Court Divorce Proceedings
Welcome back to the Audacious Aspie! This week, I’ll voice my own opinion on the Autism and ADHD divorce case (personally, they looked like a lovely couple. Hardly ever fought). As Judge, Jury and Executioner (This won’t be the only case where a divorce ended in an execution, thanks King Henry VIII) I will pass my personal verdict on this case, deciding who lives, and who dies. Hey, if television taught me anything, it’s not entertaining unless someone dies. A lot in some cases.
If this doll does not start killing people at some point in a movie, than it’s just not worth watching #bloodorbust.
Waaaayyyy back around the start of this year (I typed the post and even I don't know how far back) we saw an article that mentioned some good points on why ADHD and Autism should stay married. Both ADHD and Autism do overlap in some areas, As will as the interesting fact that if your born with one, you have a high chance of having the other as will. But more recently, we saw an article that stated “yeah, except it could be really damaging to the child if they are misdiagnosed, losing out on the help they might need”.
Frankly, I would have to agree with the nay-saying post. ADHD might be very similar to Autism, possibly why, of all my old childhood friends, the only one I generally keep in touch with most of the time these days is the one who has ADHD. It’s almost like we still understand each other, like we both see the world generally through the same, developmentally disabled lense. So yes, there is a bit of a brotherhood between those with ADHD and Autism, we both generally know what the other is going through.
Despite our differences, we still see eye to eye on most things. Like how wearing a shirt with black-and-white striped sleeves and a yellow-and-white striped mass section is a fashion no-no.
However, we must be careful equating them one and the same, as the neigh-saying article claims. Just because ADHD and Autism might be a kind of brothers, a one-size-fits-all kind of support would be a total nightmare, and you don’t need to be ADHD or autism to know that. People with ADHD have a hard time paying attention to any one thing, even a squirrel. People with Autism don't have a hard time focussing on anything (so long as it is there obsession), but we can be accused with focussing on something TO much, rather than not enough.
Think of it this way: One walks around with a magnifying glass strapped to their head, the other with a kind of glasses with an alert system that goes off everytime something moves or makes a noise.
Both need completely different assistance in that regard, a miracle drug for one will completely mess up the other (try giving the same kind of drug to someone with ADHD that helps an Autistic person to look beyond what's strictly in front of them, and let me know how that goes). So, as the Harvard article suggests, yes: get your kid tested to make sure you know what they have, and what proper support is out there. Other wise, you, and them, are going to have a fun time later on.
Not that you still won't, least not if such services are funded privately and not publically, or the stigma surrounding what you or your child has and how to talk about it without the other person thinking that there is something wrong with you and/or your child. Not a fun thing, as my parents already know. Any ways, that does it for this weeks post. Next week, we’ll go looking at a new topic, or a different angle of an old topic. Either way, it’ll be interesting. Until than, this continues to be, the Audacious Aspie.