Autistic and Living the Dream

Category: Co-Occurring Conditions

  • What does the DSM say about ADHD?

    What does the DSM say about ADHD?

    The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (the DSM) is published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and is used to classify cognitive differences. It covers many different neurotypes and mental health issues including schizophrenia, bi-polar, gender dysphoria, and autism. It is used across the USA and UK and anyone who has been formerly diagnosed…

  • ADHD isn’t a mental health condition

    ADHD isn’t a mental health condition

    I’ve seen lots of misinformed people call ADHD a mental health condition. This is inaccurate and harmful for many reasons. First, ADHD is a neurotype. Just another type of bodymind. Hyperactive? Yes. Impulsive? Maybe. Disorganised? Sure. But never a ‘disorder’ as far as I’m concerned. I’m getting on reasonably well with my particular brand of…

  • Alexithymia: emotional processing ‘gone wrong’

    Alexithymia: emotional processing ‘gone wrong’

    An example of my experience with alexythima… This morning I woke up feeling a feeling. It felt like a big feeling but I couldn’t explain what is was let alone what it meant. I went on with my day with this weird feeling sitting somewhere in my stomach and chest. I fed little man, put…

  • My experiences in a long-covid support group

    My experiences in a long-covid support group

    Joining a Long-Covid online support group has definitely been an experience. Listening to people who were able-bodied experiencing disability for the first time definitely brings up some serious feelings for me, anger, frustration, annoyance, to name a few. I just want to shout through my computer screen “some of us live like this all the…

  • The switching of the flags: Pride take 2

    The switching of the flags: Pride take 2

    Today,  we take down one pride flag and put up another – Disability Pride. This ceremonial changing of the flags is done by so many of us who are both LGBTQIA+ and Disabled. I wanted to look at Disability Pride flags, their colours and their meanings whilst also sharing the journey it has been on…

  • The price of ‘functioning’

    The price of ‘functioning’

    To most people I would appear to be a well ‘functioning’ human being – I work, have a home, am studying a post graduate degree and I’m a parent. I appear to have my shit together but often, under the surface, this couldn’t be further from the truth. I am incredibly privileged to be able…

  • Attention hyperactivity: ditching the ‘disorder’ and ‘deficit’

    Attention hyperactivity: ditching the ‘disorder’ and ‘deficit’

    I only recently came to the conclusion that I am ADHD. There are so many reasons why this has only occurred to me at the blessed age of 31, and most of them are due to word usage. Attention deficit: I only experience a deficit of attention when something is particularly boring! I am noinattentive…

  • Alexithymia and interoception: What the Hell is going on!?

    Alexithymia and interoception: What the Hell is going on!?

    Alexithymia is a condition or difference, which roughly translates in ancient Greek as “no words for emotions.” People who experience alexithymia can have difficulty identifying feelings, describing feelings to others and distinguishing between feelings and the bodily sensations of emotional arousal. Alexithymia is a common experience for us Autistic folk – I have issues with…

  • Why youth work gives me Autistic joy

    Why youth work gives me Autistic joy

    As a Neurodivergent and Disabled youth worker I learn so much from the Disabled kids I work with. I realised I was Autistic after doing home visits and writing kids paperwork which could have come straight from my own childhood – the anxiety, the need for sensory input, the inability to be quiet or sit…

  • My relationship with OCD

    My relationship with OCD

    Content warning: abuse, cPTSD, intrusive thoughts, self harm. I don’t talk about my OCD very often. Its a very difficult thing to talk about. It sounds both baffling, ridiculous and very scary, and that’s because it is. I have several intrusive thoughts, from one or two a day to near constant. I think about old…