Tag: actuallyautistic

seasonallydefective:

+ Chronic pain too. I talked about this a bit when I did my podcast interview. How my brain starts over-analyzing all the steps. And you don’t think about it but it really is that many steps you just don’t have to take that into consideration when your body and mind work like they should.

The TL;DR is that this is why I sometimes “forget” to eat. Food has just become rather low on the hierarchy of needs. 

Well said, with the hierarchy of needs observation. And a lot of people who haven’t experienced this just don’t understand how that’s possible.

That can also make for a great combo deal: seriously limited energy/ability, on top of existing executive function problems and tendencies to get stuck.

(Including limited energy to put toward working around it, but yeah.)

That said, at least IME this example sounds more like a straightforward executive function thing than the getting stuck kind of inertia. Chronic illness/pain can really complicate both.

You Can’t Be Autistic Because… You Speak & Are Outgoing (Hyper-verbal Autistics)

A pretty good series overall, but ouch.

I’m personally a lot more subdued now around people I don’t know well enough to trust how they’ll react. Which can be stressful enough in its own way, but yeah. A lot that’s relatable here.

It’s also helped me, realizing that I really cannot help the fact that some people do find it overwhelming. That’s just a personal mismatch, and not all on me. Still difficult to keep in mind sometimes, of course.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

wastelandmae:

watchoutfordinosaurs:

maltedmilkchocolate:

Time blindness is the weirdest aspect of executive dysfunction and so weird as an experience to live with.

It’s like you see the clock, the clock says 3pm, you look at the clock again and it’s 3:02, then 3:05, and then you look again and it’s 8pm and WHAT THE FUCK.

You don’t even need hyperfocus. But hyperfocus is like the Warp Speed:tm: version cause when that hits, it’s 3pm and then it’s the next day and why is the sun rising and when did i last eat and oh god i need to use the bathroom. And oh, also, you’re EXHAUSTED. The act of your brain tunnel visioning on something drains you (but that’s another topic).

Time blindness is…. having the general knowledge that today is Wednesday, and you need to do something on Thursday. Thursday is logically tomorrow, but the mysterious void of time is like ‘that’s like next week or something.’ 

It’s knowing you have to do something in three weeks on the 21st. And as the days creep closer, the 21st is stuck in a constant state of still being 3 weeks away, despite the fact it’s now tomorrow.

It’s wild. ADHD is literally living in a constant state of “There is Now. And there is Later.” and there’s no in between; no dates, no times; no hours, weeks, or months. It’s just Now and Later, and oh god why is is X o’clock already!?

Maybe I DO have ADHD….

My “favourite” is when my brain is acutely aware of the facts that “today is Wednesday” “I have an appointment on Wednesday” “I need to leave at 1pm on Wednesday to get to the appointment” and “it is 12:30 and I am still in my pyjamas” and just… does not connect any of these facts together into “I need to get dressed and leave the house very soon, in fact I should probably start now”, or even “today is the day I have the appointment” as a starting point…

^^^

watchoutfordinosaurs:

maltedmilkchocolate:

Time blindness is the weirdest aspect of executive dysfunction and so weird as an experience to live with.

It’s like you see the clock, the clock says 3pm, you look at the clock again and it’s 3:02, then 3:05, and then you look again and it’s 8pm and WHAT THE FUCK.

You don’t even need hyperfocus. But hyperfocus is like the Warp Speed:tm: version cause when that hits, it’s 3pm and then it’s the next day and why is the sun rising and when did i last eat and oh god i need to use the bathroom. And oh, also, you’re EXHAUSTED. The act of your brain tunnel visioning on something drains you (but that’s another topic).

Time blindness is…. having the general knowledge that today is Wednesday, and you need to do something on Thursday. Thursday is logically tomorrow, but the mysterious void of time is like ‘that’s like next week or something.’ 

It’s knowing you have to do something in three weeks on the 21st. And as the days creep closer, the 21st is stuck in a constant state of still being 3 weeks away, despite the fact it’s now tomorrow.

It’s wild. ADHD is literally living in a constant state of “There is Now. And there is Later.” and there’s no in between; no dates, no times; no hours, weeks, or months. It’s just Now and Later, and oh god why is is X o’clock already!?

