I happen to experience autism as a disability. I am challenged by parts of life that non-autistic people are not. But at the time time, I wonder whether being autistic might, in some ways, be giving me a better experience of aging than I might have if I weren't autistic. For example, sometimes I suspect that being autistic makes me feel less pressured to conform to society's expectations about appearance and "staying young" than I might as a non-autistic person. I don't always feel what others might call the "loss" of my younger self as a loss per se, either in looks or mental capabilities. Of course, my experience with aging is just one out of many. What about you? How does aging intersect with your self-esteem and self-image?

Share questions:

• What parts of aging have helped helped your self-esteem? Challenged it? Please describe
• Has anything about your experiences of aging and self-esteem ever surprised you? What was it? 
• Has aging relieved any self-image-based stresses from earlier in your life? Added to image-based stresses?
• Do you have any worries or hopes about self-esteem and aging looking into the future? 
• Has learning about autism changed the way you think about aging? About aging as it relates to self-esteem? 
• Any tools, resources, or strategies that helped you with this topic? 
• Anything else to add?