how young is to young to be aroace

[Guest danny]

would 11 be to young to be aroace im asking for a little sibling of mine who would like to know

[Confused Opossum]

i doubt there is a definite answer for what age would be “too young” to identify as aspec. and i imagine if there was, it’d be different for everyone. after all, there isn’t a set in stone age where every allo starts experiencing attraction (as far as i’m aware lmao). 

perhaps a more important question would be if your sibling feels aroace fits them, makes them feel more comfortable in themself, feels at home in the community, etc. if so, there’s no harm with identifying as aroace at any age. and if later on they do start experiencing attraction and no longer feel aroace fits them that’s totally fine, no harm done here! 

in the end labels are meant to help us explain and understand ourselves, and if aroace does that for them that’s great! i do think it’s important, especially for someone so young, to know that labels aren’t the end-all be-all, and there is absolutely no pressure to use labels if they aren’t helping you, but if they do help you that’s amazing and they are totally welcome in the community!

[hemogoblin]

No such thing. If you're old enough to consider it, then you're old enough. You're not, like, picking an immutable destiny or anything. You're always allowed to outgrow a label. The label doesn't need to be forever - or no one of any age could ever ID as anything. Learning more about yourself is a part of this whole process called life. And if you figure out you're aroace at 11 and that's the label that fits you forever, then that's fine, too. Labels are just communication tools. You don't have to pass a test or meet any sort of qualifications for it to be valid to use whatever labels.