A new Neurodiversity support thread for those with suspected or diagnosed ASD, ADHD and other NDs

[PigPigTrotters]

Yet another thread for neurodivergent mumsnetters.

Lots of links in old threads.

Anyone is welcome, it's not just about autism.

Delete I love Gavin and Stacey! I watch it every couple of months! Can't wait to watch the Christmas special again soon!

I'm currently watching Gilmore Girls on Netflix, I seen most episodes but not all thanks to it being on E4, watched it round my shifts. It's nice and easy to watch

I can only watch complicated TV and films if DH is there to explain complexities. It's definitely frustrating when they cast similar looking people together!

I like very low tension, so I always read up spoilers if I want to watch normal big stuff like GoT, and watch it in little sessions. I watched alll of Gilmore Girls while BFing my little clusterfeeding DD. Seriously contemplating getting trial Netflix just for the Year in the Life 4 part catchup!

Don't be hard on yourself Polter, I completely get it. I've been there, you think you 'should' be feeling and thinking all about the person who's had to rush off but you're actually thinking "but what about my plans, what about me??" I've been there before with a partner that had to rush off to hospital for himself leaving me with a screaming baby. I can't really explain why but I get you.

I get it Polter, I'm sorry, it does sound shit.
Doesn't sound callous at all.

Polter

I know I'm probably obsessing about this too much now, but does anyone remember doing imaginative play when they were little? One of the markers for me not having ASD is apparently that I was able to play with Barbies with my sister and we would make up adventure games with them. Is this correct? That autistic children wouldn't ever be able to engage in imaginative play? I'm obsessing I know, but I can't stop thinking about it. Sorry I'm upset that so much emphasis was put on what I was like as a child (based on my partial memories) and hardly any on what I'm actually like now. Was anyone else's diagnosis like this?

Polter I completely get it.

Ibbo I haven't been diagnosed so I'm not sure how helpful I'll be but I definitely remember taking part in imaginative play as a child both on my own and with others.

Ibbbo, I have an amazing imagination, but generally can only do imagination on my own, when I was young I could with one other person, as long as we were on the same wavelength (or they did it as I wanted it to be done ).
I can see the same in my DC, particularly ds3, hellish imagination, but difficulties playing with others using their imaginations.

It's always baffled me why so many assume that ASD = no imagination (including ds's paediatrician).

Polter what's the difference between imagination and social imagination? Pig I was the same I think, I could play with Barbies with my identical twin sister (we were definitely on the same wavelength and in our own bubble world) but if my brothers tried to join we couldn't do it.

I could only imagine alone, and in fact I wanted to do that rather than play with other children. At secondary school I spent most of the time living inside my own imagination. I read a lot of Samantha Craft on her old blog - very interesting to note that for some women their traits only become obvious at menopause, which I'm likely in early (and now is when I've started to notice my childhood traits coming back). I'm seeing an endocrinologist soon to find out if I'm definitely in peri-menopause.

Hi, all.

I'm ill. I must have caught DS2's bug. I ache all over, have a cough, runny nose, am either horrendously hot and sweaty or freezing cold, tired, sore head etc. Bleugh.

Yes to Paris, Christina and Elsbeth being on the spectrum (and to the ridiculous story line in Grey's Anatomy with the woman who was the president in Battlestar Galactica being 'autistic' in a really OTT way when they already had Christina).

Ibbbo is your twin ASD too?
I have a non-identical twin, she is very not autistic, my psychologist felt this was a protective influence on me, I learnt to copy her from an early age, and tagged along with her most of the time.

My imaginative play was odd. I had tonnes of imaginary friends and played with my cuddly toys, Barbies, dolls etc. a lot but I wasn't actually that good at it.

Mum said she always found it weird when I had friends over and she listened to us playing because I liked to script everything. So, instead of just playing I'd always set everything up and then go through a whole, 'I'll go here and say this and then you say that and then I'll do this...'

Um… not sure really. I don't know what counts as imaginative play. When my mum was asked (in a questionnaire) she said that she didn't know really, but she's sure I must've? I didn't play with dolls, really. I had a big one, the same size as me, when I was very little. No idea what I did with it; too early for me to remember. Dragged it round by the hair, from what I've been told. Had some dolls throughout childhood but wasn't interested. Apparently would play with my duplo and said "Mmm, chicken! I like chicken" when presented with a duplo chicken. And I had a gorgeous electric train set and would spend hours sending trains round it and switching the points and shunting things. I guess that's quite imaginative. Didn't really "get" the "let's play mummies and daddies" thing at school (but then TBF I didn't have any friends to play with). I'm sure I had a tea set, but I don't remember how I played with it. I had a dolls house and liked decorating and arranging the rooms, but didn't have any dolls in it. I liked drawing, reading, painting, Lego, toy cars, moving things around in Tonka trucks playing in the garden, Scalectrix(? Scalextric?), swinging on my swing, playing with my mice and guinea pigs, hitting things with hammers, hitting a tennis ball against a wall, burning things, making things out of inordinate amounts of cardboard and sellotape, watching TV, going to the woods and making dens and things with sticks, biking and rollerblading round town, writing, baking (I could make a shit-hot Victoria sponge when I was in primary), maths for fun , climbing trees, picking fruit, getting covered in mud, computer games, etc.

But more than anything else, reading. I was very nerdy and quite lonely.

I used to set up scenes with Britain's farm animals and horses, but I didn't really play with them, they all had names and I'd set up realistic milking parlours and show jumps.

Luckily no-one tried to join in, possibly because I was still doing it when I was a teenager and most of the others in the family had grown up quicker than I did

Pig my twin is very very similar to me in personality, mannerisms and we have the same social issues and insecurities. We also have very similar OCD-like anxieties and fear of doing new things or meeting new people. We did very much grow up in our own little bubble and liked to exclude everyone else as we didn't seem to fit in with other people.

I'm very jealous of people that can ask their parents what they were like as children. I have literally had a handful of superficial conversations with my parents since being an adult. I feel almost like I became an orphan when I was 17 and I forget that it's the norm for people to have family to support and help them through life. I expect everyone to be looking at the world through my perspective for some reason and it's hard to remind myself that everyone has their own way of looking at the world.

I did imaginative play with my sister but in retrospect it was lead by her. I wasn't included in the playground at school until year 6 :( it was very lonely.

Ibbbo I can only really ask my sister. My Mum died 9 years ago (and I suspect her view would have been skewed). Dad is a lovely man but probably on the spectrum too and worked a lot so I don't know if he'd really know.