I have both and I think it's better to know, independent of the outcome.
this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2024
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Yeah this makes a fair bit of sense. At least then it would be less confusing and I wouldn't have to worry about it quite so much.
How difficult is it to get diagnosed as an adult though? Since the last time I got a diagnosis was when I was small I don't really know the process.
Personal experience from Germany but also heard from others in the UK: it's easier to get an ADHD diagnosis as an adult than an ASD diagnosis as an adult.
Does getting diagnosed even do anything other then knowing what you already know?
They can prescribe you medicine better. It is also necessary for disability (which autism and ADHD qualify as) to actually have a diagnosis.
For ADHD it means you can try medication to help you. For ASD it wouldn't change anything for me personally so I'm not going to bother.
But there is no testing for ADHD. It's just someone agreeing that they also think you have it.
Well, I had to go through excessive tests, including blood work and EEG.
I can see EEG being something valid, blood tests just seem like body baseline and would have zero bearing on a clinical evaluation.
Either way, glad you had it addressed
Blood tests help to exclude other reasons for symptoms so they absolutely have bearing.
There are officially recognised tests that potentially lead to officially recognised diagnoses. For ADHD specifically that can lead to access to medication you wouldn't have without the official diagnosis.
Must be just Canada then, but my doctor didn't give a flying shit about diagnosing ADHD. Stated it was clinical and if you feel you have it, good chance you got it. Just threw random steroids at me until something clicked.
Steroids? I've never heard of those being a treatment for ADHD
Can confirm, they are not. I assume they meant stimulants? I assume "threw random ... at me" also actually means "systematically trialled a series of medications until one was found to be sufficiently effective with minimal side effects".
I would have no idea what the ASD process for an adult is like, mine was upgraded(?) from the Asperger's syndrome diagnosis I got as a child when medical terminology shifted. Is it difficult?
Well, last time I checked they said it would take 3-5 years waiting time to get an appointment, recently I learned they don't even have an open waiting list right now.
Yikes. I don't think I have ever been so glad to already have an autism diagnosis.
What is the wait time like for ADHD?
Same, they are currently still working through the 2019 backlog.
There is the option of going through "Right To Choose" system, which is ostensibly quicker but i think you have to pay for things yourself.
GP or doctor can give you proper advice about that though.
Getting the diagnosis could open up treatment options for ADHD that could make dealing with other aspects of life easier overall
This. ADHD can be medicated and trust me, its easier to deal with less of your symptoms than trying to live with them all at once.
I mean, they’re two different things, so I would think a separate diagnosis wouldn’t hurt.
On a side note, my therapist told me that she has never met or worked with a single ASD patient who wasn’t also ADHD, so take from that what you will.
ADHD and ASD are commonly comorbid diagnoses. If you have an ASD diagnosis you are more likely than the average person to also have ADHD, and visa versa.
A good way to see it is ADHD, ASD, and a few other things are on a spectrum together. Various factors drive which features present at a given level and particular patterns are groups together because the are common, but your specific configuration is different to mine. Mine is ADHD with ASD as a more minor but definitely present thing, but my partner is the inverse, much more ASD than ADHD but definitely both.