Do I Have Autism? ADHD? Both? An Adult’s Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment (w/ Benjamin Yerys, Ph.D.)

As far as masking… females have more pressure from family and society to not act irritated or angry or tolerance for meltdowns. We are forced at an early age to stifle that and made to learn “acceptable” behavior. My opinion on “loosing a diagnosis” is that people learn to mask. This may be helpful during your 20-30’s but it becomes mentally exhausting as you age and causes shutdown. Shutdown causes people in their late 40’s-50’s-60’s to lose jobs, relationships and become recluse. There is no cure. And ignoring the harm in masking is where you are going wrong in research for adults.

It is literally so hard to take those questionnaires when you have adhd and suspect autism. It's like 2 opposite people living in one body so I can't really answer one answer to those questions. Because I am different all the time

yikes. "learning to cope" is not "growing out of autism". no one "grows out of autism". also find it horrendous that autism speaks was included as a resource. it's a hate group. please don't do that.

I think he’s wrong to say you can outgrow it. It is a part of one’s neurology. Can one learn to live with it? Yes. Will it always be a part of someone who is correctly diagnosed? Also yes.

This contained some useful information -- However, he virtually dismissed personality disorder comorbidity and all those people who have been misdiagnosed -- and it's the 'either or' approach here that fails a lot of people. I have ADHD, Dyspraxia and in the middle of a second-opinion ASD assessment, and really would not want this man to be assessing me.

I found the title to be misleading because 90% of the talk was about Autism and then he just threw ADHD there at the end.

.. made me laugh when he apologized for speaking fast since I'm watching this at 1.5x speed. wouldn't be able to focus/process at a lower speed. anyone else?

It honestly feels like no one cares. Im tired of being misunderstood and or disbelieved. I looked in the mirror when I was 35 and I could see the pain showing through my camouflage. I never even knew that was what I was doing. I had to try to get help and no one has even mentioned autism but it makes total sense. Its been a nightmare! Now new information is available via YouTube and I am 55. I’ve been told it’s too late to diagnose because my mother is passed away and I have no one to verify my story. I feel pathetic.

AS: " Autism speaks, and thats a problem." This whole webinar was basically, "Sorry we have nothing. Keep looking." The anger this inspires cannot be understated. Of course there is more than one kind of autism, that has been readily apparent for decades just from reading a couple of the studies. Are clinicians really so unaware or too lazy to find out about the developments in their fields? You all keep searching for a panacea for Autism when it has been readily apparent there is none for decades. There is no one size fits all. So many promising treatments that could have helped a population of autism sufferers disregarded because it did not help another. How wastelful, how evil. Then you have the gal to mention a CBT type for adults then say "wait five years" Disgusting. We have lives, they are finite you cannot just stop the timer for bureaucracy. We need something now not later. I wish I could get my time back.

Sensory overload is enough to drive a person mad. Sounds, smells, textures can be overwhelming, like someone turned up the volume past 10.

When I drive at night I get overwhelmed. It took me awhile to figure out why I had such bad anxiety when driving at night. I finally realized it was due to the enhanced external stimuli. Lights from cars...sounds of cars..music playing..I get overwhelmed. If it raining at night that adds another layer. Just wondering if anyone else experiences this meltdown when driving?

I got diagnosed with ADHD a couple of years back and started medication. They also recommended CBT because i have developed a poor self image. In my first session the therapist says sounds like you have high functioning autism… my only concern is if you go looking for problems are probably going to find some. Doesn’t everyone have their issues and struggles?? I worry i’m just collecting labels which at the end of the day won’t change anything… i will still be considered rude, i will still be called stupid and useless by people. Sometimes i think I should just use the words other people will use because very few people will give you the benefit of the doubt in life. I was once told you’re at least two people, who you think you are and who other’s think you are. the only one that counts is who others think u are as they hold the keys to getting along in life. Say I offend someone, then i spot it afterwards, which is often the case. What do i say then? No no no you don’t understand i said that thoughtless insensitive thing coz autism. They still won’t want to spend time with me 🤷‍♂️ Anyway great talk!

It's scary as hell that there is no research on adults, that there's no training for basic understanding of Asperger's.

@its just beth made an important observation in that as a young person females learn to mask, stifle their irritation and anger to be socially acceptable, so many of us are undiagnosed. The medical profession has failed us. Here's a little of my story, I imagine there's many of us undiagnosed spectrum folk who can relate: The social aspect of school was painfully intolerable so I dropped out and I never fit in anyway. Despite this, I did very well in my early career, I was identified as top management calibre for an international bank in my late twenties, by early 30's I was head of the canadian division. I was invited to be a partner by another firm. But I was struggling to mask my social anxiety and a raft of things that others seemed to have no problem with. Masking is exhausting, I started to crack in my 40's, venting irritation instead of masking and trying to please. Eventually i shutdown. Experienced job and relationship issues in my 40s-50's-60's. My 40's were a nightmare, I cracked amidst a storm of personal and professional challenges. I lost my partnership as I stopped wanting to leash my irritation and intolerance of people and bad systems. I was too tired to mask and this non-conformity put a target on my back. Looking back I wish someone had put me forward for a diagnosis, but in my day the "bell mental health' supports weren't a thing, but firing outliers was. Now I'm 60 and unlikely I'll get a job again.

"I apologize if I'm talking fast." It's ok. I'm listening at 2x speed

Ok so I was going to watch this but then read a comment about Autism Speaks being a vulgar 'charity'. I googled "autism speaks hate group" and after that I don't want to hear one word that they or anyone affiliated with them have to say.

Really wish this was subtitled

I 100 percent can NOT find help or anyone who can diagnose female/adults. It is absolutely upsetting the lack of assistance. I am below Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. Everywhere i call are not able to help

I'm a THERAPIST ON THE SPECTRUM, late diagnosed at 43, now 48. I'm looking to connect with other therapists who are late-diagnosed autistic. Autism became my specialty, real quick! I got my license in 2005 before the DSM 5 came out. Wow, was my education about autism and Asperger's minimal! I don't recall spending even one hour discussing autism in ANY class, on the college or graduate level. At that same time, I got diagnosed with dysthymia (remember that one?) and recurrent depression. My father (also autistic) was believed by mom's therapist to have symptoms of schizoaffective disorder and narcissism (his mindblindness is strong). My self-diagnosis in Honors Psych 101 was Avoidant Personality Disorder. It wasn't until my brother, seeking help for his social issues at work (nuclear medicine), started trying suggestions from a book about Asperger's in the workplace, that the seed of exploration was planted for me. It's all over our family for 4 generations that we know of.

Most tests are actually shit and very hard to do if you have asd and or adhd as they are to vague or to precise, they in my view has to be more of a discussion starter than anything else. ( probably because they are made by nt’s)