Lived Experience Forum

[Bafflelaffle]

A couple of months ago, I was screened for ASD and ADHD. I meet the DSM 5 criteria for autism and inattentive type adhd. ADHD has been on my radar for ages, but autism came as quite a shock. Now I'm noticing more than ever some of my autistic traits. Today I had an interview for a volunteer role and I was not as prepared as I would've liked. I completely lost my train of thought and was stumped on how to answer some questions and part of me just wanted to shut down and go mute. I felt very inadequate. One of the questions was 'how would your friends describe you' or 'what are your friendships like?' and all I could think was 'I don't have any friends'. After the interview, all I wanted to do was cry. Those questions just reminded me of how I didn't feel like I fit in anywhere growing up and my struggles with maintaining friendships. The one thing I'm trying to figure out is what accommodations can be made in my life to make things like job interviews a little easier. I know one thing I could've asked for is to get the questions in advance, but part of me still doesn't feel completely comfortable doing that. I very much want to get to a point of self acceptance and being able to advocate for myself, I just don't know where to start. Is there anyone that can relate to this and offer some insight into your journey? 

Thank you in advance.  

[8ppleTree]

Hi @Bafflelaffle 

I'm sorry to hear you struggled with some parts of the interview. The diagnosis may have brought some aspects of yourself or your situation to light, but you can be proud of yourself for wanting to dive deeper and discover more, as well as looking to empower and advocate for yourself. Stay curious! You've got some amazing coping skills in there, too! 🙂 There may be some grieving to do, as you realise what you've been coping with, ie masking, burnout, etc. Do you plan to engage ongoing supports, like an ASD/ADHD aware therapist? 

Hopefully you can get some ideas from others who have also discovered coping/adaptive methods to suit them. We have quite a few threads relating to ASD/ADHD which you can find via the search function of the site. You can also find the link to the social thread for the ASD space here.

In regards to the job front, tafes often have free job counselling services that are also open to the public. It might be worth looking into a few of the community options around. 

Take Care 🙂

[lavenderhaze]

Hi @Bafflelaffle,

It sounds like you're going through a challenging but important journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance. Many individuals with ASD and ADHD face similar struggles, especially in social situations like job interviews. It's okay to feel overwhelmed or inadequate at times, but your thoughts and feelings do not always accurately represent your worth.

I hope you can find other members on here with similar experiences who can share their journey. Please keep connecting on here 🙂