4 ms·

My kid is being evaluated now. He’s been a bit behind his peers and seems to struggle socially, but only in bigger groups. The psychologist first thought it cou

by Thlom 4y ago

My kid is being evaluated now. He’s been a bit behind his peers and seems to struggle socially, but only in bigger groups. The psychologist first thought it could be some kind of autism, but after observing him at school, talking to him and putting him through “the tests” she was very conflicted. So far the “working diagnosis” is adhd, but who knows. There definitely is some overlap and probably a lot of people has the wrong diagnosis. My better half is working in a related field and told me after our last meeting with the psychologist that she has been suspecting that I have adhd. It never occurred to me, but reading up a bit there’s a lot of my life that makes more sense…

banannaise 4y ago
There's a reason that ADHD and autistic people come together under the umbrella of neurodivergent/neurodiverse. There's a ton of overlap between the two. I've found that most neurodivergent people communicate in very similar ways and describe very similar experiences when not experiencing burnout/meltdowns.
- hirvi74 4y ago
  How much of the overlap do you think is due to the high rates of ADHD in people with Autism? From what I last researched (Dr. Russell Barkley's works on the matter), it's a one-way street i.e. having Autism greatly increases the chances of having ADHD, but the opposite is not true because a large majority of people with ADHD do not have Autism.
  - banannaise 4y ago
    The fact that ADHD and autism are categorized as two separate things says more about medicine than it does about people with ADHD/autism.
    - hirvi74 4y ago
      What does it say about medicine? I am not medical professional, but I have never considered the two illnesses to be that related. Do you think anxiety and depression should be classified as one disorder? How about bipolar and depression? Bipolar I with Psychotic Features and Schizophrenia? Do the treatments for ADHD help Autism, because if not, I'd argue they are not that similar?
- q-big 4y ago
  > There's a reason that ADHD and autistic people come together under the umbrella of neurodivergent/neurodiverse. There's a ton of overlap between the two. "Neurodiverse" also includes schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and antisocial personality disorder (see [1]). I don't think that including such a wide net of conditions under the "neurodiversity" umbrella term makes a lot of sense. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neurodiversity&oldid=1086040134#Within_disability_rights_movements https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neurodiversity&ol...
nicoburns 4y ago
You might want to point your kid (or yourself) at the #ActuallyAutistic tag on instagram. There’s a whole community of autistic content creators out there, and I’ve personally found it really helpful to see my own experiences reflected in that of others.

by Thlom 4y ago

banannaise 4y ago

There's a reason that ADHD and autistic people come together under the umbrella of neurodivergent/neurodiverse. There's a ton of overlap between the two. I've found that most neurodivergent people communicate in very similar ways and describe very similar experiences when not experiencing burnout/meltdowns.

hirvi74 4y ago
How much of the overlap do you think is due to the high rates of ADHD in people with Autism? From what I last researched (Dr. Russell Barkley's works on the matter), it's a one-way street i.e. having Autism greatly increases the chances of having ADHD, but the opposite is not true because a large majority of people with ADHD do not have Autism.
- banannaise 4y ago
  The fact that ADHD and autism are categorized as two separate things says more about medicine than it does about people with ADHD/autism.
  - hirvi74 4y ago
    What does it say about medicine? I am not medical professional, but I have never considered the two illnesses to be that related. Do you think anxiety and depression should be classified as one disorder? How about bipolar and depression? Bipolar I with Psychotic Features and Schizophrenia? Do the treatments for ADHD help Autism, because if not, I'd argue they are not that similar?
q-big 4y ago
> There's a reason that ADHD and autistic people come together under the umbrella of neurodivergent/neurodiverse. There's a ton of overlap between the two. "Neurodiverse" also includes schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, and antisocial personality disorder (see [1]). I don't think that including such a wide net of conditions under the "neurodiversity" umbrella term makes a lot of sense. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neurodiversity&oldid=1086040134#Within_disability_rights_movements https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neurodiversity&ol...

nicoburns 4y ago

You might want to point your kid (or yourself) at the #ActuallyAutistic tag on instagram. There’s a whole community of autistic content creators out there, and I’ve personally found it really helpful to see my own experiences reflected in that of others.