Maybe I DO have ADHD….

libraryimagination:

my-autistic-things:

reinedescruelles:

unpopularly-opinionated:

ms-demeanor:

skinnersboxy:

the-real-numbers:

ms-demeanor:

ms-demeanor:

waitingforgalois:

ms-demeanor:

the-real-numbers:

Fuck, my sleep schedule does naturally fall into the 4am-12 pattern, doesn’t it

What fucking else about ADD/ADHD don’t I know?

Do you sit weird in chairs? Apparently that’s one.

Does criticism really REALLY really upset you, to the point that you get upset and consider walking away from whatever the thing you were criticized for was?

Is your sense of time utterly fucked?

Oh fuck. I was recently diagnosed but all of these things have been true my whole life lol

Imagine my surprise when I had this plus all the standard symptoms and got diagnosed at 31! *Fingerguns*

More Adult ADHD symptoms that people don’t know:

  • “Hyperactivity” can include chattiness, or an obsessive focus on one topic that you’ll happily go on about for hours in a conversation with *anyone* at the slightest provocation (last week someone brought up pockets in women’s clothing near the end of a small-group workout session and I may have spent the rest of the session giving an impromptu lecture about pockets while doing hammer curls)
  • Zoning out and staring off into space because you’re thinking really hard about something and then not noticing that people are talking to you
  • Hyperfocus is a symptom of ADHD. There’s this pervasive myth that folks with ADHD can’t pay attention but sometimes the problem is you can’t leave something alone.
  • Random impulsive shopping sprees that leave you wracked with guilt can be part of ADHD
  • Interrupting or talking over other people
  • P R O C R A S T I N A T I O N (because you can’t feel bad about failing a project that never gets started)
  • Worrying that you’re going to get fired every time your boss wants to speak to you privately (this is a sign of rejection sensitive dysphoria and emotional hyperarousal)

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got the attention to look up for now so ttyl, if you think you may have ADHD check out some of the blogs dedicated to it, read up on symptoms, and talk to your doctor, bye.

Everybody who thinks they might have ADHD go read about dyspraxia holy fuck.

Super common symptom: Left/right confusion.

Everybody raise your hand if you developed a mnemonic as a kid where you flexed your right arm to remember which was right and which was left and kept that into adulthood because I’ve now spoken to three people who have a half-second “right-flex-okay-it’s-this-one” “left-flex-okay-it’s-the-other-one” process for figuring out which is right and which is left.

Specifically, raise your left hand :p

Almost all of this fits me but also I read most of these as autistic and not ADHD. Can someone explain how these display differently?

I’m not gonna lie here, I don’t honestly know that there is that much of a difference. I’ve had lots of people suggest that I might be autistic and unaware of it, and overstimulation and processing issues and meltdowns can also be observed in ADHD adults even though they frequently go in the “autistic” column.

FWIW I’m enby and fall heavily into the “looks like a woman” category and had trouble getting diagnosed even with ADHD. I’ve discussed autism with my doctors in the past because I’ve had so many people go “uh, hey, you might want to ask” and they’ve consistently done the “no, you’re too good at recognizing social cues and maintaining eye contact” thing (am I good at these things because I’m good at them or am I good at these things because I’ve learned to do them as a survival skill after years of bullying because I was the weird kid who couldn’t act right? It’s hard to tell). I’ve heard a lot of people discussing the fact that adult women have trouble getting diagnosed, especially if they’ve been masking a long time.

Apparently there’s at least something of a difference in regard to desire for order and repetition and verbosity as children. I don’t know how much of a difference there is for adults.

As an adult I can’t even get diagnosed for ADD/ADHD because if I ever mention it my doctors always ask the leading question “do you know how they treat that?” which feels like this dumb test like if I answer with yeah I know what they do they’ll immediately assume I’m there for the drugs, which like yeah technically I am, but not for THAT reason. If the shit helps me why wouldn’t I want to take it?

It feels very catch-22. If I know anything about ADD and can accurately describe my symptoms as ADD then they just think I’m reading from a premade list of symptoms I read online, but like looking online is how I IDed my symptoms so…I don’t get it.

