Nothing about this is scientific.

What if I have stuff from all three circles

My 6yo was watching Avatar 2 for the first time and the scene where the humans are burning down the forests, and he immediately asks me “how can there so much fire if people have to wear masks to breathe?”

Last year we saw a pickup merging on the highway with a balloon arch in the back and he immediately realized what was about to happen.

He’s very empathetic (he is vegetarian and can’t fathom eating meat. He literally cries over the meat section of a supermarket, though he’s a bit dramatic). And he’s always asking me about complex things like black holes and gravity and inertia and tectonics.

Is he…gifted? How do we find out?

This chart hits me hard, in so many ways.

There are certain traits common to neurotypicals which I have always considered to be detrimental to not only that person in whom I've observed the trait, but to society as a whole -- but because I'm the one who is considered "different" I usually find that it's easier to just keep my trap shut, rather than be browbeaten by NTs for my strong opinions.

As a very obvious example: "Highly developed morals" is tucked away in the corner of the Autism/Giftedness sub-quadrant. I'm going to make the obvious assumption that Ms. Higgins Lee clearly did not intend to imply that only neurodivergents hold that trait... but, anecdotally, I have nonetheless on more than one occasion observed that far too many people who are considered by the larger populace to be "normal" not only appear to lack that trait, but actively despise anyone who holds such high morals.

NTs so often derisively label us as "autistic" or "neurodivergent" or (my personal favorite) "nerds"... like these are all somehow bad things -- but maybe society as a whole needs to reevaluate the entire notion of what constitutes "good" and "bad".

Sorry... am I being too divergent? Should I shut my trap... yet again?

Posted this a couple weeks ago in /AuDHD. I was wondering how long it would take to circulate and be reposted here. 😄

I've always felt strongly identified with parts of the autism and ADHD symptoms but not with all of either so I always assumed I was just self-diagnosing or was simply a bit too close with both spectrums without fully being into either or something like that. It's hard to discern also because I've been depressed for some time and I'm asexual so sometimes I just attribute some of my non-typical traits to that.

But in the last 5 years I feel like I'm deteriorating at a growing rate and doing even the smallest things is incredibly hard for me, even things that I used to like like reading or playing videogames, not to say things like working or intense socializing. I know that getting an official diagnosis is the way to go but I'm in South America where the infrastructure/system for all this is even lesser than in Europe/USA and I'm broke anyways. My current goal is to work to get enough money to survive and get the diagnosis, even if it feels like am working at 15% capacity.

In the meantime, does anyone know of some kind of scientific test or resource that might help me clear my mind in regards to what I am/have? I promise I'll get an official diagnosis as soon as I can but I feel like even identifying that I probably have a ton of ADHD or whatever it is and getting some commonly-held tips about my particular condition could help me lots right now.

I feel attacked.

Oh god I'm definitely esaily bored

This is quite revealing. I'm hyper focused on some of my past and present behavior now and feel like a damn hypochondriac at this point.

I know I had ADHD in my childhood, diagnosed, medicated for a while, but was told I "grew out of it" in my teens. Not sure if that's the right term, but I was indeed told I no longer have it.

Been doing some research, and thinking more and more about whether I have mild autism/asbergers. Does anyone know any reliable and discrete ways of figuring out if you might be on the spectrum or not? Something I can keep to myself at least for the time being? Or is asking my doctor the only way? Are specialists that specifically assess autism spectrum a thing? And is it possible to go to one of them without having to be referred by my primary care doctor?

ADHD here, and I think level 1 ASD (psych appointment few weeks).

ADHD – "Ability to respond quickly in crisis situations/emergencies"? What?

Very helpful.

Hat trick

Like 90% of these apply to me, though I've somehow failed every ADHD assessment I've ever taken.

Tag yourself, I'm Processing speed impacted