Photo by Emediong Umoh on Unsplash
OK here goes… What am I doing? Good question. Hello reader, welcome to oversharing.com where I’m more than likely going to be oversharing elements of my life with the world. I am a late diagnosed neurodivergent human, who was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in 2022 and then Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in 2024 at the age of 42. I see a lot of people reference these two combined disorders as AuDHD. It’s not an official term, just something the neuro-spicy community use to reference them together.
I don’t know what I want to achieve from this blog, I know I need a space to just word vomit and get out the thoughts in my head. I find it easier to write my thoughts down as I struggle to verbally express my feelings. And I know I want to help others like me, so maybe I hope this blog becomes a place of solace for people, who will find some commonalities with me and my experiences. I’m no expert, I do not know everything about neurodivergences, but I do have lived experience. Hopefully I’ll learn some things about myself along the way.
The first person I (knowingly) met with Autism was my partner. I met them after I went through a long period of mental health crisis and identity issues. When I would express how I felt and what I was experiencing, they’d go,
“yep, that’s like me and my autism!”
so from there, I went into hyper-focus mode and starting learning about all the parts of me that were neurodivergent. It took a lot of self reflection, self awareness, time and the ability to sit with the uncomfortableness of it all. It was a lot. I had just been fumbling through life thinking all the things I struggled with, everyone struggled with. Some of those realisations included:
“What do you mean not everyone has an internal monologue?”
“What are you talking about? Everyone struggles to maintain friendships..no?
You don’t actively avoid people?”
“What do you mean you can brush your teeth? Everyday?… Without setting alarms?”
Shit.
A lot happens emotionally after a diagnosis, a lot of ‘what if’ questions and ‘if I only had support’ scenarios play out. A lot of mourning for the past you didn’t have and the future that could have been. It’s a lot to process, and if I’m honest, still processing and here I am writing about it, oversharing with you 😜 I don’t know how often I will write, I’m going to try and create a structure for myself, however I may lose interest and find another hyper-focus tomorrow.
Until next time ✌