Am I autistic or just adhd?

I’m undiagnosed as of yet with adhd (trying to get tested though) but I’m pretty sure I am adhd. However, I’ve been looking into autism for about a year or two now and I find a lot of stuff that resonates with me. I don’t remember much of my life because of poor memory (not trauma related, my memory is just crap) so I worry about confirmation bias. I do remember that I’ve always felt different from other people, to the point where I would look up internet spells when I was very young to turn me into some other creature rather than a human, because I truly didn’t feel like I was a person on the inside. I was a quiet, well behaved kid in school but slow at schoolwork, which got me in trouble a few times, and always struggled to fit in with my peers. I liked imaginative play because I wouldn’t have to be myself for a bit, but social dynamics and social etiquette remained a challenge for me. I remember studying the people around me and trying to copy them and their jokes, their mannerisms, so that they’d like me more. I also remember that I used to introduce myself to new kids by shaking their hand and trying to make adult small talk with them because that’s how I saw the adults do it. Generally speaking I don’t think I was never rude or overtly strange, but kids picked up on me being different anyway, so I got bullied quite a bit, especially in secondary school. I was extremely obsessive about my interests and an utter bookworm for the entirety of my childhood, was gifted in reading and writing, and supposedly somewhat gifted in math but was awful at it because of the teaching style I was taught under, which valued quickness and pedantics more than accuracy. I was also the weird kid in school because of my interests, the way I behaved (hissed at people when they irritated/stressed me out) and my overall social timidness. I cannot exaggerate how weird I was, and in hindsight it makes sense why I would be bullied for it, but at the time I had no idea why people were put off by me. As a kid I related to adults more, which made me “mature for my age” and had a very strong sense of justice. Making genuine friends and/or maintaining friendships was a never ending struggle for me as well. As a child I always felt like I was performing for an audience (and I still somewhat do). I had a lot of mental health issues due to the bullying in past, but I’ve been doing better now, finding authentic friends who also just so happened to be autistic and/or adhd. I also had some sensory difficulties with loud noises (I was also scared of the vacuum as a kid), certain clothes, certain foods (I don’t have many food related sensory issues but there are some that I can’t eat due to taste overwhelm) and lots of movement or color at once. I don’t remember ever melting down from them, but I do experience shutdowns. As an adult now, I’m able to navigate social rules better (I bought books to study them as a kid) and I feel like I understand them better, but it’s still a huge struggle for me to maintain conversation and blend in. I try to be normal but still true to myself, but people still notice how odd I am regardless. I didn’t include everything because I don’t want this to get too long but does this sound at all like autism?

  • Well, obviously being Autistic doesn't automatically qualify me to diagnose, but your experiences certainly seem like spectrum to me. As a person with a neurodivergent brain your behavior is entirely normal. 

    Here's a breakdown of some key points that align with autism:

    • Feeling Different: The desire to be another creature and not fitting in with peers are classic signs of social struggles in autism.

    • Social Masking: Copying others' behavior and mannerisms to appear more like them is a common coping mechanism in autism.

    • Obsessive Interests: Intense focus on specific topics is a hallmark of autism.

    • Sensory Difficulties: Aversion to certain sounds, textures, and situations is common in autism, although shutdowns are more typical than meltdowns.

    • Social Challenges: Difficulty with conversation flow and maintaining friendships aligns with social communication struggles in autism.