Does this sound like I have high functioning Autism?

None of us are really qualified to say.  ADHD as I understand it can bring a raft of sensory issues too, which may be causing some problems.

Have you tried an AQ50.  There are plenty of those for free online.  It's not a diagnosis but will give you a very good indicator as to likelihood.  If that flags high, I would go back to the GP and show them.

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I’d say there’s no high functioning autism it’s just autism functioning labels don’t help but some NHS stuff possibly outdated 

Fill out an Autism Quotient Test, if you score 28 or higher, go back to the doctor with the result. Scoring 30 or higher is very common for AS sufferers, it is extremely uncommon for Neurotypicals..

Don’t the opinion of a GP absolutely inform your well-being, get evidence to contradict his opinion, and move forward in the manner than seems right to you.. Godspeed..

Ok now I think you are autistic. See how just not mentioning things matters to a diagnosis     

Heya, thanks so much for sharing your story. It sounds like you have had a really tough time. It sounds like the PDD-NOS might be a diagnosis that fits you and I really hope you manage to get to a place where you find happiness and fulfillment. :) 

Heya. Thanks very much for your message. Just to be clear, I was only rebellious in secondary school, yet I am far from rebellious as an adult. I will check out HSP, as I am sure I definitely fulfill the criteria for this at the very least! Thanks so much for your help :) x

Hey thanks so much for your response. No one in my family has autism that I am aware of, but I don't know my father and I believe he suffers from Narcissistic personality Disorder. I wouldn't be that surprised if he had undiagnosed Autism too. This was a really helpful response and I really appreciate your help.

1) Yes I do have strong social skills so I realise this is probably a big thing to take into account.

2) I can be a little  blunt and direct on occasion but this has rarely got me into trouble- perhaps indicating mild autism 

3) I actually do have meltdowns/ breakdowns- I have always put this down to my CPTSD. I get triggered by things that relate to my childhood trauma and abuse, but this could also relate to autism?

4) Yes I have always had close friends

5) In very extreme moments of emotional overwhelm I will engage in stimming- in particular I have rocked back and forth. This only happens once every couple months. Also I have always doodled a lot and drawn on myself

6) I don't think my executive function is very good. I'm not very organised. I am also not very good at changing tasks from one thing to another. I'm best at hyper focusing on one main task. I hate doing lots of little tasks and I cannot multitask. I find this a real challenge in my job

Things to look into which would help my case for autism:

a) As mentioned, I don't have any members of family with autism but I wouldn't be hugely suprised if my dad was undiagnosed autistic

b) I will do some online tests and get back to this forum with the results :)

c) My only hobby is powerlifting, otherwise I really hate being alone as my childhood trauma was being abandoned so I have fears of abandonment 

Again thanks so much for being so helpful! Have a wonderful day :) 

x

I have a similar story as well. But the things I got diagnosed with is a bit different, I will list them below. 

Diagnosed with: (These are clinical)

Anxiety Disorder

Obsessive Personality Disorder

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (Vulnerable Type)

ADHD

Impulse control disorder (Hair pulling, pyromania)

Mild panic disorder (Rarely)

I was concerned about if I have Asperger's or not, that led to consulting a professional. The answer I got was that I was mildly delusional (Narcissism) about my theory, indeed I was showing some symptoms but not enough for Asperger's diagnosis. I was satisfied with this answer and left the topic to settle. 2-3 days ago I came across the fact that I might have PDD-NOS, since the traits are frankly very accurate about me. I'm going to list the abnormalities that cause me to suspect this disorder:

Stimming when stressed, hair pulling-pulling out skin, rubbing my chest. Without realizing I tend to look at my reflection at any given surface spontaneously when I'm in dire social situations such as a new social environment. With regard to stimming I find smelling my farts extremely satisfying and addicting. I also desire extreme tastes such as eating lemons raw like apples or eating coffee grounds/chewing ice. 

I'm socially incompetent with low self esteem, I'm rude and egocentric in my conversations, I tend to offend people without realizing or I can't understand if the person is bored from my talking. I'm very didactic, I can not withstand small talk at all, I just ignore people/environment if necessary. I can maintain eye contact if I'm comfortable enough but when I'm assessed such as online exams in my faculty, I tend to shutdown and not respond to orders accurately, showing panic attack symptoms. I'm very aggressive when I'm trying to push myself to make new friends but sometimes people say I'm rude, egocentric and aggressively intimate. I fail to recognize a given person's intentions which further intensifies my paranoia about people, I can discard people very easily which leads to social isolation as well.

