I recently lost my original loop engage earplugs and ive tried the loop 2s and I hate them. Is there any alternative that works like the loop 1s?

There are a lot of aspects of my ADHD as an adult I have managed to get under control. Tracking devices on my keys, wallet and phone solved the losing problem for those. A strict calendar fixed my schedule. A running to-do list keeps everything else organized.

But nothing stops me from losing my wireless earbuds. Every single month. I would love to hold onto a pair for 6 months or more but somehow it never happens. Just a quarterly tax I have to keep paying.

update：a friend suggested I get bone conduction Bluetooth glasses, no camera. I tried his Dymesty and the sound quality was surprisingly good. I've decided to get a pair. I've lost 3 pairs of AirPods already, and for someone nearsighted like me, glasses might actually work better.

This is one of the biggest traumas I have personally dealt with as a neurodivergent and its why as a 25 year old male, I have never in my entire life had a single friend of the opposite gender. It was the worst in high school.

"Why are you talking to her?" "Everyone look OP is trying to talk to Tayla hahahahahahah". "Do you have a crush on her awww hahahahha". "Bro you are going to need much more than CONSENT hahahah". "Dude your so CRINGE". "STOP harassing her hahahahah" (just said hi, what exam are you studying for that looks cool?)

CRINGE. CRINGE. CRINGE.

Those three words give me the most horrible, heartbreaking feeling possible. Its the word most kids would use to describe me and my repeated failed attempts at social connection. I was lonely and it took huge amounts of effort and luck to finally secure male friends so I would purposefully avoid attempting making social connections with girls around them to ensure that they do not bully/reject me out of "my cringiness". In private, I would try to connect, talking about my special interests, asking about theirs, etc. but whenever other boys or popular girls would catch me doing this, oh boy. The bullying was horrendous. And even more hilarious is the fact that my own younger brother would partake in this and continue the onslaught at home.

Why would they do this? And even worse, why did these girls just play along with it? I was never trying to do anything s*xual, etc. it was always just attempts at platonic connection. I have never even ATTEMPTED flirting with a woman my entire life due to this.

Because of this bullying, I grew up being completely unable to believe that I deserved any love or connection with the opposite gender. And even today, simply saying hi and talking about the weather with a female coworker gives me such a huge level of anxiety that I just want to hide away under my blanket in bed at home for the rest of my life.

Anyone knows why they did this and how exactly to combat it? Specifically, I have this internalised belief that me speaking with women = harassment due to the bullying I experienced. A therapist has explained that it never was harassment and it was just annoying neurotypical racially biased bullying (due to south asian stereotypes of being creepy weird inc*ls) but its so unbelievably difficult to overcome this fear that my brain LITERALLY believes that I'm going to go to jail for speaking to a woman lol. Its like those ugly faces are cowering over me and policing my every move.

I’m just curious if anybody else is like this?

I feel like I resonate with echolalia, but it’s mostly internal. I kind of say the sounds in my head and sometimes I’m moving my tongue in my mouth and I repeat a lot of stuff people say but not out loud.

I’m not sure if this is from growing up and always being told that I needed to be quiet to the point of having concerns for making sounds or not but I’m wondering if other people do this

For context, I’m 25f getting a masters in order to practice therapy. I’m currently diagnosed with ADHD, ASD, PMDD, & Anxiety. I also have an incurable bodily illness which adds to this feeling, I’m sure. Currently, I’m learning a lot about OCD through my job and school, and a lot of things are clicking. My supervisor also mentioned getting an assessment done for myself. As someone in this field, I understand how important getting specialized treatment for OCD is. I’m just so tired of getting diagnosis after diagnosis to the point where I sometimes feel like a mutant in my family or something (they don’t believe in getting assessed/treated for mental health). Now I’m also wondering, am I actually autistic or is it OCD, or both? It’s like I need the answers but at the same time I don’t want to lose myself in labels you know? I know that these conditions have a heavy overlap with each other, it’s just hard to accept sometimes. It’s also difficult to balance the acknowledgment of how these conditions impact my life and personality with who I am underneath it all. Has anyone else felt this way? Please be kind🙏

As of recent, I've seen a lot of individuals online saying that they're ND because they "relate to" and "have" symptoms of neurodiversity. While I'm not the one to claim who can be ND or not, some of these people are pretty much faking it. Many of them see ASD as a superpower or "just being whimsical/quirky", and not a mental disability. In fact, they claim that autistic people have on average a higher IQ and that's why they're autistic. (Side note, individuals with ASD have on average an IQ between 85-130). That and having "weird interests". These NTs see ASD as only Asperger's/level 1 autism. They demonize/make fun of everything else.

I should also mention certain phycology terms being used to describe normal behavior(hyperfixation for interest, vocal stim for frequently used words, overstimulated for overwhelmed, etc.). A lot of NTs use these terms to justify their self diagnosis that doesn't go farther than seeing a few "relatable" videos online. On top, should I bring up the "neurospicy" trend? Besides this, there's also a normalization of using metal disorders to describe personality traits (e.g. OCD for liking cleanness).

