Older friends

[Pocket86]

I am just curious about aspies and their friends. (I am talking strictly about friends here and not romantic relationships.) Do other aspies gravitate towards friends who are significantly older? I am curious because I just realized that I have subconsciously done this all my life. The majority of girls I spent time with as teenager and young adult were at least 4 years older and some 8-10 year older. Now, as an adult, my closest friend is 12 years older than I am. It doesn't bother me since we are just friends and aren't dating. I was just wondering if it is a typical Aspie trait? Does anyone else do this?

 

[Ronin82]

I do. Literally half my friends are much older, and the other half are much younger. I just can't seem to meet people my own age that I can "connect" with. As a child, almost all my interactions were with adults, not too many kids.

 

[Ylva]

There is no "either older or younger" option which would have been my answer. Maybe people my age have certain expectations of relating to me which the others don't have, or maybe it's just that statistically, most people are not my age.

 

[Pocket86]

There is no "either older or younger" option which would have been my answer. Maybe people my age have certain expectations of relating to me which the others don't have, or maybe it's just that statistically, most people are not my age.

Sorry about the survey. I meant to allow multiple choices. I agree with the expectations though. I feel like older friends are more accepting of me for who I am. It's like they understand me better and dont expect me to behave like NTs.

 

[Cosmophylla]

Generally older, but it depends how I know them. I don't really have close friends.

 

[watersprite]

I don't have human friends, (which keeps things mainly peaceful), but I do appreciate my animals and plants.

 

[Nitro]

I don't sort my friendships by age...they range from 3 to 90 and all ages in between.
My friendships are based on how I am treated by others,not their ages

 

[laurag9g9g9]

I am just curious about aspies and their friends. (I am talking strictly about friends here and not romantic relationships.) Do other aspies gravitate towards friends who are significantly older? I am curious because I just realized that I have subconsciously done this all my life. The majority of girls I spent time with as teenager and young adult were at least 4 years older and some 8-10 year older. Now, as an adult, my closest friend is 12 years older than I am. It doesn't bother me since we are just friends and aren't dating. I was just wondering if it is a typical Aspie trait? Does anyone else do this?

I can think of a lot of reasons why I like older friends. Most importantly I like to be inspired and learn from friends.

 

[Astroganga]

When I was a teenager most of my friends were at least 3 or 4 years older and a lot were in their late 20s and early to mid 30s. There were exceptions though and at some gatherings where I found the adults present particularly stuffy and pretentious, I would prefer the company of the kids there. I also had a very good friend, the daughter of a couple I knew, when I was in my late teens, who was only 7 but she was intelligent way beyond her years and we used to chat about books and history for ages-she didn't judge me for not being a 'proper adult' nor for my 'narrow, obsessive interests'. I wonder how she is now, she would be about 23.

 

[clg114]

I do not have many friends and most are younger than me. Sometimes I feel like everyone is younger than me. I do not golf as much as I used to because my old golfing partner is in a nursing home. However, I do know what you are talking about. When I was younger, what friends that I had were older than me.

 

[Kerry_eire]

When growing up all my friends ( who total up to 4!) were all younger than me. In university I got better on with my professors than any of the students. Now, in my mid thirties, I have one friend my age, a 2 years younger friend, still from my childhood, and a friend who's 9 years older than me.

 

[OrSomething]

Most of my friends are a couple years older than me. But they are on the spectrum and not necessarily more mature than me.

 

[Datura]

My closest friend at the moment is over 20 years older than me. She is only a couple of years younger than my mother. It's kind of funny, because she always talks about how she wishes her parents could be as cool as mine. I have to point out that they are basically the same age so it makes sense that they have more in common.