Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello.
I'm looking for some advice.
I have a nine year old daughter diagnosed with autism/PDA and some autism in my family, as well as having a fairly strong ADHD-PI profile myself.
My wife and daughter are different in lots of ways, and I've never much considered my wife may be autistic, but she has a lot of of traits of a quieter profile, but some discrepancies too.
I filled in the AQ questionnaire trying to get it from her perspective recently, and she scored much higher than I expected, which has caused me to think on.
Tricky topic to raise at the moment as she is currently quite vulnerable, but I have a specific question:
Are there any autistic forum members for whom executive functions are not an issue? My wife's working memory and attention to cleanliness and hygiene are real strengths.
Any responses greatly appreciated.
Having reached my 40's before being diagnosed with Asperger's, I don't think my executive functions are affected by Asperger's. I have always lived and organised all aspects of my life independently and, looking back, it seems to me that it's purely (or mainly) in the areas of social interaction that my Asperger's is evident.
I have always been a 'list maker' but if I don't complete a 'to-do list' I can easily disregard items / chores as no longer important, it doesn't prey on my mind unless I need to meet a deadline. I find deadlines stressful but I think that's the same for lots of people, ASD or not.
My memory can, does, and always has gotten worse at times of stress but again I think that's not an exclusively ASD trait. Generally my memory is fine and the only area it has always let me down is in recognising people and remembering things about them but I think that's more because I don't care about them enough to commit them to memory. Otherwise, I'm a 'Mine of useless information' as the saying goes and can remember allsorts of facts about things that interest me. People just don't interest me.
My attention to detail seems to be better than most people's but I've recently read that apparently that IS a feature of ASD (?).
My attention to cleanliness and hygiene have been described by many people over the years as "OCD" (No, I don't actually have OCD.) as I like things to be 'just right' with 'a place for everything and everything in it's place' but, having had three children, this obviously isn't always possible and sometimes I just let things go and allow the mess to accumulate until I feel like another 'mad cleaning spree'.
I hope this helps a little.
I would say though that I'm not sure if the results of the questionnaire 'count' if you filled it out on her behalf. I've never seen the questionnaire though so I might be wrong.
Thank you, @endymion I've attempted to reply a few times but my.answer hasn't posted. Jist checking this one works.
Typical. The one that worked was the one eith the typo! This deserves a fuller response when I have a larger keyboard and less tired eyes, but just wanted to say thanks, @endymion, that ia helpful. Agree about unreliability of filling in a screen for someone else too.
Be interested in any other perspectives also.