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AuDHD

BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
edited September 11 in All Saints
I think I'm AuDHD. (Autistic and ADHD - an interesting combination)

I won't get a diagnosis as I'm already diagnosed ADHD and I'm coping fine with only a couple of daily glitches.

My ADHD coach 10 years ago was absolutely amazing and taught me all the coping strategies I didn't already have, learned from family.

I reckon I have an autistic processing system and an ADHD personality.

So I like routine and order - and work towards it all the time. And I love spontaneity, new things, experiences, adventures and high risks.

Ho hum - what a mixture. No wonder my dear Mr. Boogs finds me confusing!

Any others out there?

Comments

  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    edited September 11
    A lot of us. I have a friend who reckons there ought to be a "general nerdiness" diagnosis which has elements of Autism, ADHD and Dyspraxia. I could probably get a diagnosis for ADHD and Dyspraxia if I wanted as I have the executive function of a dead whelk and the co-ordination of a jelly speeding downhill in a shopping trolley. They say the prevalence of Dyspraxia is about 6% or 1 in 15, and in any given class of 30 at school I was absolutely the worst at any and all sports by a country mile. Not that I could run a mile, country or otherwise, without tripping over something.

    Edit to add - I just came up with a thought - perhaps the diagnosis we actually get reflects which of our neurodivergences we least successfully hide ;)
  • ThunderBunkThunderBunk Shipmate
    edited September 11
    The process of getting any diagnosis is currently beyond my executive function, but see @KarlLB 's description above for mine, too. Everything I have goes on work. My emotional regulation is also all over the place. Most of the time, it feels like my autistic side sits around feeling resentful at the ADHD's chaos, while finding patterns in the outside world to console it.

    Also the dyspraxia - I would, and have many times, fall over my own feet. Never mind a molehill in a 10 acre field. Thank you for those phrases echoing round my head, mother.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    edited September 11
    If ever I get lost in a desert or on a featureless misty moor, just set down something expensive and fragile and await the crashing noise and the swearing.
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    KarlLB wrote: »
    If ever I get lost in a desert or on a featureless misty moor, just set down something expensive and fragile and await the crashing noise and the swearing.

    🤣

    Sometimes I do get appreciated for my general nerdy easily excited weirdness.

    I made a new friend a couple of weeks ago and went to her house for lunch. Her husband wasn't going to join us until he met me, then he decided he would. He said "now you are much more interesting than most of my wife's friends"!

  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    edited September 11
    ThunderBunk wrote: »
    Everything I have goes on work.

    This was me too. I enjoyed work but once I got home my chaotic side was given free reign.

    Retirement is confusing and enjoyable in equal measure.

  • SandemaniacSandemaniac Shipmate
    Probable ADHD-er here too. No formal diagnosis as I haven't looked for one, so treat with the usual caveats of self-diagnosis.

    Bright but odd child to the point of being sent to a school for maladjusted kids - soo many if my old colleagues have since been diagnosed with some degree of autism since its not true.

    Can rabbit hole for hours on something that genuinely interests me, oddly can also do very dull physical things for long periods as I can go into auto mode and think about something else entirely.

    Ask me to do one task perfectly with 100% attention and I'm screwed unless it is fascinating. Ask me to do a dozen, and I'm off surfing the adrenaline. Give me one thing, and my brain is desperately trying to find the other eleven. And don't start me on screens or open-plan offices - torture!

    Struggle when it goes past a dozen jobs as I get decision paralysis on which one to start - I have to pick a small, simple, one to break the floodgates.

    Love being busy with my hands. Hate desk work unless, as above, is something fascinating.
  • sionisaissionisais Shipmate
    @Sandemaniac I know what you mean. Younger daughter, who studied child care and development used me as a subject for her dissertation as she reckons I’m autistic. I know I have exactly no small talk and that I am obsessed with a few topics.

    When it comes to decision making I use XKCD 1205 which is a graph showing time saved/times task done to determine whether to improve tasks then management hassle to determine priority!
  • BoogieBoogie Heaven Host
    I've always struggled with sensory overload.

    I'm currently at the airport. Mr Boogs worked his usual magic and found a quiet corner in a cafe - so all is well.

    But the queue for security is purgatory, even 'tho they are very efficient at Bristol and keep you moving.

    I put my head down, screw my eyes up and keep walking, making sure all I can see is the floor in front of me and the feet of the person in front.
  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    Same here as regards sensory overload - meltdowns have not been unknown...and I used to dread parties/discos. I can just about cope with a small dinner party of 5-6 people, if there's no background musak, and not too many other people in the restaurant or whatever.

