Do people with developmental disabilities mature slower in a

Page 1 of 1 [ 16 posts ] 

XFilesGeek
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Jul 2010
Age: 43
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 6,031
Location: The Oort Cloud

23 Jan 2012, 8:34 pm

No.

I matured faster.


_________________
"If we fail to anticipate the unforeseen or expect the unexpected in a universe of infinite possibilities, we may find ourselves at the mercy of anyone or anything that cannot be programmed, categorized or easily referenced."

-XFG (no longer a moderator)


Einfari
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 22 Dec 2011
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Posts: 555

23 Jan 2012, 8:35 pm

I don't think people with AS or Autism always mature slower than NTs. I don't know a lot of other Aspies in person but I feel as if I matured mentally at the same rate or possibly faster than most NTs. I always feel older than most kids my age. Physically I matured at the same rate as any NT. I was a tall kid and stopped growing in 9th grade.



mikecartwright
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2007
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 398

23 Jan 2012, 8:38 pm

Do people with developmental disabilities mature slower in anyway then people who are Neurotypical or NT ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental_disability



Oort
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

User avatar

Joined: 16 May 2011
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Posts: 38
Location: Maine, USA

23 Jan 2012, 8:59 pm

Interesting question. I think those of us who have AS mature differently. I know as a small child I was analyzing things and making rational decisions that many NT's wont do until they are matured adults. However, I know of several areas, mostly along social interaction that I am severely less mature than almost all of my peers. And, more often than not, it will vary widely from aspie to aspie.



Vanis
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 27 Nov 2011
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 70

23 Jan 2012, 9:01 pm

It depends on what you consider mature.

To quote from the Wikipedia link you provided:

"Maturity is a psychological term used to indicate how a person responds to the circumstances or environment in an appropriate manner. This response is generally learned rather than instinctive, and is not determined by one's age. Maturity also encompasses being aware of the correct time and place to behave and knowing when to act appropriately, according to the situation and the culture of the society one lives in."

Personally, I was under the impression I'd matured quickly. As a child, I was called a "little old man" or told that I'd "been here before" and adults told me that talking to me felt like talking to an adult. In adolescence, I was told that I was immature and that opinion has stuck. Even though I'm less ignorant, judgmental, petty, inconsistent, dishonest and prone to folly than other people of my age group, I'm immature because I haven't picked up the appropriate behaviour. The appropriate behaviour seems to be a lack of concern for others, placid indifference and flaky morals, with a noticeable lack of idealistic ambition.



mikecartwright
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2007
Age: 38
Gender: Male
Posts: 398

23 Jan 2012, 9:01 pm

Does anyone know thank you ?



bruinsy33
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 31 Jul 2011
Age: 59
Gender: Male
Posts: 446

23 Jan 2012, 9:08 pm

I think we definitely mature slower .People with AS can really struggle as children/young adults but improve significantly with time .It takes us longer to achieve many of the same things that come so easily for others.



Verdandi
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 7 Dec 2010
Age: 56
Gender: Female
Posts: 12,275
Location: University of California Sunnydale (fictional location - Real location Olympia, WA)

24 Jan 2012, 6:14 am

I matured slower. Not as slow as my sister, though.



Cornflake
Administrator
Administrator

User avatar

Joined: 30 Oct 2010
Gender: Male
Posts: 73,326
Location: Over there

24 Jan 2012, 9:20 am

@mikecartwright: your other thread asked the same question so I've merged the answers from there into this one and removed the other thread.
Because that thread was started before this one and forum posts are maintained in date order within a thread, there are a couple of answers appearing here before the question is asked.
Please apply requisite temporal gymnastics to accommodate. :wink:


_________________
Giraffe: a ruminant with a view.


fraac
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Mar 2011
Age: 47
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,865

24 Jan 2012, 10:14 am

What does 'mature' mean?



