I also have Classic Autism and ADHD. I'm chronologically in my mid 40s, but I act emotionally and socially (without knowing it often) like a 4 1/2 to 5 year old. Everyone from my old college instructors to my friends and even parents of some young children notice this. I don't really qualify to be an adult baby, but while I don't wear diapers, there are childish aspects and interests to me. I love long-alls / jon jons / dressy overalls, T strap Mary Jane shoes, some children's programmes like Teletubbies and Little Bear, Care Bears, Pink Panther, etc.
Were you prone to bolting? That may be a reason you were in a stroller at age 11. By the way, mentioning that I am like a 4 1/2 year old, it actually isn't uncommon at all that there are plenty of Autistic graduate students who are emotionally and socially like 7 to 11 years old. Not unusual at all. But even my friends who have high functioning Autism (formerly known as Asperger's Syndrome) who are like 12 year olds emotionally and socially (though actually in their 30s or 40s) think I'm indeed like a 5 year old or even less. I also talk nonstop like a 4 year old. I am actually exhausting to be around. The only people who can tolerate me for more than a day, with a few exceptions (staying with a friend from high school 4 hours away where they had no choice, because I couldn't go home that same night), are mostly preschoolers and young children that are also time consuming. Not that I'm a bully or mean; I've always been a sweet and kind boy. But you can be kind and be a real annoyance - Elmo on Sesame Street would be a great example. I have a very poor attention span. I've had a driver's license for 26 years, but I never drive, because the limit of my attention is about 25 minutes or so. I missed homework in 8th grade more than kindergartners at my Catholic K-8 school because I could never remember to write down my homework. I got so many detentions because of this. I knew a kindergartner that was 4 years and 10 months old (this was in Fall 1989), and she was my friend in after school daycare (onsite campus daycare), and even she was better at completing her homework. I was 13 then. I got in trouble all the time from 1st grade to high school. And in a way, even in university. I probably should have stayed in preschool. My mom's temperament even changed.
I am going to be in my 50s soon and I might eventually end up needing a wheelchair. I will never let permit myself to sink to that humiliation. If I need something like that, I will get an autism chair that looks like a stroller, or maybe a big stroller wagon (like Keenz type). By then, I'll probably need a caregiver anyway and probably will need to have in home care. I might even end up in a nursing home - but if I have it my way, I'll get my caregiver when I need one, to come to my home.
- longallsboy