I am a 23 year old female and was diagnosed (at 21, took a lot of self advocacy bc by family didnt believe in adhd) and medicated for ADHD by a professional. I can confirm there’s a huge overlap between symptoms of adhd and autism and that’s because they’re both neurodevelopmental disorders and thus have similar effects going on regarding brain chemistry. However, they are distinct diagnoses evem though they affect some of the same parts of the brain and have similar symptoms (also, similar symptoms appear for different reasons in the disorders, so sometimes they may present similarly but be caused by different issues). @ms-demeanor @skinnersboxy

  • Also, procrastination bc your brain only releases norepinephrine (fight or flight) at the Last Second™ to do your assignments right before you fail
  • Having that norepinephrine response the exact amount of time to do your assignments before the due date and being too ADHD to sit and do the assignment so it’s late
  • *sees a commercial about literally anything* I. N.EE.DDD.D IT.T.T!!1!!!!1!1!

on the topic of autism:

1. you can have both

2. autism comes with issues with communication and social interaction in addition to sensory and processing issues. while some of us speak early or around the same time as NT kids, a lot of autistic people speak late or not all. Most of us can go non-verbal sometimes, particularly when stressed. So verbal speech or any communication at all can just be harder for our brains. We tend to rely heavily on scripts or models and may use echolalia (repeating this). While we may learn strategies to help, communication issues persist our whole lives. We can take things literally and struggle with metaphors or joking/teasing. We tend to have trouble reading social situations and understanding how to apply social rules which often seem obscure and arbitrary. Part of this may be because we have different natural body language and can struggle to read NT body language–includinng facial expressions. That makes it hard for us to get information about what other people may be feeling. All of this is general and will not apply to every autistic person–we’re all different.

as for how the overlap traits are different between the two it’s very hard to be sure particularly as some people can have both.

eternallydaydreaming2015:

f1rstperson:

allthingshyper:

spoonie-living:

finnglas:

lechadodi:

angelofgrace96:

“I’ll remember” is the ADHD demon talking. You won’t remember. Write it down.

bold of you to assume i’ll remember where i wrote it, or even that i wrote it

Visual exhaustion is another symptom of ADHD, which means that if we see something enough times (or we see enough instances of something), it fades into background noise and we fail to notice it.

This is why a lot of ADHD people can stand living surrounded by mess/clutter, because it’s just visual background noise to us. We don’t even notice it anymore.

So if we write something down and see the note stuck up somewhere a lot – or if we write a LOT of somethings down and have a lot of notes hanging around – then we’re even less likely to think of/remember the thing because it’s just part of the scenery now.

ADHD is the Catch-22 of brains.

A very good thing to know about ADHD. Don’t fall into the trap.

A lot of folks in the comments are talking about writing on themselves or setting phone/calendar reminders. Your mileage may vary on those. You may also want to consider ways to set a habit of referring back to a planner or similar every day/hour.

To get those brain juices flowing, check out this Buzzfeed article on different ways folks with ADHD stay on top of things.

Readers, let us know if you have specific advice for this situation!

This is why sticky note reminders don’t work??

The mess clutter thing is something I’ve always had and ppl will walk in and be like “WHAT IS ALL THIS, HOW DOES THIS NOT BUG YOU” and i’m like literally why would i ever be looking at any of it????? What??

But then also if someone were to take the clutter and change it in some major visual way it messes me up for a few days bc then i’ll keep noticing it

So i guess my advice on this is make it intrusive and annoying if you’re gonna leave yourself reminders

Hmmmm…all of these sound like me.

autisticeducator:

University Accommodations: Talking to Professors

This is where I wish more schools would adapt the student driven IEP model in middle and high school. It’s coming for New York in the most recently updated special education policies and I can’t wait. I’m willing to give suggestions on that. But more on that in another post.

At the university level, as the student, it is 100% your responsibility to advocate for yourself. Your parents aren’t legally allowed to be involved (due to privacy laws) and the disability office cannot get too involved for the same reason. I’ll get to what the disability office can and cannot legally do in a separate post.

So you did your intake meeting. You know what your accommodations are. What next? Well you need to meet with your professors to discuss accommodations. This can go multiple ways:

•They insist you meet in their office

•You wait for the class to drain out and you talk to them after class if they are available.

Then their response usually falls somewhere between:

•Incredibly helpful, asking on a regular basis how they can best assist your learning according to your accommodations so you get the most out of their class (I don’t know how I managed three of these professors this semester).

•Indifferent, they’ll follow the accommodations and not much else. If it isn’t specifically written in the accommodations, they might not do it.

•Intentionally obstructive, trying to get in your way. Ableist as hell. Don’t believe students who need accommodations belong at universities. Has the false belief that accommodations affect academic integrity (they legally aren’t allowed to do that). I’ll be covering that in a separate post.

