I Wonder...

[Emily B.]

Hey everyone! My name is Emily, and I’m 27 years old. I was diagnosed with severe ADHD at about age 21-22; Until then, I always wondered what was “wrong” with me. Since then, I’ve had quite a bit of success managing my varying symptoms with Adderall.

I often wonder, however, if it’s possible that there’s more going on than just the ADHD. By that, I mean that I wonder if I might be on the Autism spectrum. I struggle greatly when it comes to sarcasm; I usually can’t tell whether or not someone is being serious. I’m pretty gullible to an extent. For instance, someone can attempt to be joking and I’ll think they’re being serious. That said, I absolutely love stand-up comedy. Part of me thinks it’s because the expectation of jokes is already there for me. I’ve hesitated to share these thoughts with anyone besides my mom, mostly because I’m afraid of coming across as offensive or ignorant. That leads me to my next point- I’ve always FELT at least that I’m good at making friends and socializing. I empathize and care (maybe a bit too much) about making other people happy. I point this out only because I’m aware of society’s correlation with Autism and social aversion. If you know anything about Myers Briggs, I’ll throw a confusing wrench in here: I rank as a solid ENFP. At my best, I’m happy-go-lucky, but a little oblivious.

What I hope to accomplish you is to understand what it is/could be to be autistic- what it feels like, and maybe specific things to look for in myself to decide whether or not I may be on the spectrum. I understand that ADHD and Autism have some overlap, but I’ve always just felt different beyond the ADHD. Maybe it’s autism, maybe not, but I’d like to find out. And if you’ve made it through this post and you’re willing to help me, just know that you’ll forever have my gratitude.

Thanks for your time.

Sincerely, Emily

 

[Bellacat]

Hi Emily, welcome to the forums!

I am diagnosed with both, but I wouldn't know where to begin describing what it's like, and we all experience things differently.

ADHD and ASD traits overlap a lot, which can make things very complicated. It is common for people to have traits from both conditions, but only get a diagnosis for one of them because the other traits aren't presenting a significant enough challenge to daily life. For example, my husband has ASD and plenty of ADHD traits too, possibly even enough to justify a diagnosis, but he manages well enough that he doesn't feel that he needs to be formally tested or treated for ADHD. I on the other hand have enough difficulty with both of them that I was given the comorbid diagnosis and the option to try medication for ADHD if I want to.

Have you tried any of the online autism tests?

My psychologist started the process with the RAADS-R screening test to determine whether it was worth investigating further. That might be a good place to begin. Here's a link The Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised (RAADS-R)

Another one that is more detailed and quite popular is the Aspie quiz: Aspie Quiz

The Aspie quiz is not used clinically but my psychologist did say that it was helpful and he took the results from it into account during the evaluation.

Note that online tests are only a starting point. Positive results in these tests are only useful as an indication that it's worth seeking professional assessment.

 

[Sarah S]

Hello and wellcome Emily

Obviesly only a cert evaluation for ASD can determan if you also have ASD. However its pretty much the norm these days that if you have ADHD you also have utliest one more diagnose and most often that is ASD so its not compleatly wrong to suspekt it. If i you look at my Signature you see they dident find my ASD until i was roughly 30 my last evaluation. And its not uncommon for us wimen to be discovered to have ASD later on life .

 

[Thinx]

Hi and welcome. I hope that you enjoy it here, people are friendly. You may know that the profile for women with Autism is somewhat different to that of males, and they say now that this is why so few women have been recognised. See the Jessica Kingsley publishers catalogue for texts by women with Autism and clinicians about this. Research is ongoing.

Try reading Aspergirls, Rudy Simone its author is extrovert and you sound a bit like her. Women are socialised differently to men, and tend to be better at masking their confusion around communication issues. You may not get a diagnosis, but if you factor in that you have high autistic traits or autism, you may find useful strategies for coping from researching what others find helpful.

 

[SusanLR]

Welcome Emily!

I read your post and I think you will like it here. There are a lot of different presenting traits and
posts on different subjects.
The on- line tests are very good. My psychologist who diagnosed me admitted she used my results
on the RAADS- R as part of her evaluation.
She also recommends this forum!

 

[Wolfgangus Faldestolius]

... You may know that the profile for women with Autism is somewhat different to that of males, and they say now that this is why so few women have been recognised. See the Jessica Kingsley publishers catalogue for texts by women with Autism and clinicians about this. ...

"The profile ... is different ..." That's only the stereotype. I knew about mine through reading the women's memoirs.

I sat on a train once looking at Jessica's catalogue in tears of joy.

INTP and ADD (inattentive).

 

[Nitro]

Hi Emily

 

[tree]

 

[Giraffes]

Hi i also am a ENFP and had a late diagnosis for Autism, i'm social and a extrovert, it certainly is a diverse condition, welcome to the forum.

 

[menander]

Good to have you here. I hope you learn a lot.

 

[Aspychata]

Welcome. Thanks for signing up.

 

[clg114]

Welcome to Autism Forums!

 

[Alexej]

Hi @Emily B.

Welcome to the Forums