Highly Sensitive Person and Autism

Sounds all too familiar.  I have spent half a lifetime in the self help aisles of bookshops and much of this has been focussed on anxiety, introversion and, more recently being a HSP.  I related very strongly to this and thought I'd finally discovered the truth about myself.  But no, I was autistic all along.  

As I now see it, I'm not a HSP as well as autistic.  Autistic covers it all.  This is something that many have noticed and there used to be a detailed (but I thought rather wishy-washy) rebuttal of them being the same thing on Elaine Aron's website.  I've just looked and it's recently been changed to read:

"Autistic diagnoses can be complex and dynamic. This area is not Elaine’s specialty, and she does not keep up on current research. This topic deserves accuracy and respect. Therefore, we advise those looking for more information to seek out autism experts. Just be certain they understand something about innate temperaments such as high sensitivity as well."

Either way, she distances herself from the subject and I suspect that's because it kept cropping up and the difference wasn't that clear.  

I would say that high sensitivity is one of our core traits, leastways in my family, and it's something that just doesn't yet feature in the DSM (assuming that publication to have any worth or validity).   I think it's central though, and that in time the huge overlap is bound to be clarified.  

I have to admit to having similar thoughts about extreme anxiety.  Mine was always associated with sensitivity and I went through various rounds of therapy and courses with Anxiety UK to try to help.  Nobody EVER mentioned autism and I'm not sure whether it's mentioned even now on the Anxiety UK website.  Perhaps if it had been, or if it had appeared in any of the many books I read about anxiety, I would have been at least able to self identify before the age of 55!  

To me it feels as though too many organisations and individuals working within the self help sector just ignore the possibility of autism and this can reinforce the barriers to people understanding their own identity.  Given the quite severe consequences within my family, I feel quite angry about this.  

I've spent my life in the self help aisle too, lol!

I personally think that human brains are soooooooo complicated that it's going to take many more decades for scientists and doctors to work us out. That is if we don't end ourselves before that.

There are probably more conditions than we know about now and they must be interrelated. But how...

Is the DSM the American text book?

Well yes, it is American.  However, it's still widely used in the UK and they certainly used the criteria when I was diagnosed a couple of years ago.  My preference would have been for my difference to be identified and accommodated in childhood and I feel a bit negative about what I consider to be important aspects of myself to come under a diagnosis.    Plus I ended up getting a few unnecessary diagnoses due to the general ignorance about autism and so much being ascribed to something else.

All of the HSP stuff certainly threw me off the scent and prevented me from understanding my identity for years.   

Many thanks.  I've spoken to a number of people about this and there's apparently little that can be done other than what we're already doing.   

I'd really like advice and guidance (not counselling) from an autistic practitioner with a lot of experience working with families and young adults.  Someone who is prepared to work with the parents rather than the young adults who won't engage anyway, so this probably means it wouldn't work because of issues around confidentiality and autonomy.    

It all sounds awful and familiar about how university went in the 1980s for me.

I hope you find some help somewhere for all this, I'm not sure what I can say or do to help, apart from listen  

It all sounds awful and familiar about how university went in the 1980s for me.

I hope you find some help somewhere for all this, I'm not sure what I can say or do to help, apart from listen  

Many thanks.  I've spoken to a number of people about this and there's apparently little that can be done other than what we're already doing.   

I'd really like advice and guidance (not counselling) from an autistic practitioner with a lot of experience working with families and young adults.  Someone who is prepared to work with the parents rather than the young adults who won't engage anyway, so this probably means it wouldn't work because of issues around confidentiality and autonomy.