Usually a disability services office that goes out of their way is on a campus that has mostly incredibly helpful to helpful professors. Can you get an intentionally obstructive professor in this scenario? It’s theoretically possible (remember the best professors are constantly checking themselves for bias) but unlikely as it’s likely university policy to be accountable for all student learning. The reverse is also likely.

Anyway, so you have your time for when you are going to speak to your professors. What do you say? First, you introduce yourself. Tell them why you wish to speak to them (or remind them of you schedule an appointment over email). Then tell them what accommodations from the disability office you were given and how it will affect their specific class. So I’m going to use my accommodations from this semester and my hybrid class as an example of applying the accommodations to the class:

•Time and a half on tests [Blackboard quizzes require Time and a half, which only needs to be set once]

•Small group test taking in alternate location [Will be taking final exam at disability office]

•Requires computer for written exams/essays etc.

[N/A, quizzes already on computer, all papers typed and submitted electronically]

•Requires computer for taking notes in class

[During on campus classes, I need to have my laptop to take notes on]

•Requires audio note taking software

[It’s easier for me to record audio then only type the absolutely important things vs trying to type everything and getting frustrated. My laptop mic is pretty good plus there are settings I can adjust and I have a USB mic just in case.]

•Requires books and large texts in alternate format (ebook/audio)

[I can’t process long bits of text. It’s easier for me to have text to speech/audible read to me while I read along. I have a way to convert longer PDFs into ones that screen readers can handle but if I look confused on what went on in the reading, it’s because the conversion went array.]

Each class is different, so I tailor my responses to how the accommodations apply to that class. This must be done in the first week if everything is going to go smoothly. If your disability services office is good, they’ll email your accommodation letter to you and your professor every semester so everyone gets it and no one can claim ignorance.

alexafaie-asd:

This is literally my entire life!

[Image Description: A screenshot showing white text with blue bullet points on a black background. The text reads as follows.

Example of Task Inertia:

  • I need to vacuum and I need to shower.
  • I don’t want to shower until after I vacuum because I will get hot & sweaty.
  • I need to get lunch… but I can’t leave the house unless I shower.
  • But I can’t shower until I vacuum.
  • I’m too hungry to vacuum.
  • I’ll just sit here for a while longer and build myself up to vacuum.
  • It’s going to be loud and I need to move stuff around.
  • I’m not in the mood for the sensory assault, but I need to vacuum.
  • I just want to shower. (sad face emoji)

    • ~ Kate Ross (cherry blossom emoji)
    Cherry Blossom Tree
    My Autism Experience

    /End Image description]

    fuckingconversations:

    pazdispenser:

    CBC made a good documentary on adult ADHD and part of it really caught me off guard because i swear they repeated verbatim my life story for the past 3 years

    full programme here:

    http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/episodes/adhd-not-just-for-kids

    My ADHD manifested in excellent in-class work. Excellent understanding in discussions. Excellent participation. 

    My ADHD manifested in piles of homework left undone until the last possible minute, while I stared at them, thinking; “I want to get these done. I understand the theory. It would take 10 minutes. I want to start, why can’t I start?” 

    My ADHD manifested in fantastic reading comprehension – nigh impenetrable focus on interesting topics the first time I’m reading about them. 

    My ADHD manifested in a complete inability to focus on reviews or re-reads, mind skittering sideways and away whenever anything was boring or repetitive. I sat down to study, my books open, my eyes on the text, and my brain clawing its way out the back of my head to focus on something else – anything else. Focus, focus! [No.]

    My ADHD manifested in Articulating wings half-finished but still beautiful, in beautiful lineart and half-hearted coloring. In stories written passionately for days until I forgot it existed and never returned. In projects started and forgotten and started and forgotten a thousand times until my bins of project supplies piled up and my bank account shriveled down. No, it will be different this time – I LOVE this new thing. This new thing is my world, my destiny, my Everything. I CREATE and CREATE and CREATE and never FINISH. 

    My ADHD manifested in confusion and surprise as time slithered away, hours passing like minutes and minutes seeming endless by contrast. An inability to gauge how much time had passed, was left, a task would take. An inability to hold dates in my head, because time didn’t feel consistent or even real.

     My ADHD manifested in watching someone talk and not understanding a word they said – literally hearing sounds and translating out only nonsense. In thoughts so loud I couldn’t speak coherently. In a conversation across the room shattering an idea I was trying to hold. It’s hard to think when you’re already thinking about everything around you.