have become progressively less concerned with what people think of me, especially strangers, as I have grown older. I am much more comfortable in my skin than I was when younger. I think both developments have allowed me to be more me in public, which, as I am autistic, inevitably means that I am probably more outwardly autistic in my behaviour, at least some of the time. My autistic traits have not become more pronounced, they were always there, but if I'm on a walk and want to spin a walking stick around like Charlie Chaplin I will now do so (making sure I do not hit anyone!).
I think you change as you get older, but I'm not sure those changes are autism specific, I think we become less tolerant of the things we barely tolerated when younger, or maybe more confident about saying no to the things we don't like. For example, I'm becoming what some would call woke, but then I always was woke so maybe I'm just more awake? I don't see why I should have to spend my time dealing with the ignorance of others and I'm more outspoken, not that I've ever been a quiet person. Maybe we become more aware of the strain maskig can put on us and refuse to do it unless we really have too?
I don't believe there is any specific age component, the way you think doesn't change
But, traits can become more obvious as you get more overloaded or closer to burnout. Your capacity to cope can reduce as you get older.
However, you are learning and adapting all the time, so you may be better able to accommodate or hide your traits, or avoid situations that cause an issue. So I think it is a bit of a balance.
