4 1/2 years old to 5 years old. I'm chronologically in my mid 40s. Because of my Classic Autism (which is quite more severe than higher functioning Autism [high functioning Autism used to be called Asperger's]) and ADHD, I'm not really sure if there's much differentiation between my emotional / social age and my "little" age. My reactions tend to be more like a 4 year old. Perhaps even wide eyed interest in certain things. I actually tend to act like a 4 year old 98% of the time, at least from an emotional and social standpoint, and perhaps even somewhat mentally. Which is really not that much better than an actual 4 year old. Indeed there are actual real chronological 4 year olds who have better social skills than me - but on the hand, they aren't Autistic. It seems even most toddlers and preschoolers can deduce that I am totally disabled and that I act like a child. You don't have to be very old to realize that. Not only do a lot of young children think I act like a child, but so do most adults. Including past teachers and college instructors I have had, former employers in the rare instance that I did get a job, my family, my friends (both nonautistic and autistic friends alike). Even to Autistic people I know who are like 12 years olds emotionally and socially, it's very noticeable that I act more like a 4-5 year old, or even a 3 year old perhaps. Actually, according to multiple professional research studies, it isn't unusual for even college graduates who have Autism to be somewhere on the emotional / social age of a 7 to 12 year old.
I'm not sure if I even am technically an adult baby as I don't wear diapers. Although I don't think you need to wear diapers necessarily to be a part of the adult baby conundrum / spectrum. I do have a lot of childlike habits and I like a lot of children's items from toys to long-alls to T strap shoes to pacifiers to other things. In a way, even my oldies and soft rock music interest is an extension from my childhood, as I listen to virtually exactly the same music I listened to as a 6 year old. Most people change their music interests over time; I never did. I'm like a throwback 1980s child - even in the type of children's clothes and shoes I like. Modern day children don't wear long-alls or even overalls, or kneesocks with T strap shoes, unless you are a little boy from Alabama or Georgia or South Carolina or somewhere Deep South where children dress more like from the 1980s. But in the West Coast and Northern part of the USA, no way. You see much more kids wearing T shirts and cargo shorts or sweatpants, with sneakers or Crocs, in the Western USA. Even little girls don't wear buckled Mary Janes or T strap shoes in my neck of woods anymore. Kids don't even dress up to go to church in my area and haven't for 15-20 years+.
- longallsboy
