Two conflicting Too Overwhelming

 

Being autistic doesn't mean that you're just autistic. No no, it does not! Because that would make things too easy.

One of the that makes autism so different to many individuals is that it pares up with one or two other conditions. Possibly even more than two.

One does not simply have one.

Photographic memory is one of the most common ones that I have heard about and wish I had myself. Photographic memory is exactly what it sounds like. You read, see, or hear about something once and forever remember it. I can see this condition as a blessing and a burden. It's a blessing because it allows you to learn new things very quickly and will forever remember it and allows you to move ahead in your studies. I see it as a burden because if you come across something you wish to forget, you are forever stuck with this memory. This condition is what makes people believe that people with autism have unusually high intelligence and the fact that your brain never shuts up.

This condition is a favorite to use in the media for characters with autism such as the Good Doctor, Big Bang, Young Sheldon, Dr. Strange, and possibly many more.

Dr. Shaun Murphy in the Good Doctor is shown to have this condition along with autism when he is in a highly stressed situation and goes through his memory from his studies and uses it to save lives. The TV series also expresses this by using flashbacks of Dr. Murphy's memories of his brother.

Sheldon from Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon has expressed through both TV series that he has a photographic memory. He also expresses how he struggles with not being able to pick up social cues and is unable to understand social situations but has never been diagnosed with autism.

Doctor Strange does not have autism but does express that he has photographic memory in the first movie and that is how he learns so quickly.

Another is Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. They show that he has photographic memory by showing details that he alone picks up on while solving a mystery. They also show that he struggles with socializing unless he is on a case.

So... Is he Autistic?

Laurence Cendrowicz/Hartswood Films for MASTERPIECE

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is where you obsess over things on a large scale. Such as keeping things consistent in life. Keeping things organized in a way that it's color-coded, and/or size the same every single time. It's also continuously thinking and believing that you're going to get sick or dirty so therefore you keep yourself in a routine of habits that allows you to believe that you are not going to get sick or dirty such as continuously washing your hands. Or even thinking that someone you love is going to get hurt or you going to hurt someone you love. If these routines get disrupted then all hell breaks loose for them.

The Big Bang Theory shows that Sheldon has OCD through quite a few habits such as knocking three times while saying the person's name every time, as well as sitting in the same spot every day. These are just two of many things that he obsesses about.

Bipolar Disorder is where you have different mood swings that you can not control. In one moment you feel this rush of energy and find yourself working on projects nonstop or going out and having fun and then the next you are in bed with no energy and feel depressed. These surges of energy or moods can last for days causing a large shift in your sleep schedule and personal life.

We all felt this not too long ago with covid 19. Anxiety is in all of us. It's why we get nervous or scared. Unfortunately for some, it's something that they feel every day every second, and not just when something major happens such as the pandemic of 2020.

ADD, and ADHD is another common one also conflicting with autism. With autism, you can hyper-focus on your interests. With ADD/ ADHD it's the opposite. First of all, ADD is an attention deficit disorder and ADHD is the same. The only difference is that your hyper with ADHD and it's called Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. That is the only difference between the two. These two conditions overall affect your attention span. It's difficult to focus and you lose interest very quickly. It's another condition that I struggle with along with autism. A better way to explain this is that the part of your brain that signals your body to feel good about yourself when you accomplish something is not 100% there. The feeling of self-accomplishment does not last long so you constantly lose interest and deliberately make it more challenging for yourself just so that you can feel that rush of accomplishment for a few seconds.

I have multiple projects that I am working on. On top of this blog, I am writing books, reading multiple books, working at Home Depot part-time, running a business, posting on social media, researching for my writing, also knitting, and taking about 12 classes on Udemy while finding more.

My parents always said that my conditions are conflicting and it took me a little bit to realize what they meant by the two being conflicting. Basically, with autism, you can focus on your interests easily because that is where your strengths lie, but when you have ADD along with autism your focus goes to all of your interests at once causing you to jump from one thing to another as well as being forgetful. With autism, your brain is cranking nonstop and is already on 50 different things just seconds after your told something. I missed out on a few things growing up because I would forget to hand in my permission slip. I even bought my cuisine the wrong CD for Christmas once because my mind blanked out on what bands she likes.

In the past my parents had me take medication such as Adderall while I was in school. Throughout school hours I would be fine the medication would help me focus on my work until later in the day. But then sometime during the last class period, it starts to wear off. But I would still be able to focus due to the atmosphere. Because of this, I would try to get a head start on my homework knowing that as soon as I got home the atmosphere would change causing me to lose focus, turning the process of doing homework into a battle of distractions making it take longer.

After high school, I stopped taking medication completely and found natural supplements that help. The natural supplements aren't as strong as the medication so I had to adapt and learn how to focus without. I found multi-tasking helps such as listening to music while doing homework. You will have to find the right kind of music to help you focus because music can be just as distracting. Playing video games and horseback riding (or any sports) helps because you're focusing on multiple things at once. Having goals helps as well because that gets you into the habit of I need to do this. I also found a tea that helps me focus. It's called Focus Pocus sold by the English Tea Store. These things are not easy and take practice but they do help. It's OK to get distracted you just need to find a way to get back to it and continue until you are finished.

These are only a few of the many different conditions that come with autism making it very challenging to deal with for every individual.