Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi everyone. I received a high functioning autism diagnosis just over a year ago (at the age of 36) and have been dealing with understanding it ever since.
I have been having regular sessions with a clinical psychologist at my local mental health hospital as as well as the diagnosis I was also told I was suffering from depression and anxiety.
A large part of our chats revolve around my concerns about getting back into employment. She has mentioned, as have I read online so many times, that employers love people on the spectrum who have crazy attention to detail.
This is when I feel like a fraud. I make stupid mistakes all the time, I lose focus on longer tasks and flip flop between interests. In my previous jobs I was able to do really technically complicated things like software development but made silly errors and was unable to do simple data entry into a spreadsheet. This theme has followed me since primary school.
Today I accidentally came across an article saying that it is common for people on the spectrum to also suffer from ADHD and it then listed the common symptoms of ADHD. I tick an awful lot of them.
What I don't understand is how can someone on the spectrum, who are supposed to have incredible attention to detail, also have something like ADHD where they continually make silly careless mistakes - I don't see how they are compatible.
I'm going to raise this next week at my next session - it very complicated as I am, as far as the diagnostician and the clinical psychologist I've been seeing, autistic. But as I say, I often feel like a fraud and before I start looking for a job openly stating that I'm autistic, only to say "oh, but I don't have some of the really useful attributes", I want to make sure I fully understand it.
Does that make sense? Any thoughts?
Thanks.
Hello Chuckalicious. I have dyspraxia (dcd), adhd and Aspergers. All diagnosed in my 50's. I agree with you wholeheartedly. Some of the characteristics overlap, seem contradictory. Sometimes one applies the next the opposite. I think I should type up lists for each diagnosis so that I can compare them as it is confusing. On one of the threads I posted a ven diagram showing the overlap of Neurodiversity. At one time it was said that you couldn't have both autism/asd and adhd but this has been found not to be the case. I know what you mean about the mistakes too which in my case became worse after menopause when hormones change. My short term memory got worse so that there are jobs I have enjoyed in the past that I could no longer do. It is bewildering. I hope Ellie's advice was able to help you on the practical side but I just wanted to encourage you to look into the dual aspect of asd/adhd more because it sounds very like it
This is all interesting reading, Misfit, can you go back to the place where they diagnosed the ADHD with your ASD diagnosis and ask for some help, or go to your GP and ask to be referred back there? You really sound like you need help making sense of your alphabet soup to enable real changes to make your life more settled and fulfilling.
I've been looking into ADHD, or trying to, it seems a lot like trying to nail jelly to a wall. Depending on how it is written about it describes me but then I read something else and it doesn't. I also think my head is very resistant to the idea of there being something else on top of ASD, it's hard enough to come to terms with that, like you said some of the 'symptoms' of the two conditions are so contradictory that how the hell do you pick the bones out of it all?
Part of me wants to raise the question and like you and chuckalicious, get to the bottom of it all but the other part wants to stick my head firmly in the sand and shout 'NO, NO MORE!'
Spotty was all that too much? Sorry . Also I don't know why it's full of emoticons .. unintentional.
Sleep tight all. x
You guys are so sweet x
Yeah eyeore piglet and Winnie the Pooh
just listening to this
http://www.erictivers.com/176
Eeee-yoooore. You've to love donkey noises in the mix. x
And to you
Ok . enough reflection for me today. Take care both of you and goodnight
Yes to all of that Spotty. It is disheartening isn't it. I Only managed a couple of years teaching.. I keep thinking of all the different professional salaries that have gone by the wayside during my lurch from job to job. The lady that helped me recently was helping me with my paperwork which is why it had piled up again. There is inspiration to be had from the women who have found ways forward and offering their experience and advice. Don't think of it as a bandwagon. Just think of it as further research and self exploration. If it's there you can't wish it away ... plus if you ignore it you can't do anything about it at least you can listen/read pick up ideas. Mostly tho try to be kind to yourself which I know is a lot easier said than done it's like finding out about Aspergers, there is a reason for the chaos and messiness and that in itself helps a bit.
Take care of yourself Spotty x
Monkeys, tortoises, elephants etc...what a crazy farm we live in xx
Giving a monkeys is giving more than enough, thank you Ellie, look after yourself. x