    Our Place's church hall used to be terrible for noise - Quiz Nights were sheer hell, with everyone talking and/or shouting - but they've just had a false ceiling installed. Primarily to guard against heat loss (they've put in new windows, too) it'll be interesting to see if it makes a lot of difference to the noise level.
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    I manage a university centre which coordinates academic accommodations for students with documented disabilities. ADHD and ASD are often co-morbid.
  • DafydDafyd Hell Host
    I have not been diagnosed with any of the above, largely on the principle of why waste the money on the perfectly obvious.
  • NicoleMRNicoleMR Shipmate
    I'm pretty sure I'm somewhere on the autism spectrum, but not too seriously affected. My middle brother is seriously autistic and lives in a group home, and my late older brother was never diagnosed autistic but was ADDH and in retrospect was pretty certainly autistic too, so it;s no surprise I'm somewhere there.
  • sionisaissionisais Shipmate
    edited September 12
    Dafyd wrote: »
    I have not been diagnosed with any of the above, largely on the principle of why waste the money on the perfectly obvious.

    And then taking advice to cope. Sister-in-law is a nurse with two autistic grandchildren. One is profoundly autistic and needs constant care but the other is very capable and talented in some areas, so she has been a source of reassurance at many times.

  • Bishops FingerBishops Finger Shipmate
    I think I may have mentioned before that it took me some effort to persuade FatherInCharge to stop requesting prayer 'for those suffering from autism' on his weekly news-sheet for Our Place.

    He later started naming children 'with behavioural difficulties', until I snitched him to the Archdeacon, who told him to cease and desist...

    He's well-meaning, but sometimes not the most sensitive of people.
  • SpikeSpike Ecclesiantics & MW Host, Admin Emeritus
    Sandemaniac wrote: »
    Probable ADHD-er here too. No formal diagnosis as I haven't looked for one, so treat with the usual caveats of self-diagnosis.

    Bright but odd child to the point of being sent to a school for maladjusted kids - soo many if my old colleagues have since been diagnosed with some degree of autism since its not true.

    Can rabbit hole for hours on something that genuinely interests me, oddly can also do very dull physical things for long periods as I can go into auto mode and think about something else entirely.

    Ask me to do one task perfectly with 100% attention and I'm screwed unless it is fascinating. Ask me to do a dozen, and I'm off surfing the adrenaline. Give me one thing, and my brain is desperately trying to find the other eleven. And don't start me on screens or open-plan offices - torture!

    Struggle when it goes past a dozen jobs as I get decision paralysis on which one to start - I have to pick a small, simple, one to break the floodgates.

    Love being busy with my hands. Hate desk work unless, as above, is something fascinating.

    I’m much the same, except for the school thing. I went to a regular school and got mercilessly bullied. As a consequence I hated school.

    I take on new hobbies and interests with much enthusiasm and give them my all, but usually lose interest after about 6 months. I’ve still got loads of beer brewing equipment gathering dust in the airing cupboard. The only exception to this is choral singing which I’ve been doing since childhood (and probably one of the reasons I got bullied). It was, and still is, my safe place.

  • ThunderBunkThunderBunk Shipmate
    It's my safe place too - choral singing - but gathering the executive function to get to doing it is getting harder and harder. It's a very first world problem, but it is something of a blight on life at the moment.
  • SandemaniacSandemaniac Shipmate
    Spike wrote: »
    Sandemaniac wrote: »
    Probable ADHD-er here too. No formal diagnosis as I haven't looked for one, so treat with the usual caveats of self-diagnosis.

    Bright but odd child to the point of being sent to a school for maladjusted kids - soo many if my old colleagues have since been diagnosed with some degree of autism since its not true.

    Can rabbit hole for hours on something that genuinely interests me, oddly can also do very dull physical things for long periods as I can go into auto mode and think about something else entirely.

    Ask me to do one task perfectly with 100% attention and I'm screwed unless it is fascinating. Ask me to do a dozen, and I'm off surfing the adrenaline. Give me one thing, and my brain is desperately trying to find the other eleven. And don't start me on screens or open-plan offices - torture!

    Struggle when it goes past a dozen jobs as I get decision paralysis on which one to start - I have to pick a small, simple, one to break the floodgates.

    Love being busy with my hands. Hate desk work unless, as above, is something fascinating.

    I’m much the same, except for the school thing. I went to a regular school and got mercilessly bullied. As a consequence I hated school.

    I take on new hobbies and interests with much enthusiasm and give them my all, but usually lose interest after about 6 months. I’ve still got loads of beer brewing equipment gathering dust in the airing cupboard. The only exception to this is choral singing which I’ve been doing since childhood (and probably one of the reasons I got bullied). It was, and still is, my safe place.

