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Introductions and thoughts!

User Profile: Lonely4Flower
Lonely4Flower July 21st

Hey everyone! My name is Rae or Four and I think I may have autism or audhd. 

I've been on this forum for a while but I have had a hard time working up the courage to post anything. 
I have lots of neurodivergent friends, mainly with ADHD (on various levels of the spectrum) and generally am more attracted to these people. I've always been close friends with people on the spectrum of autism or ADHD but it was never brought up in my case as a kid. 
Now, these friends of mine have been suggesting for the past two years that I may have autism or something similar. I feel a little crazy talking about it, like those self-diagnosed people who have nothing to back it up but I really think my friends are right. 

The more I think about it and research it, I identify with the label "autism" more. I made a list of the things I and others notice the most:
- As a kid I did "dino arms" 
- As a kid I jumped around a lot, liked overly tight hugs, and loved spinning
- I've never had trouble with socializing but I have been bullied and had trouble understanding what made someone like/dislike me or recognising whether they like/dislike me
- I do a lot of "stimming" according to my friends, like tapping, repeating words a lot (especially names I like), jumping up and down, "wagging", scratching or "scritching", humming, etc.
- I have food sensetivites like foods touching or contrasting textures, I used to have a lot more but have gotten used to it over time.

I recently have been told to start keeping a log of things like this that I really notice each day. Today I was with friends and my voice went monotone a lot, I bounced around the conversation but it still went well, I had to overthink certain things but I also didn't think before I spoke, and I jumped up and down in the pool in a floatie (I like the way it feels and then I noticed it may be "stimming"). Idk, I will be talking to my supportive friends more tho. 

Thank you!! Sorry this was so long. Any advice? Tips? Tricks? (I just learned what body doubling is from this forum & it works so well for me, thank you guys.) I recently realised what I identified as "anxiety attacks" may be more than that, and are actually meltdowns. How do I tell?

Sending hugs if you'd like them <3
-4rae

2
User Profile: Amanda84
Amanda84 July 22nd

@Lonely4Flower

Hugs accepted and appreciated 💙

Nice to meet you 🥰 

Welcome to cups,!

Thank you for opening up.

It can be hard finding the answers we need to feel more supported but I'm glad you are finding that support here 💚 

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User Profile: memyselfandmoth
memyselfandmoth July 24th

It is a journey and a process that will be unique to you. The most important part is to try your best to stay kind to yourself and try to figure out where certain reactions might be coming from and how you might be able to accommodate yourself or seek support that feels validating and helpful. I think it's wonderful that you are allowing yourself to stim and learning more about how to help yourself day by day and that you have good friends who understand; you are very lucky in that. Welcome to the forum