Sweetleaf
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Jan 2011
Age: 36
Gender: Female
Posts: 35,278
Location: Somewhere in Colorado

24 Jan 2012, 11:00 am

Well I don't know about anyone else but I feel I developed more differently, not necessarily slower.


_________________
Tis the time to melt the Ice.


E27
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Woodpecker

User avatar

Joined: 2 Jun 2011
Age: 31
Gender: Female
Posts: 51

24 Jan 2012, 1:17 pm

I always feel younger then people my age. Also most people say I look young for my age.



Sora
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2006
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,906
Location: Europe

24 Jan 2012, 1:29 pm

fraac wrote:
What does 'mature' mean?


That's a question I keep coming back too.

In social/everyday language, maturity means quite different things to different people.


_________________
Autism + ADHD
______
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. Terry Pratchett


R83
Tufted Titmouse
Tufted Titmouse

User avatar

Joined: 20 Jan 2012
Age: 42
Gender: Female
Posts: 38
Location: London, UK

24 Jan 2012, 1:36 pm

I look young for my age (28.) and am currently a mature student at university so I'm surrounded by a lot of 18-22 year old. I definitely feel in an older age bracket to the younger students and more at home with others in their late twenties or thirties, but I try to be friendly with people around me and most younger people are very shocked by my age when they find out. I think its partly the fact that although I'm quite mature inside, certainly intellectually but also emotionally I think, this doesn't come across as much as the fact that I don't own property, am not married or otherwise in a relationship (let alone having kids!), can't drive and have still to finish a BA and 'start my career' whatever that means. I also often live at my parents and commute when I'm not abroad because it's affordable and helps control problems caused by my sensory issues (noise, etc).

The fact that I've lived in 4 countries outside the UK since I left home at 18, done lots of weird volunteering and solo travelling, acquired 3 new languages and am quite well read and well informed is usually considered less relevant for predicting my age than the aforementioned tick-boxes. Plus who I am inside which should really be the main deciding factor I feel. But then again we don't live in an Aspie world unfortunately...



Joe90
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 26,492
Location: UK

24 Jan 2012, 5:25 pm

I matured at the same rate as most NTs in some things. Like I grew out of playing with toys at around 14, or at least, I felt embarrassed playing with toys even if I was all by myself and no-one would know. Then I got bored easily, so my mind must have been maturing. At age 13 I stopped playing imaginative games in the garden because of the fear of people seeing me. I was quite confused as to why I felt like this, but when I got a little older I realised that it was just my mind maturing.

Being a teenager is hard for all NTs because part of them are still children but part of them are grown-up. I read somewhere that girls mature a bit earlier than boys. I sometimes see boys playing at 15, whereas I see girls of that age just hanging about.

I was quite mature as a teenager - in some ways. I always understood people who had learning difficulties or other psychological conditions like depression, and I would never take the piss out of anyone who was different. But I was immature in some of my actions, like I used to act like a 4-year-old in public sometimes and humiliate myself.


_________________
Female


League_Girl
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 4 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 27,317
Location: Pacific Northwest

24 Jan 2012, 6:17 pm

I've always been slow in developing. Mine was caused by hearing loss so I developed my language slowly but my emotions and social skills had always been below the age level. By 4th grade, kids were starting to outgrow their toys and I realize it must have been a guilty pleasure because some still play with their toys but only in secret. But despite each other still knowing they still do, I don't understand why they still had to hide it from each other. Kids got into socializing than playing and I still wanted to play than chit chat because I found that boring. I played with toys often up until the age of 15 and then I didn't often anymore. I never felt embarrassed for it and wasn't afraid to say I still played with them. I don't even feel embarrassed about liking kid shows and watching them.

But in some ways I had always been mature like I always knew when someone was different and I never made fun of them or laughed at the like if they had a hard time reading or had a hard time with school work or when someone talked funny so I don't understand how kids won't know those things so they decide to make fun of the person for it. Maybe you have to be different yourself to know or have a sibling who is special needs or a parent. Also in my teens I was more responsible than other teens.