Autism in Older Adults

I had the impression that the Asperger's Syndrome grouping - the Autism Spectrum people I am most familiar with - shows that some symptoms worsen with age. It does fill me with some dread, because these people would be family, friends, and self, and I don't want to see it. But it's better to know the current thinking.  When looking for something else I came across this, which I think is a good summary, even though it doesn't go into any of the cutting edge or rumored stuff I was trying to find. 

Experts are confident autism itself doesn’t get worse with age. However, because there’s not a huge amount of research into autism at later life stages, we don’t know too much about the unique experiences of older autistic people.

This is partly because, It’s only now that those who were first diagnosed back in the 40s and 50s are reaching later life and taking part in groundbreaking studies.

(Some) experts may be confident, but I am not. Meltdowns, stimming*, sensitivity may get worse but in older adults acceptable forms come to the fore - telling people off, or cutting people out, humming, factoring, pleasure reading, disliking noise and having the ability to get away from it or even avoid it preemptively, unlike children who are often at the mercy of what situations adults put them in.

Others are going to be very difficult to separate from natural aging. Restricted interests, anxiety, need for routine...lots of old people have those, partly because of energy and mobility. 

My worry is when the lifetime of really skillful adaptations one has developed become less accessible, and one is increasingly alone, what happens then?

Asperger's is no longer considered a legitimate description for political reasons.  These days you have to say Level 1, meaning only low levels of support needed. That's not great either, as some Aspie, High-Functioning Autism, or "Autistic Traits" people require no added supports at all.  They may actually be providing supports for others. Autism is not a personality, it is a tendency to certain symptoms that overlays the full range of personalities that everyone else has. Even those who have "social deficits" may not have a variety of social deficits, but only a few subtle things that you wouldn't even notice unless you interacted with them under those stressors, and even then you might just think "High strung," or "quirky," or "rigid." For children with full ASD diagnoses, everyone is looking at the symptoms raw.  They haven't had time or instruction to develop adaptations.

And like many other difficulties in life, it's about adaptations. You may not be tall or fast, but you can figure out how to become a basketball coach, writer, statistician, or agent. Still in the game. Tolkien and Lewis both started out wanting to be poets.

Eloping is something worrisome in children who just need to GET OUT- well, as an adult you can get away with that.  You have more power to do what you want than when you were in fourth grade. You can cut people off with the silent treatment. You can make up an excuse to leave early.  You know how to play those cards. "I'm old enough to know that I don't have to respond to everything."  Well, maybe. But adults deal with uncomfortable situations rather than ignoring them, in general. "I would prefer not to discuss that with people outside a small circle. I'm sure you understand" accomplishes the same thing as runnig away, if we squint a bit. Simply ignoring things might not be "I'm too polite to mention this."  It might be just evasion, a schoolgirl slamming her bedroom door and saying "I won't talk to you." There are social subtleties, and sometimes it is just tending to evasion too much or too often that is the problem. But older adults can get away with it.  Trial-and-error adapttions, developing a reputation for not suffering fools gladly, an imperious attitude or sense of entitlement - those don't make people think of autism, but that might be what is happening. 

Which puts me in mind of a particular song, for no reason I can convince myself of.  Maybe it's just the title, and the strategy when one is young or middle aged of just leaving others or cutting them dead socially. You only need a few friends anyway, right?

Sure, but happens when they die or can't get out much?  What then? You no longer know how to make friends.

*Here again, I am discovering I have an array: drumming/tapping, cracking knuckles, automatically harmonising even if the music is not improved by it...harmony just feels great to do, maybe even more than singing itself. These are hard to separate from OCD symptoms like counting, grinding, or spoonerisms.