#I don't know if having ADHD would effect your score on an autism test??? but I had a difficult time answering some of the questions because

[an-aggravated-aries]

I am RRIIIIIIIIIIIIGHHTT on the edge!!!!

159!!!!!!

If you don’t know your score, take the test here

[luesmainblog]

thinking about how growing up none of my family knew much about autism or adhd and didn't really know the signs, and then thinking about all the signs i was showing, and how they were responded to as a result of that lack of knowledge. i had a terrible memory as a kid, but only for some things. one thing that really fucked me up was homework. i would do it - my teacher once even admitted i was handing in A+ work - but i couldn't remember to turn it in. the organization methods that were supposed to help just got me more frustrated because they didn't fix the object permanence issue. i was getting lower scores because they were turned in so much later (which is fucked up btw, i get that y'all wanna incentivise getting things in on time but no amount of lateness should turn an A+ into a fucking C, that is ridiculous and you know it, teachers.) and getting AWFUL scores because of all the missing work, and me and my parents couldn't seem to figure out out. and after a while, dad started to assume malice. he knew i could do the work, he knew i had organization tools, and SURELY it was not THAT hard to just turn the darn papers in, so... maybe i was doing it on purpose? for attention? when i look back on our dynamic growing up, i think that very much did effect how he interacted with me. the idea of the troublesome kid likely clouded how he assumed the intentions behind other things. the thing is, i always gave the same reasons. "i forgot" and "i don't know, i'm sorry". and looking back on it.... it's normal to hear that every so often, but when it's becoming an active problem and your kid keeps saying they just forgot, that indicates they are struggling with memory more than they should be. but that idea never occured to any of us, because why would we be watching a healthy 11 year old for memory problems? i know overdiagnosis and overmedication is a problem in some places. i know people get nervous about making every single thing their kid does a Symptom. but please... if this story sounds familiar to you? suggest that they get the kid checked out, specifically with memory issues as a concern. the kid might say they remember just fine; they wouldn't know, they don't know what it's LIKE to remember normally and they don't remember all the times they've forgotten. if you're not sure how that works, please observe the question "do you have a problem wearing socks?". the short answer is, it's very easy to assume your experience is normal and not have it come to mind.

i will say that in some ways i'm glad i didn't get tested young, because the legal restraints on autistic people are fucking ridiculous and i've made the conscious choice - thankfully respected by my therapist - that i don't want that on my medical record. but i wish we'd known enough to know that i should be looking at resources for what helps kids with adhd. yaknow?