ASD, NLD or ADHD Diagnosis? DSM-5? Help figuring this out?

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motorcycat
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09 Dec 2015, 7:47 pm

A couple days ago, I went in for an ASD evaluation, and at the end of the appointment the psychologist scheduled another appointment with me, for the ASOD test. He said that with some people at the end of the first appointment, he could definitely tell that they were on the spectrum, with some people he could definitely tell that they weren't, and with me, I seemed pretty "borderline" and he couldn't tell.

I've been doing a lot of research and have been really relating to a lot of things that Aspies/Autistic people have talked about on blogs, in youtube videos, etc. The one main thing I'm really lacking is any sort of special interest, and I have a pretty tough time with focus in general. I think I also have a lot of ADHD traits, so it's possible I could have comorbid ASD and ADHD? My other thought is that I could have a Nonverbal Learning Disorder (NLD), because I guess the main difference between Aspergers and NLD is the presence of a special interest, and NLD can have some more ADHD-like traits too. Otherwise they're really similar. The one problem here is that NLD isn't in the DSM-5, so I have no clue if it's possible to get a diagnosis of it/how to go about doing so. Does anyone here have any idea?

I'm also wondering if I could get some feedback about what you think my symptoms might point to. I'll list them here:

-Social problems: difficulty with eye contact, reading body language, maintaining long-term close friendships, trust issues

-Sensory stuff: light, motion, noise sensitive, and I get headaches really easily from these things, I always have. Migraines maybe, maybe also tension headaches. When I was younger I also dressed really differently from the other kids because I wore "stretchy pants" (leggings) instead of jeans, because I didn't like the texture of jeans. I used to be really picky about my socks being on just right, and a really picky eater. I also have color-number synesthesia and synaesthesia with pitch and sides of my body.

-I've always had meltdowns really easily, more-so when I was a kid but they still happen sometimes.

-Stimming: I'm stimming constantly! Some common ones for me are rhythmic teeth clicking, breathing, humming, singing, tapping, often all at once (and I have synaesthesia so the right side of my body feels higher pitched and the left side lower pitched, which always lines up with the ways I tap, click my teeth, etc.)--my whole body feels like an instrument to me! I also like to twirl my hands, and twirl my hair sometimes. Sometimes I like to just sit and stare at things and close one eye and then the other and watch the perspective change back and forth. I fidget with everything around me, and often have a particular object I like to keep with me--recently a piece of beach glass that perfectly fit my thumb (now I can't find it and it makes me sad :( )

-I have a great sense of pitch and rhythm! Not absolute pitch, like I don't know what note is what, objectively, but perfect relative pitch if that makes sense? I have a great memory for tons of obscure songs I've heard long ago, some only a couple times, and a great memory for many parts of a song at once (it makes me sad that I can't sing them all!). My sister used to say I had a CD player in my brain, then an MP3 player when the technology changed :P

-My favorite band is Belle and Sebastian. Often I'll just listen to the same albums by them, and it's been that way since I was 14/15. I listen to other music, but not as much, and often it feels like work to listen to new music. But not sure if that counts as a special interest? I don't research everything about them or anything. Just listen to their music a lot, for like, the past 8/9 years.

-I'm really scared of change, and surprising people. I used to be really scared and now I've worked on it so it's better but still there.

-I'm generally outgoing but feel like an introvert. Like, I have a hard time connecting with people and I often get overwhelmed in crowds but I'll still usually present as loud and friendly. Usually it's cause I'm nervous if that makes sense?

-I have a weird sense of humor. I really like dry humor and also really repetitive humor. Sometimes I'll have entire friendships built on inside jokes just piled up, which is simultaneously great cause I love repetitive jokes, but also hard cause I don't know how to connect on a deeper level a lot of the time, but I want to.

-I really value honesty and straightforwardness. It really relieves my anxiety to have honest information about a situation.

-I usually dress the same way every day and have a very simple appearance. I usually have a single sweater or sweatshirt that I wear over and over and over again, and very few pairs of pants that I wear. I have a tooooon of t-shirts from places/events cause I've always worn t-shirts and have a really hard time getting rid of them, but there's usually only a few that I wear at any given point in time. I wear the same hat every day. I wear long underwear everyday cause it's amazing! I often feel like a cartoon character. :P

-I have awful focus. I dropped out of college because I'm so disorganized and would pull way too many all-nighters but not get work done anyways. I'm a good writer when I can focus but I usually can't. I used to do way better academically--I've always been a strong reader and writer, but now I have so much trouble with it. I am getting back into sci-fi though and it's helping me focus, to just read what I want to read. But I'm often jumping between tasks, not able to really complete any one thing.

-I frequently forget what I'm doing, and talk to myself to figure it out.

-I think I'm generally a pretty verbal thinker, but not entirely. And I'll often lose my train of thought. I can be really rambly. (But also, often my thoughts are just entirely repetitive music, either that I've heard or that I'm making up, consciously or sub-consciously).

-I have really poor executive function. But like, not all the time. I work as a courier for fed-ex and so I have to run around and follow maps and it's all on a really tight schedule. But then usually after work I'm really exhausted and have a headache and it's hard to focus on anything cause I think I've used all my spoons. And when I'm not trying really hard like I am at work, I'll usually forget to eat, do laundry, go grocery shopping, take showers, do all the stuff I'm supposed to do to take care of myself.

-Oftentimes I just space out for long periods of time. I feel really stuck, or frozen.

-I have pretty bad anxiety.

-As a kid I did enjoy imaginative play quite a lot, and I also used to have a lot of ritualistic sort of behaviors (less so now). Like I used to have to speak in my "squeaky voice" every morning after I woke up for maybe an hour. Or, my sister and I and a couple friends always used to sit in the same order on a bench for dinner, and one time we sat in a separate order, and no one else thought it was a big deal but I had a meltdown. In high school I was really upset when I left home and my parents had rearranged the furniture.

I'm trying to think of more and I probably will after I've posted this, ha, but that's what I've got for now. Let me know if you have questions, and it would be sooo helpful to hear people's thoughts on this! Thank you so much!



motorcycat
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09 Dec 2015, 8:19 pm

-Oh, and I have really poor time management, and am late to most things except for work, cause I make SURE that I'm not late to work.



ZombieBrideXD
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09 Dec 2015, 11:10 pm

A lot of people just assume that if they have all the traits of autism that means they have when its not so easy.

most of the time it depends on how well a person can function and how their symptoms affect them. Diagnosing disorders can be complicated sometimes if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, its still not necessarily a duck.


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ZombieBrideXD
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09 Dec 2015, 11:16 pm

On a second note, i have SEVERE ADHD and Level 1 ASD and it has not affected my special interests, in fact many people with ADHD experience a high focus on things they are interested in but little focus and attention span in things that do not interest them.

How are your emotional understanding? how do you relate to others? Are you able to talk about things you aren't interested in? Do you initiate in friendships? Do Changes in your Routine, Surroundings and Daily activities interfere with your ability to function on a daily basis?


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Obsessing over Sonic the Hedgehog since 2009
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Diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder Level 1 severity without intellectual disability and without language impairment in 2015.

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Ettina
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10 Dec 2015, 8:44 am

NLD symptoms would be covered under Social Communication Disorder, Developmental Coordination Disorder and/or Specific Learning Disorder with impairment in mathematics.

However, SCD and autism can't be diagnosed together, since SCD is basically just 'autism without repetitive behaviour'.