    I can sympathise with that I have a rotating string of hobbies that I can spend time on - right now it's mostly the garden and re-restoring a vintage lawnmower. In the meanwhile, I have a stack of film to develop, a darkroom to create, various cameras to unbugger, model kit to finish, a desk to re-set up now I'm not jobhunting in the day... oh, and I'm sorting out the annual cricket club photobook as well right now!

    Wibble...
  • ThunderBunkThunderBunk Shipmate
    Not jobhunting? Alleluia!!!!!!!!!
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    edited September 12
    Sandemaniac wrote: »
    Spike wrote: »
    Sandemaniac wrote: »
    Probable ADHD-er here too. No formal diagnosis as I haven't looked for one, so treat with the usual caveats of self-diagnosis.

    Bright but odd child to the point of being sent to a school for maladjusted kids - soo many if my old colleagues have since been diagnosed with some degree of autism since its not true.

    Can rabbit hole for hours on something that genuinely interests me, oddly can also do very dull physical things for long periods as I can go into auto mode and think about something else entirely.

    Ask me to do one task perfectly with 100% attention and I'm screwed unless it is fascinating. Ask me to do a dozen, and I'm off surfing the adrenaline. Give me one thing, and my brain is desperately trying to find the other eleven. And don't start me on screens or open-plan offices - torture!

    Struggle when it goes past a dozen jobs as I get decision paralysis on which one to start - I have to pick a small, simple, one to break the floodgates.

    Love being busy with my hands. Hate desk work unless, as above, is something fascinating.

    I’m much the same, except for the school thing. I went to a regular school and got mercilessly bullied. As a consequence I hated school.

    I take on new hobbies and interests with much enthusiasm and give them my all, but usually lose interest after about 6 months. I’ve still got loads of beer brewing equipment gathering dust in the airing cupboard. The only exception to this is choral singing which I’ve been doing since childhood (and probably one of the reasons I got bullied). It was, and still is, my safe place.

    I can sympathise with that I have a rotating string of hobbies that I can spend time on - right now it's mostly the garden and re-restoring a vintage lawnmower. In the meanwhile, I have a stack of film to develop, a darkroom to create, various cameras to unbugger, model kit to finish, a desk to re-set up now I'm not jobhunting in the day... oh, and I'm sorting out the annual cricket club photobook as well right now!

    Wibble...

    Thank fuck it's not just me. I've got a TTRPG half written, a bunch of songs I've not quite got round to recording, an aquarium that's currently just getting food and water changes because it's not currently my focus and the ingredients for a model railway in the loft

    Mrs KarlLB fortunately ensures I keep on top of the beer making as she has a vested interest.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    edited September 12
    Speaking of the TTRPG - most writers just pull faster than light drives out of thin air and hand wave issues. Not me; far too unsatisfying. I'm sat there asking myself questions like "if you had an antimatter reaction chamber how would you capture the energy? Would you need ambient temperature superconductors? How much antimatter would be equivalent to 1kg of deuterium if there was a recycling mechanism that ensured 100% fusion? If you use fusion what would you do with the helium inside a warp bubble?"
  • SandemaniacSandemaniac Shipmate
    ThunderBunk wrote: »
    Not jobhunting? Alleluia!!!!!!!!!

    Well, I'm temping on min wage, but I'm enjoying not looking for anything else right now. Especially as they seem to be buding a role round me, abs I'm going temp to perm thing might happen.
  • ThunderBunkThunderBunk Shipmate
    I so hope that comes off for you. That's how I got into my current employer and I'm still there 21 years later.........
  • SandemaniacSandemaniac Shipmate
    edited September 12
    ThunderBunk wrote: »
    I so hope that comes off for you. That's how I got into my current employer and I'm still there 21 years later.........

    Christ on a bike, that was bad typing on the phone in my post!

    I hope not be there in 21 years, as I'd be 75 then!
  • ThunderBunkThunderBunk Shipmate
    There is that.... Whether I'm making nearly enough money is a different matter, but it keeps body, soul and flat together.
  • SojournerSojourner Shipmate
    [post deleted]

  • ChastMastrChastMastr Shipmate
    I’m confident that’s how I’d be currently classified as well.
  • PriscillaPriscilla Shipmate
    Darllenwr is probably on the spectrum, Lord. P has been diagnosed as having ADHD.
  • ThunderBunkThunderBunk Shipmate
    Sandemaniac wrote: »
    ThunderBunk wrote: »
    I so hope that comes off for you. That's how I got into my current employer and I'm still there 21 years later.........

    Christ on a bike, that was bad typing on the phone in my post!

    I hope not be there in 21 years, as I'd be 75 then!

    I've just realised we're the same age, which gives me immediate sympathy with the pitch of your predicament, if you see what I mean.
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