Why do people think those are childhood disorders?

Offhand I'd say that a lot of people want easy answers and it's easy for them to consider some conditions as only existing in children. They don't or dint want to think too far ahead. Altot of people are too involved with themselves to consider anyone else. Feel sorry for them.

I'm an adult (age 18) and have Asperger's, PDD, and ADHD. It does not only exist in children, because it is lifelong. Children with autism will reach age thirty and still be affected. Why are so many adults diagnosed with Asperger's if it is a childhood disorder? Couldn't it have been caught sooner? I think it has something to do with a generation gap. People have become much more knowledgable over the past ten years. Because I was little over ten years ago, it was hard for my doctor to tell with a lack of information. An 8-year-old today is much more likely to be diagnosed.

"Why do so many people think that certain lifelong disabilities or disorders only exist in children?"

Perhaps because the childhood environment is so different from the adult environment. Such conditions present in different ways.

Childhood is largely about constraint and confinement. We go to school. Schools have rules, order and plenty of structure. Homes hopefully have rules, order and plenty of structure.

When you become an adult, school goes away and order and structure manifest in different ways or they can manifest in different ways. A change of environment can change how an illness presents.

Perhaps it can be because it is more inconspicuous by adults. I have also asperger-autism. When I was a child, I preferred to play just with myself. Now I have some good friends.

Maybe the disorder would not be realized by adults.

If my English is not so good I regret. I come from Germany. I don't know if you can understand German.

Bei Kindern fällt es mehr auf, weil sie lieber alleine spielen und auch einige weitere Auffälligkeiten haben. Ich habe selbst Asperger-Autismus. Als Kind war ich auffälliger als jetzt. Jetzt kann man bei mir den Autismus auch als Charaktereigenschaft hinnehmen. Der macht einen zu einem besonderen Menschen.

Here is the translation with help of Google Sprachtools (not written by miself)

In children, it is more because they prefer to play alone and have several other abnormalities. I myself have Asperger's autism. As a child I was more striking than now. Now you can take with me the nature of autism as a feature. He makes a special to a man.

Perhaps you prefer Icelandic. It is not written by miself, but with this translation programme at Google.

Hjá börnum er það vegna þess að þeir kjósa að spila einir og hafa ýmis önnur afbrigði. Ég hef einhverfu jafnvel Aspergers. Sem barn var ég meira áberandi en nú. Nú er hægt að taka með mér á eðli einhverfu eins og a lögun. Þeir gefa einn til a sérstakur maður.

I think many people with autism like the Icelandic language, because they like difficult, interesting and exotic languages. I also like this beautiful language. Perhaps I would not like it so much, if I don't have autism. I know that you are from Iceland. Therefore I have it translated for you with this function. Perhaps you like German. German for a Non-German would be much nicer than for Germans.

Moreover autists like to plan their life and have rituals. This also applies to me. We don't like changes.

Last but not least I have problems in mime and gestures. I can be seen as a shy person.

I would be interested in what state of the USA you life. I prefer the eastern part of the USA.

Best Regards, viele Grüße

Mlivjuskla

I've largely "grown out" of ADD. It's barely an issue these days. Of course in elementary and middle school, it was indeed a factor, and I took various medications for it, and the medications did help, but by they the time I was in high school, I noticed that it was becoming less of a factor, and I decided to stop taking the pills, and see how I fared without them, turns out I could get by fine without them. That's what happened to me. I suspect people who grow up with some disorders learn how to cope with them over the years and the disorders become less and less of an issue as the years go by. That's not to say that they disappear completely, but over time you learn to deal with them better. Some people having better coping skills than others however, so it's definitely a case where your mileage may vary.

ignorance . we need to raise awareness . i am an aspergian . ifeel its effects on my life more stronger now

Because some people do grow out of developmental disabilities. Some are delays. So they do in fact catch up. Some also learn to accommodate their disabilities as adults. I have among other things dyscalula - it was a tremendous problem in school - it is not such a big problem as a adult.

Some adults have neurological disorders. And adult ADD does exist.

I think adults don't get as much attention because by the time a person is an adult they are a fully developed person.

But God can heal people of these disorders-that's the Good News. There's medicines and health suppliments out there that can help you.