could I have autism?

[HJam5880]

I’m unsure if I do or if it’s OCD or possibly something else

Please read my comment as this box apparently doesn’t like my post

[HJam5880]

I’m sorry it wouldn’t let me type what I wanted to in the post box

I don’t know if I have autism or ocd or what but I have friends that are autistic. I’m just trying to find some answers hopefully. I thrive when I have routine, have things in order, and I’m not overstimulated. I like to make things in order by color, size, shape, alphabetically, type, etc. I get overwhelmed with new places and people. I hate certain textures touching my skin and sometimes even tags on clothing drive me crazy. I don’t have really any good aversions but I don’t like when I think something should be soft such as bread and it actually is hard, and sometimes I don’t like mushy stuff like if I accidentally overcook noodles and they are mushy. I have trouble making sure contact with people and can have trouble knowing what to say next in a conversation to keep it moving. I don’t really have an issue making friends but I’m hesitant to go up and speak to someone new. Any ideas on if I possibly could have high functioning autism or if I’m OCD or what’s going on. I’m a 25 yr old female. Leave any questions in the comments or pm me if you have questions that could help. I feel scared going to my dr and asking about this until I know there might be a possibility.

[RiceNoodles21 in reply to HJam5880]

Yes you certainly sound neurodivergent to me, by what you describe, and quite possibly autistic -I have an autistic kid now 18, their (also autistic) Ma is the one who arranges things more- I used to personally draw a distinction between “ orderly joy” for autistic minds vs more strongly driven ritual fears in OCD but idk if I can.

I do think you’re entirely justified in seeking an assessment.

[Saju21 in reply to HJam5880]

Agree, worthy of pursuing a formal assessment if the diagnosis will help you in life. Just remember no medication to make it better but you can ask for work place adjustments.

[NotJim in reply to HJam5880]

Hi HJam5880,

28 year old female here adding my penny's worth as i've had both of these!

OCD is often mistakenly marketed as being finnicky and tidy, when actually it is ritualised compulsions based upon obsessive thoughts. What you're describing sounds much more like neurodiversity. ASD also doesn't mean you have to have issues with making friends (i've got a nice group of people I work with who I get along well with), everyone has their own sort of version of this (much the same as every person in the world is a little bit different and a little bit the same too). It can be subtler when you're a woman with it as well, as we're better at hiding our behaviours than the blokes. It's called social-camouflaging, but is also one of the reasons why we tend to go undiagnosed/harder to spot.

I hope this helps

[Bee-bop]

Hi there,

I have two daughters one with an ASD diagnosis the other with Dyspraxia, Dyslexia and Dyscalculia. Both have very similar struggles to you regarding getting overwhelmed, textures, routines, not sure what to say etc My second daughter has OCD as well but my daughter with ASD also has some OCD tendencies around feeling clean. A lot of conditions have co morbidity such as neuro diversity and hyper mobility so it could be ocd and asd.

The Dr will possibly ask you questions to see if they think you have ASD traits and then ask you to complete a questionnaire with many questions to see if you seem to have ASD traits. If you can, take a friend or family member with you as they can help remember things said.