#autismadhd

i have this thing i call efficiency brain and i KNOW other autismADHD folks MUST have it but ive never seen it talked about except for in like hyperspecific circumstances like needing to be extremely precise with ur words (which i also do) but like

efficiency brain affects my EVERYTHING. i cannot do things normally! i am hard wired to figure out the most efficient way to do something before i can actually do it. when i cleaned the bathrooms every night shift for my job i came up with a laser precise routine for which rooms i’d walk between in what order, and which and how many cleaning supplies i’d hold in each trip. i had that shit down to a SCIENCE.

stardew valley is great for efficiency brain because i will get the MOST out of a single day and find the EXACT right positions to stand in order to water all my crops in the fewest moves possible. any game where i have to pick one upgrade and permanently lock another one is poison because i get trapped in a cost-benefit analysis and just never get either benefit because i can’t choose! i’m not even an indecisive person usually, it’s just How Do I Get The Most Bang For My Buck!

diagnoses are observation-based labels meant to identify patterns of symptoms that tend to occur together. they streamline treatment across individuals who share the same condition, predict other possible symptoms and progression, and sometimes indicate root causes. they're useful tools when used properly!

what diagnoses don't do is define limits on how brains falling under its criteria can act or what symptoms they can have. ime nothing limits how brains act except the laws of physics. symptoms don't belong to specific diagnoses, because diagnoses are man-made approximations of symptom clusters, not neurological fact!

sometimes the presence of a symptom or two qualifies you for an additional diagnosis, but saying ONLY people with x condition can have y symptom and people with z condition CANNOT have it is untrue.

brains are complex and weird and do whatever they want. we can try our best to document what they do, but we can't dictate what they can and cannot do based on our findings, because brains, like bees, don't care about what humans think is possible.

sorry i left this so long (and sorry to the other asks still in my inbox oops)! i don't know what 'ent adhd' is and google was not helpful, but as someone with autism and not adhd, i do take meds to manage it. in fact, i take bupropion/wellbutrin, which targets dopamine deficiency! and it works on me!

medication is just a strange starting point to then work back from to approach neurodivergence. i take gabapentin for anxiety and my psychiatrist says i could take it as an as-needed anxiety med--gabapentin is designed to treat epilepsy and seizures. the as-needed anxiety med i do take is hydroxyzine, which is an antihistamine. it's made for allergies. i take it for anxiety.

pharmaceutical medications, however specific their function, can often treat a broad variety of symptoms and disorders. put another way: a broad variety of symptoms and disorders often benefit from the same medication. if you're arguing that autism and adhd are not the same symptom cluster, i'm not convinced by the idea that adhd is caused by something [dopamine deficiency] that occurs in folks with autism and not adhd [gestures to self].

plus folks being diagnosed with both autism and adhd doesn't prove they aren't the same symptom cluster. it would just be a redundant diagnosis. if anything, the fact that people who fit the diagnostic criteria for one frequently fit the criteria for both supports my argument.