With regard to motor functioning, it was a total mess. I learnt to tie my shoes when I was 19 years old! Even though I'm 20 right now, I can not ride a bicycle, I'm clumsy and all the door handles are broken in my house due to my excessive application of force when I'm opening doors. I had balance problems and I sprained my ankle like 20 times, for one instance very severely due to my clumsiness. I couldn't manage to play sports, very incompetent. My social vulnerability lead to extreme bullying and needless subjugation of paternal/social tyranny. 

With regard to immersive, self absorbent behavior, they were extreme indeed but the spectrum varied over my life time. I learned to read and write all by myself when I was 5 years old, I was interested in exotic animals. When I started primary school, I tended to collect every single information about volcanoes, earthquakes and space. I had a diary which I daily reflected my experiences about aforementioned interests. I was trying to observe known planets when I got a telescope when I was 9 years old. That time my teachers started noticing my unusual intellectual traits which led to close relatively intimate relationships with teachers and resulting protection, which contributed to bullying/social isolation further more. In high school the spectrum started to shift to history and politics which I was reading, collecting information all day without feeling tired. Sometimes I would find myself reading about random articles for several hours and hours. I was experimenting with fires and explosives, which further intensified the conflict with my parents since they saw me as a grown man due to my age. When I left middle school, I managed to excel national exams and get into a top highschool which demanded greater social skills ever than before. I was extremely depressed and tried to cure myself with binge eating and being obsessed to video games (sometimes 15 hours a day). Still today I can not adapt to new changes, I'm stubborn. I tend to think analytically but only when I'm calm, when people push me to do something, I tend to shutdown and can not take/process information.

I have sensory problems, I can not bear certain noises, I find myself stressed when I'm outside chronically. I can not withstand light when it is shining outside, I tend to wear strict clothing in order to feel secure, I sleep with my blanket even if it is not necessary. Sometimes I tend to breakdown and withdraw from my surroundings. Often it is extremely painful and I think I'm not living but indeed exposing myself. Back in highschool I had a chronic sleepiness problem, taking 3 hours of long naps afternoon with shutting curtains and staying in my dark room feeling overwhelmed physically/emotionally. 

Overall, parallel with mentioned diagnosis above, I'm not a group person, I can not focus, maintain mental integrity and my personality is extremely fragile which lead to the hypothesis that I might have PDD-NOS. I screwed many exams which I could have excelled due to my shutdown type stress periods, which lead to stagnation of my career at the moment. I'm about to change my major since I think I'm not suitable to treat patients as a doctor. I'm extremely concerned about my future and that's why I'm pursuing a diagnosis to find faith in my soul. 

Thanks, I know it is a bit long but I think I need to share this. 

"high functioning" within autism shouldnt really be used because it is unfair to those with that label. They still are autistic and have serious downtimes they just appear to be "functioning highly" ie may have a job, but they have many of the severe autistic traits and can become "low functioning" for hours to days.  But it is a useful quickie description, just be careful with it.

It is very hard to say if you are on the autistic spectrum or not

against 

1. u dont have social issues and are confident socially. Thats pretty big 

2. autistic people are usually blunt, some will talk over you so such, you may want to walk away.

3. u dont have meltdowns / shutdowns / panic attacks 

4. you have friends. autustic people usually dont 

5. no stimming shown

6. no missing executive functioning mentioned

The diagnosis of PTSD and ADHD makes you very complex and you would indeed need a professional,  but dont waste money on it, because getting a Autistic diagnosis would be of no use to you.  

things to look into which would help your case for autism

: are there any other members of your family that have autism ? mother / nephews, aunts, uncles, father, cousins

: secret stimmming eg doodling alot 

: people saying you are "autistic"

: do some of the online questionnaire tests to see if they indicate you are austistic

: solitary hobbies

feel free to ignore me 

I don't know and I'm not qualified to say in any way. You would need an expert to get a diagnosis. It sounds lilke you have both neurotypical and neurodiverse traits. Autism can present differently in girls/women and many girls/women can mask to a varying degree. Being rebellious like everything else is complex. if someone has the trait to follow (social) rules rather than live within the rules, but either finds the rules logically ridiculous or doesn't atune in the first place because they can't easiy detect the fine details of intrinsic social rules, or perceive any prioity in following them, then this is different to being rebellious to gain and maintain high social status in a (relatively) large social group. But even here one can see that even if one thing is primary (rules logically ridiculous) it can lead to the other(higher social status/leadership).Being extrovert is not necessarily anything to do with autism. in my opinion. This is mostly all just my opinion.

There is also something called the HSP personality trait or sensory processing sensitivity.  It isn't autism, it's just one trait.