When did you start feeling like adults?

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No problem.
I've read a REALLY awesome book on the current, bleeding edge science of autism research in all aspects and the author suggested that most problems in normal or higher IQ level autistic people are caused by different brain parts developing MUCH, much later than normal. She is working on a model where many different parts of the brain/psyche are evaluated and "actual" ages for those things are calculated or estimated as a helpful model to understand how to help each individual with their specific autistic problems.

Unfortunately she is Dutch, and so is the book... So you CANNOT read this unless you speak Dutch!! !!
Martine F. Delfos: "A strange World (For Parents, Partners, Professionals, Scientists and the People Themselves)".
I LOVE IT, because it's completely scientific and to the point. Zero NT blah blah blah. The only downside is that her work is not done (no model yet etc.), but all the research from her and many others presented from around the world is completely current and relevant.

ISBN10: 9088502188
ISBN13: 9789088502187

http://www.bol.com/nl/p/een-vreemde-wer ... 011104765/

This book I haven't read yet, but it seems to be even more specific on this subject!
http://www.bol.com/nl/p/autisme-vanuit- ... 006513958/

I'm 33 and I'll have to get back to you when I start feeling like one. Then again, I kind of didn't feel like a kid when I was one, either. I was always too serious to be a kid and too clueless to be an adult.

Same me: 34 and really no feeling adult

and funny thing: my younger NT brother was really adult when he was 17teen

35 here, no where near grown up. Whatever that means.

It could be a mental thing or it could be the fact that I'm no more socially or economically mature as one, but at 30 I still feel like I'm around 14 or 15 years old. It's awkward to discuss adult subjects for me. The idea of filling out taxes feels absurd. And I don't even like saying I should have a "sex life".

A big part of it might have to do with what I went through when I was about 13, but that's not something to dump out in this thread.

I'm 30 and still feel like I'm 12

When I was a kid I felt like an adult, and now that I'm an adult I feel like a kid. Go figure.

When I was 15 since I had a car, a job and my first serious girlfriend.
The other defining moment was when I proposed to her christmas eve 93"
I was 23.

Ditto.

My mum keeps trying to convince me that I'm an adult, but I feel like a little kid around 'real' grown ups. I reckon, since I'm still feeling like this at 35, it'll be a while (at least!) before I get anywhere being a Grown Up, lol.

Have me own place? Yep.
Pay my bills on time? Yep.
'Feel' like an adult? Nope.
Look like an adult? Hell, no - I still look like a little kid...which probably doesn't help matters. 'Real' adults tend to treat me like a little kid by default.

Age 30.

There are times, though, when I look around and see that my peers are married with kids, homeowners, and have established careers. I'm now about to turn 35 and have NONE of the above.

Im 23 and I dont really feel like an adult. I look like a teen and many times I still act like one. I just happen to be very smart for a teen.

Wow, that rule really seems to fit me. I'm 31 but, since I just moved out on my own a couple of years ago, I'm probably right around where a 20-21 year old would be in their life. Interesting...

For the record, I'm just starting to feel like an adult. Sort of. Doing home improvement projects makes me feel grown up.

I'll let you know as soon as it happens....hehehe

Seriously though...I rarely feel like a full-blown adult, at least not in the way I expected to. The only time I feel different and older is when I'm around teenagers and see how silly and dramatic they are. I'm sure I was the same way. I just want to tell them that the things that they are so stressing about and believe are vitally important -- the guy/girl they're sweet on, getting asked to prom, parental rules -- will all seem so insignificant in the long run.

But other than that -- I'm doing grownup stuff but long for the days of sitting in front of the TV in my jammies, eating Cap'n Crunch and watching cartoons. Even at 52, I'd still rather color a picture in coloring book than think about my retirement savings.

'

That is the same thing I told my brother.

I am 29. I'm still not entirely clear on what 'adult' means to me or to other people.

36 here. When I was young I thought that when I hit eighteen all the self possession and direction of adulthood would fall upon me like a "grown up" mantle. That got pushed up to twenty-one, then twenty-five before I gave up on it.
I take care of my business and look out for my family, but internally (mostly) I'm still turning cartwheels and making daisy chains.