Published on 12, July, 2020
I was diagnosed as autistic yesterday (42, female), but the psychiatrist was convinced I had combined ASD/ADHD traits and he explained that that has meant a lot of individual traits are hidden by the other (eg I have an aversion to change but get bored easily). I feel like I’m constantly at war with myself. My psychiatrist said that if I took ADHD meds the ASD traits would become more evident and he’s referred me for this assessment also.
The difficulty is I have a lot of anxiety around my diagnosis because I was on the threshold of ASD – I prefer to be alone but I can be social and have learned to make eye contact now I’m older and don’t feel uncomfortable if it’s people I know well (though I can’t hold a gaze). I feel I tick so many boxes for each condition but not all of them and I am very high functioning - the psychiatrist said i am good at masking.
At the end of my assessment the psychiatrist asked if I’d like him to put ‘autistic traits’ and wait for an adhd assessment before confirming the autism diagnosis (to see it the meds revealed more traits) and I didn’t know what to say (because a lot of my issues are also processing information on the spot which made the assessment difficult). He said he was convinced I was autistic so gave me a diagnosis but now I feel really anxious it’s the wrong diagnosis.Has anyone else on here got both? I wondered how this presented for you and what you’ve found helpful. I feel like no one would believe me if I said I had either condition (I’m too much of a planner’ to be adhd but too disordered to be ASD). I can also be very chatty when nervous or speaking about my special interest but get burnout after social occasions.
Thank you for this, really interesting. I especially related to the video on black and white thinking - I’m frequently frustrated when people can’t back things up or are deceptive. I also found this point quite profound: ‘The disorders identified by Western psychology are a refection of cultural bias rather than a reflection of human potential.’
Loads of people have both, but it's all a new science.
From my own research, autism is simply a different way of perceiving and understanding the world with a different potential, set of strengths and limits. Our ADHD friends can speak "neuro-typical speak" and also communicate well with Autistics, so it seems the "Au" implies Autistic communication/lanaguage skills rather than Neurotypical use of language as signs and meaning. We (ADHD and Autistic) both have different Salience Networks with less of an ability to dull the senses and the Monotropic brain which can hyper-focus, make connexions but is also prone to anxiety when spiralling out of control. And out of control it can go due to a different biology and less of an ability to shut it down. In the wild this would've worked for us, but in modern society with unnatural and artificial sensory assault and unnatural and superficial social 'values', it's a nightmare.
See what you think of this blog https://autcollab.org/2020/04/30/autism-the-cultural-immune-system-of-human-societies/?fbclid=IwAR37xumHkRga0hADICA80wxaWycn7_Kr9Oc6uZhcs2zJ0QzamXOI4qwU2bQ
I have no problem seeing us as a part of a larger diversity, like biodiversity (which is how Judy Singer coined the idea of Neurodiversity). 100 years ago most of us wouldn't need a 'diagnostic', we'd just be accepted as a little different and encouraged for our potential.
can I just say something call me kj i also have adhd and autism togather and i'm 19