Review paper on shared heritage of #ADHD and #ASD from 2009. Since we recently discussed this I think you @actuallyautistic and @actuallyadhd might be interested too - haven't read it yet, got it via @sensorystoriesbynicole, a very great account on #AuDHD and other ND stuff on Instagram btw
How do you stay focused on one thing? (Question in a panel)
No. I embrace my ADHD mind and some of the best ideas and flashes of inspiration come from me doing something else and then thinking "hey, what if I....."
Instead of forcing neurodivergent people to focus on one thing, why don't you build an environment that allows us to play to our strengths. I guarantee you it'll cause less stress and heartache.
It’s crazy how easilyr my sleep pattern gets derailed. Yesterday all it took was me falling asleep early enough that I woke at 2:30am and couldn’t get back to sleep.
I spent most of Monday in a weird zombie state. But in the evening I forced myself to stay up until I zonked around midnight.
I woke at 4:30 or so and felt fresh as a spring lamb. Still baffles me. Sleep irregularity is the norm in my experience.
For me it not only helps with pain, anxiety, and depression but it also seems to help me interacting with people and with what I think might be selective mutism.
Example, I went to the dentist three times since November. The first two times, besides being a sensory nightmare, I was unable to speak more than two words to the dentist. The third time, I smoked some cannabis before the appointment and was better able to cope with the lights and sounds, be polite to the dentist, and thank her for recommending a water flosser.
Before that I had been going back and forth on whether I am autistic but on the way home from that appointment I had the realization and the dots all connected: the rarity of me interacting with people unless I have to because of difficulty talking, my dislike of phone calls for the same reason, my borderline agoraphobia and dislike of cars both having to do with sensory hypersensitivity, the fact that I am so much better at communicating in writing than in person because I have more processing time, the list goes on. It just all clicked at once, I think another effect of the cannabis being the ability to see the big picture not just the details.
People look down on stoners and have all kinds of misconceptions about it but honestly, I would use it every day if I could. It helps me so much.
Anyway, I can't be the only one. In my state, autism is on the list of qualifying conditions for medical cannabis. So, I'm curious. How about you?
@MnemosyneSinger@actuallyautistic I’ve used it for decades more on than off, and it helps calm me. I feel less anxiety, I no longer have nightmares even more traumatic than my day life, I helps me not be overloaded with adrenaline. It helps my ptsd. Though I can’t say if it helps with being autistic or not. I’m sure there are drawbacks, but I haven’t experienced that. I function best on coffee & weed. #AuDHD
Me: Yumm that smells good, I wonder what my neighbor is cooking?
Also me: Dammit, I’m cooking! I hope I didn’t burn it again.
Me as well: I didn’t burn it again. 😮💨 #AuDHD@actuallyautistic
“The Autism Books by Autistic Authors Project is an (ongoing) attempt to catalogue all books — non-fiction and fiction — written about and related to autism by Autistic authors.”
There are over 1,000 books catalogued! Including mine and other authors I see in my #actuallyautistic feed here on Mastodon.
It still amazes me how commonly scientific papers posit [paraphrase] "Advanced maternal age increases risk of gestational development of autism" when, RIGHT THERE for the grasping is the possibility that autistic ladies who get the chance to actually think about it before getting pregnant... decide to hold off for a bit.
And THEN have autistic babes with their gene parts.
@anomalon Since I’m sure we personally know so many counterexamples, I always keep a shredder or delete button handy for such “scientific” “studies.” 🤣
My mom was 19 and our son’s egg donor and surrogate were 22 and 30. So yeah I’m sure advanced age had something to do with being #neurodifferen! Heh
I hate working in openspaces with no option to go to a quiet place. Right now there are two phone calls and three conversations around me in a mix of four languages(I know all, and my brain choses randomly on which sounds to focus), and the task documentation I’m writing right now has to have very careful and precise wording, and I keep re-reading the same paragraph over and over again and don’t even get what I’m saying. #AuDHD#autism#neurodivergent @actuallyautistic
@actuallyautistic and no, I can’t solve the issue of noisy workspace with noise-canceling earphones. Because of sensory issues, I can’t stand earphones for a long time(well-fitting in-ear get uncomfortable in like half an hour and over-ear ones I need to take off in just a few minutes), my ears hurt and burn, and I feel so uncomfortable that I can’t think of anything else #neurodivergent people with sensory issues with headphones, what do you do with the work noise? #AuDHD#autism
Me: My short story has had 556 page reads! One million page reads, here I come!
Spouse: That's nothing to shake a stick at! Wait, why are we shaking a stick? Who is shaking a stick? What are they shaking a stick at? Why do we say this?
Me: 90 minutes later According to Dr. Google, there is no definitive origin story, but it was allegedly 1st recorded in 1818 in the Journal of Pennsylvania…<info dump>
Not sure why, but I realized that recently my #autistic side kinda outweighs my #ADHD side. I get overwhelmed much easier, I got more intense shutdowns, but I keep up with certain routines better. Maybe it has something to do with aging, maybe with living alone, or with learning to better recognize my needs and letting myself be instead of masking 24/7. I wonder if other #AuDHD people notice the balance changed with age or lifestyle changes @actuallyautistic
I frequently have to re-read the same paragraph over and over again before it sinks in. It is really frustrating, and makes reading a book take forever. It even happens when I’m listening to an audio book.
What being #AuDHD is like.
I decided to make miso-glazed eggplants for dinner. I usually make them with some sesame seeds. This time when I was almost done, I couldn’t find the sesame. I know I have at least two different packs somewhere. I found none on my seeds shelf, I wasn’t able to find any from the first try in my a bit too well-stocked pantry cabinets. So I got upset, finished making them as is, and don’t want them for dinner anymore, and am now cooking eggplants with za’atar
Words fall into 4 categories: the words people say, the words I say, the ones others say, and the ones they write. It is becoming more and more clear to me that I can only take in so many spoken words before I just can't process any more, no matter how awesome, important, or anything. And the more words I have to process, the less I have to give back. It's like, all the words coming in push out the available reservoir I'd have to draw from for responding. I don't have this problem so much with written text, but spoken word is getting harder and harder every day. Which is nearly impossible to balance in a household that depends so heavily on spoken word, and spoken word delivered promptly at that. #ActuallyAutistic@actuallyautistic#AuDHD
I’ve heard today that #autistic people don’t form habits, they create routines.
I thought of my ‘useful habits’ - and yeah, right, they are routines.
But then I thought: well, what’s the difference then? What is a habit if NOT a routine?
Can anyone help me with examples of what may be a habit, but not a routine?
Given the impact this has on so many you would think there would be building pressure for DEA to get this resolved and done with. I guess as long as they get theirs everything is “fine?”
“The Empty Adderall Factory A drugmaker’s feud with the DEA is exacerbating the ADHD meds crisis — at a rate of 600 million missing doses a year.” #Intelligencer
Autistics can be extroverts. There are extroverted autistics. Social-emotional reciprocity or social communication “deficits” sometimes outshine the deep need for social connection. Never assume because someone is autistic that they aren’t revitalized by social events or don’t love to socialize. @actuallyautistic#audhd#actuallyautistic#autism#autistic#LateIdentifiedAuDHD
Hung out with a friend yesterday and he was able—ON THE SPOT—to ACCURATELY estimate how much time it would take us to go to thrift stores and eat lunch.