My Autism and ADHD Diagnosis

February 16, 2024

I’m officially diagnosed with autism and ADHD!

I mean, I’ve been Autistic and ADHD my whole life, but I got an official diagnosis with it last week. (picture 1)

Many are skeptical that they are just handing out diagnoses like candy, but let me assure you, the process was rather difficult and long. You can see all the tests and assessments I had to take (picture 2)

Getting a diagnosis is very difficult for an adult. I tried to go through my insurance, and they referred me to an 80-year-old psychiatrist who said that I don’t need to worry about it because I got through school okay, and I got a job. He told me I was “fine”.

However, I have not been fine as I have suffered many of the accompanying health problems that go along with AuDHD, including severe and persistent exhaustion, which is VERY typical among adult masking autistics (called autistic burnout).

I eventually had to find a professional group that specialized in adult autism and adhd. I got on a year-long wait list and had to pay for it, but I'm glad I did. It's through the group www.grasp.org

You can’t look at me generally and tell I’m autistic because I’ve become a master at blending in called Autistic Masking: I made a video about that here: https://youtu.be/nCRIM7LVlYs

I have struggled with energy to teach and then barely had enough energy to do my church callings such as Bishop and Stake Presidency. (my fellow counselor in the stake presidency told me he always thought I seemed exhausted and dead). I still tried to put everything I had into my family despite all that. In the last couple of years, the burnout was not something I could push through anymore

I’ve since found that there are very few medical professionals and even mental health professionals who understand masking autism or what it looks like when you have a combination of Autism and ADHD (they tend to mask each other, even though your brain is still chaotic). I had a therapist for three sessions who said she was an expert in Autism, although I found out that she really only knew about it through her five-year-old son. Most people who know only about stereotypical autism really only understand what it looks like for young white middle to upper-class males, as that is what they originally made their diagnostic criteria based on.

Saying someone is not autistic because they don’t look like that is like telling someone who has skin cancer that they don’t have cancer because you’ve only heard of brain tumors. So many people think they are experts because they know one person who is autistic. The most difficult people are the ones who are sure they know everything but really only about stereotypical autism.

I occasionally get weird comments from people like

Q: You don’t look autistic

A: You don’t look Neurotypical either but here we are.

Not really sure what autistic looks like

A couple of myths to dispel about autism:

1. While there are rising numbers of autistics most if not all of that comes from heightened awareness of what actually is autism.

2. It’s NOT caused by Vaccines- DO NOT approach me with that pseudoscience crap unless you want me to unload on you

3. It’s not caused by gluten.

4. According to actual studies, Autism and ADHD are about 80% caused by genes. This is generally studied through twin studies which are very reliable.

5. You can still be Autistic even if your parents are not, due to the way gene combinations work- However. Many parents of autistics are coming to the realization (like myself) that they are indeed also autistic, even though they previously were unaware.

Getting a diagnosis among the Neurodivergent community is generally seen as a reason to celebrate, as we now have a “why” as to our many, many years of suffering and not fitting in.

I made a video about that here: https://youtu.be/6OX-AoluocM

Being around people is still very exhausting to me: if you want to know why and how you can help autistics feel more comfortable, then you can check out my other video here: https://youtu.be/8iWwRzcG8-g