Embrace Neurodiversity - Which type are you?

Please do embrace neurodiversity!

Please do not identify yourself as ADHD, autistic, etc. based solely or largely on an online quiz.

Your first point of reference to how these terms are most widely defined should probably be the current DSM (ADHD, autism spectrum disorder) or ICD definitions for each condition, and for different conditions that could explain the same symptoms, and keeping in mind that some symptoms are also explained by conditions and circumstances that aren't clinical diagnoses, and that both formal definitions and common usages change over time.

Becoming eligible for official accommodations from your educational institution for a neurodiverse condition typically requires a diagnosis from a professional acceptable to the institution. For example, here are TESU's documentation guidelines for disability accomodation requests, with links to further information about disability accommodations and resources.

 

Autism should be assessed by a professional. I wish I could say the same about ADHD, but healthcare professionals (including ones without a specialization in mental health or neurodevelopmental disorders) will give out ADHD diagnoses with just a report of symptoms or a score on a short survey.

It's such a well-known known problem that, if you think you'll be medically disqualified from holding a pilot certificate because of ADHD, you're advised to go to an approved psychologist for thorough testing. The FAA is aware that many have been misdiagnosed.

 

ADHD certified double platinum album status. And what a song and story this has played for me, but hey I was born with bonus stats, including unlocked hyper-focus ability that I can control, (it's not uncontrollable as people may claim) and room-wide empathy and feelings detection. I can walk into a room of 2000 people and present to them knowing the general and specific-groups' feelings in the room. If I want to learn a new skill or whatever, I get bonus perks to learning for long-term memory storage, but get -5 stat to short-term working memory, which let me tell you is something to get used to. This has helped me leaps and bounds in tech ESPECIALLY in the RTMB era of things. Now thankfully improved UI/UX has solved that era I feel. Hyper-focus can also help people with sportsing, and for me, this is archery lol "hit the 10-spot" for my archery buddies out there. My themes have a lot of cross-over with other stuff. Surprisingly so, ADHD people make excellent teachers because Universal Design for Language ("UDL"), one of the preeminent frameworks for teaching with inclusion, states use repetition, 3 bumps of a cat's tail for everything. For ADHDers' our principle domain is repetition. Like if anything belongs to us, it's repetition. We crave it like Jordan Peterson craves change for the field of psychology. Or like cat's cravings for Temptations snacks (OMG they go absolutely crazy crazy for them, it's entertaining even for "I'll never have a cat as a pet people".)

One thing to know is if an ADHD person has a desire to learn or even become-one with a topic, there is no force on this planet to stop them, like a jealous ex-lover following someone on social media, they will know every centimeter of the material.

The thing is, getting organised can be as easy as learning how to use Microsoft ToDo app which syncs flawlessly on all platforms instantly, and is free. Using Brain.fm, the spiritual successor to Neuroprogrammer software is a huge help too, but this a novel can be written. If your bread ain't right, there are free options available too.

Look I don't make any commission or anything on the sly with brain.fm, but try this out, it is the most researched and most effective for myself and neuros' and non-neuros' even to improve focus, sleep, and athletic ability. They have a free trial, check your feelings on it, they have been around as a company 8 years now in an absolutely hard game to be in, so I feel they're doing something correctly. Essentially they were a company that had written software in .NET by a practicing and well-read psychologist but it became increasingly expensive to maintain the pay-once software. I get it, I miss the software, but hey the now streaming service is clearly more stable and manageable. Sometimes software has to match business reality, sigh and excited at the same time.

HoUsENeuRoCaT

 

Actually there are standardised tests for ADHD and are well linked to the DSM-IV and DSM-V. They are super not cheap, but they do exist, and are administered either by a psychologist or psychological assistant under the direction of a psychologist. You have to find not-a-bozo kind of psychologist. Not an easy task, I would recommend calling around and figuring it firmly before putting money on the table.

Now the strong caveat here is they must be competent people administering the tests, not your garden variety people. The reports given are actually very, very detailed and descriptive, describing where a patient sits in percentiles, and is very descriptive on observations. Again super expensive and may make you double-take when you see the pricing. However, these tests are extremely precise and I can affirm that the tests do indeed exist and are usually put into one digestible and somewhat embarrassing-but-you-know-where-you-stand report.

I feel part of the misdiagnosis problem may be due to the prohibitive costs, and the undetermined precise nature of the mechanisms surrounding ADHD. There isn't a lacking of input, but in time I feel we will know more.

 

I didn't say there aren't standardized tests. Clinical psychologists approved by the FAA are using standardized tests. The problem is that many other healthcare providers are not using validated tests or are not using tests, at all. Another problem is that general and family practice physicians, PAs, and NPs are diagnosing patients with ADHD.

I once had family practice NPs ask about an ADD or ADHD diagnosis, and they tried to explain to me the difference between the two. In turn, I had to explain to them that ADD is no longer in the DSM and hasn't been for a while. They were so confused. Why are healthcare providers with little mental health training allowed to make this diagnosis? At least read the current version of the DSM. LOL. But, it's not like psychiatric NPs are much better because some give out ADHD diagnoses with no testing. There could be another underlying condition causing the symptoms.

Don't get me started on psychiatric NPs, especially the ones who graduated from schools like Walden. One guy was prescribing medications in his independent practice without know that the blood pressure guidelines had been updated. Therefore, he didn't know when a medication was making a patient's blood pressure dangerously high. I also had to explain to him that Strattera was not designed for ADHD. It has FDA approval for ADHD, but it was repurposed after failing as an antidepressant. It's really not that big of a deal, except he was telling patients that Strattera was designed specifically for ADHD.

 

Ahhhh that's fair I agree, it took a lot of effort to find the right person. Hah yes ADD is out for ages now. Yeah I've found when they don't specialise, they wing-it, and wow yeah it's truly a gamble as a subjec... patient and you get what you get these days. Better training is required I feel.

 

As everyone said, online screeners are not accurate for diagnosis. Additionally, things like Ausitm are hard to diagnose and ever harder for adults. Unless you need accommodations, the diagnosis doesn't mean much unless you just want to know and can cost alot of money. If you score high on a screener it is evidence that can help you see a doctor or get a referral, but again, it isnt a diagnosis. Typically children are only noticed and diagnosed if they have poor performance in school or other impairments the affect day to day life.
That being said, I am happy to represent the Autism spectrum disorder (ASD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) gang. The two former I was diagnosed as an adult for treatment of my GAD, but they often go together. Highly recommend talking to a mental health professional if you have questions and can get it covered by insurance. I felt it explained alot of my difficulties I had in life and made me more accepting of myself.