Autism or ADHD?

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i'm new here and pretty nervous about posting so sorry if i get anything thing wrong.

i'm just a bit confused. i got diagnosed with autism in october 2019 and ADHD earlier this month. i'm 18 and this has explained a lot about me and feels very relieving, but i'm still worried and confused over what counts as what, so i'd love if anyone here could help me understand how this all goes together.

speaking in weird voices: i've always done this, whether it's imitating accents or making up my own strange voices. i'll often switch to one of these out of nowhere and just say normal everyday stuff with it. it feels nice to do.

repeating phrases or songs i've heard: certain phrases stick out to me at random, and i have a bit of a habit of repeating them a lot, especially if i'm reminded of it. a good example is the burger king foot lettuce meme. i also do this with songs a lot and can often sing a song i like out of nowhere or because something reminds me of it. again, it feels nice to do. gotten in trouble for it lol.

special interests: i worry the way i have interests doesn't count as autistic. it seems very weird. i tend to get seriously into something, doing research and constantly talking about it... then i lose interest after a couple weeks. the longest it usually lasts is a few months. there's a select few that have lasted much longer but i was into them a little less severely. so it's like brief special interests? also i don't know if it's valid to have a few at once. right now my major interests are music, autism, and halo. does music count? i obsess over things like dates and artists and album releases, and have made spreadsheets tracking the music i listen to. i also adore last.fm. i've always had a thing for dates and nostalgia, and that has applied to music for a while, but my music interest really boomed in 2018 and is still strong now. just confused on whether this all counts as special interests. i'm still able to show interest in other things and sometimes it feels like i can get into anything, just not heavily like the aforementioned ones.

thanks for reading and hope you can help

I have autism and ADHD.

'Special interests' are down to intensity and narrowness, length that they last doesn't really come into it. I think it's a myth tbh that most autistic people have this one thing they're into for a long time and know everything about. It seems very common instead to have very short lasting ones (or a mixture).

I have some longer lasting ones (like knitting) that has an ebb and flow to it-it occillates between absolutely obsessed and almost can't think about anything else (I mean I do think about and venture into other things but it really dominates) to normal background hobby-and then shorter ones that last a few weeks to a month or two before I lose interest. Mine tend to be rather narrow and not extend much into the wider topic (e.g. I once had a brief obsession with regency period dress, but there it ended-no interest in Jane Austen or the regency period itself etc).

Regarding the saying things in weird voices and repeating things (this is called echolalia), sounds like for you it might be a type of verbal stimming. The latter I do too (repeat things, quote TV and films, make weird noises etc). I've noticed it seems to help me bring some focus into my whole sensory experience. I do it a lot when I'm out and about for example, particularly when I'm more stressed, and have noticed when I don't do it, it's like I'm aware of everything (all the things in my line of vision, lights, noises, the feel of my body etc) and it's all kind of fragmented and then when I verbally stim everything becomes much more coherent and less overwhelming. It also reflects my mood sometimes-I know I'm stressed if I find myself repeating certain things and I have other ones for when I'm happy or excited. But yes, also, it just feels nice a lot of the time. It's highly associative for me, seeing or saying certain things often acts as a trigger for a quote or something.

There is a free pdf booklet available to down load called "Aspergers - An Intentional Life"

http://christianpioneer.com/blogarchiev ... e_2017.pdf

The introduction gives a little history of the "discovery" of ADHD and Aspergers.

The Youtube videos by Tony Attwood are also useful.

thanks for the responses everyone. from what i gather it's all autistic, including the special interests. i guess it's just my case where they're shorter, but the focus is fairly narrow. i do notice i like talking about previous special interests i've had if they get brought up, even if i'm currently not too into it. just like showing off my thoughts and what i know