Different perceptions of autistic adults and those with adhd?

[PleasantPheasant]

I find the way autistic adults and adults with adhd are perceived by others to be quite different. Maybe I'm alone bit I'm interested to talk about it.
I'm autistic and I also fit most it not all symptoms of inattentive adhd but am not diagnosed with adhd and am on the fence as to whether autism would explain those symptoms.
Anyway, I find it interesting the way both are perceived because I feel like autism is still perceived to an extent as a defect where as adhd seems to be perceived in a much more positive light. What are your thoughts and experiences? Is it something to do with gender bias? More people already being in positions of power with adhd vs autism? Do you think it will change?

I'm autistic and ADHD as are my kids in various mixes of ND.

From my experience autism is seen as a deficit. It's confused with learning disability and people assume you are less intelligent and less able. ADHD is seen as a fad like you have jumped on the band wagon to be cool- you are an attention seeker etc. People seem less aware of the struggles that go with adhd so while the understanding is often poor it doesn't come with the assumption you are ignorant as comes with autism.

There is also huge difference in the sexes and innate sexism at play i would say. My girl child's struggles are dismissed because she's social masking and therefore can't be autistic. My boy child has bad behaviour allowed 'because he's autistic' where I would actually pull him up on it. I see this a lot with boy autistics they get away with things, often rightly so as they are struggling, but the girls never get the same allowances made for them

I think the perception may be that autistic people may have "something wrong with them" especially if those perceiving know children who are severely autistic, non verbal, whereas they think ADHD are just a bit hyper!

I am autistic and possibly ADHD by the way but don't tell anyone as I worry how they will think of me

I have a son who was diagnosed with adhd several years ago and very recently got a diagnosis of autism. From my experience I found it more difficult to present autism in a positive light in the way we did when we talked about him having adhd; autism seems to be considered as more of a disability to me than adhd (I know that's not always the case, just that both me and his dad felt this). People often talk about adhd superpowers but this is less talked about with ASD.

I've got both , diagnosed
Never given it a thought how I'm perceived.
Seriously ,I couldn't care less who thinks what of me ,to busy trying to cope with life

Perhaps this is because of the more recent change in definition? Autism did use to only be given as a diagnosis to males with intellectual disability. Asperger’s was given as a separate diagnosis and the high IQ and monotropism led to many famous and truly exceptional people. Autism spectrum now covers females, Asperger’s, PDA etc. the general population will catch up with this at some point!

@Coincidentally

How rude

Maybe you
Need to Open your eyes to those children quietly sitting at the back that never cause trouble and rarely say anything in class however their work is of a high standard.

These are the kids that get.
"Very bright but doesn't contribute in class "
On every school report.

Maybe those are the ones that get to secondary and can't cope and end up with serious mental health issues.

Maybe as a teacher you could see that 2+2 isn't always 4 and what you see in your classroom is not reflected at home or in secondary school.

No wonder ND kids hit crisis at school with this type of bias in the profession

This was my DD (diagnosed with autism at 14). Quiet, clever and compliant through primary, burnout and mental health crisis on transition to secondary.

May I please ask: what kind of careers are well-suited to your ADHD family members? I have an ADHD child so I'm trying to start thinking about the sorts of jobs he might want to do and for which he might be well-suited.

Many people seem to identify with ADHD traits/behaviours in my experience though I only know a few women with a formal diagnosis. Some of my friends have scored highly on ADHD tests or the RAAD-S R test for ASD, but either didn't pursue formal diagnosis or are still waiting. Until a few years ago, nobody seemed to know much about ADHD in adults. In females it's often missed until 40s.

In my area the wait for neuropsychological testing is around 3 years.

@Cornemuse 2 hairdressers, chef, yoga instructor, realtor, architect, IT, and instrumentation tech. The realtor, architect, and IT family members have uni degrees. Instrumentation via a college program and apprenticeship.
interestingly only those with inattentive adhd take meds the others all incorporate fitness into their workday and are very careful with food choices/coffee.