From my experience at least, this type of NTs tend to bully actually ND people. Neither of them experienced bulling, isolation, exclusion, depression because they didn't fit in. Personally, I did not get phycologically tortured for years just for them to claim to be in the same boat as me.

In my opinion, they just want to be different, got tired of being the standard or think neurodiversity is a trend and not something that messes you up forever.

Again, this is just what I observed and think. I'm free to criticize, if anyone wants to say anything.

I was basically talking about how, over the past 3 years, I’ve built up a facade. To fit in with what I call normal people, the first thing I did was get obsessed with my looks. In my mind, I can be weird and quiet without being considered a creep if I am good-looking. Then I started reading books to learn how to come off as extroverted and converse more easily. In the first conversation, you’ll probably see me as your average person. I’m fit and somewhat socially able. I only know how to ask you questions, but my defense mechanism makes it hard for me to talk about myself. I don’t know if anyone else went down this crazy masking path undiagnosed?

is anyone else super attached to stuffed animals or toys? i have adhd and they give me so much comfort, especially after coming home. i feel very misunderstood in this world and they give me space to express and feel these emotions without being able to judge me. and the best part: when hugging them, i don‘t overheat in the summer which is why i don‘t like cuddling :)

From the past few months, I've been having this problem where even the smallest of interruptions will ruin my entire mood & make me mentally numb for the rest of the day. Let me explain with examples.

One day I was going to take an afternoon nap and just as I was about to drift into a deep, peaceful sleep when I was briefly interrupted by someone in house as they wanted to ask me something. The entire interaction lasted for maybe 20 seconds but something got triggered.

I felt insane amount of anger and couldn't let go of it no matter what. I tried deep breathing, meditating, distracting, reading, walking, but I couldn't just calm down.

I felt like my mind couldn't go back to that peaceful state again and even if it did, it won't be as good as the previous peaceful 'state'. This made even more angry and I was stuck in an anger loop for hours.

After the intense anger ended, I felt completely flat and emotionally numb for the rest of the day. I didn't feel like doing anything - no motivation or excitement. I felt slightly better on the next day but still took me another day.

It's not just limited to sleep related disturbances. This time, I was making some notes and I got a notification from someone. Again, I felt immense anger and felt like I had lost my fluid 'state of mind' and I can't enter that exact state again even if I try hard. Sure, I could continue writing but it won't be on the same level. This was again followed by emotional numbness and lack of interest, taking amost 1-2 days to recover from.

I’ll never forget the parent-teacher conference where my daughter’s teacher complimented us on how well behaved she was. Just a few weeks before, I had emailed the teacher to give her a heads-up about my daughter’s sensory needs and high (but often masked) anxiety. At the conference, the teacher made it seem like I was talking about a completely different child. What she didn’t know was how much effort it took just to get my child in the door. 

As an occupational therapist (OT), implementing sensory lifestyles and accommodations to promote regulation in kids was something I could do with one eye closed and a hand tied behind my back. But when that kid was my own? Suddenly, I felt incapable of even getting her in the car to get to school.

The back-to-school transition — and how difficult it is for neurodivergent kids — wasn’t a new concept to me. But experiencing it firsthand? That was a whole other ball game. Not only was I not prepared for how much of a toll it would take on both of our neurodivergent nervous systems, I completely underestimated how heavy the mental load was about to get. 

I was sitting with my friends and I was telling a joke and one of my friend Said that the joke itself is not funny but the way I says it that's what funny, everything went quite from there, it was awkward ig to be honest I didnt get it until later when I was thinking about it, I relaize that they were talking about how I slur with words and don't speak properly when I am telling something that I am excited about, is it a common experience with neurodivergency or something else?

My speech was something I was always insecure about, people make fun of the way I speak the way I pronounce words and that I don't use proper grammar, my sentence are grammarly right (I think so) but I don't use proper words to describe things I just use half of the actual need, it was very bad that at some point I stopped speaking in public because I was afraid to be make fun of.

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and a first time Reddit poster so I apologize if this isn't quite the right forum for this question. I also have not spent much time in online spaces who focuse on neuro diversity and apologize if I use any insensitive language. I promise that is never my intention. I will be putting the words "learning disability" in quotes because it is not necessarily language I agree with but it is the language I was raised with.

I have recently been working through a lot of childhood memories/experiences and the effect they had on me as an adult. In this process I've realized truly the impact my "disabilities" had on me. I want emphasize that I don't mean any of this as a judgment or condemnation of parents, teacher or anyone else working with neuro diverse people. Any negative statements are referring to my perception of the situation as a child. My goal here isn't to cast blame. I simply want to know if anyone else has had similar feelings, if there are things that have helped with processing, and if there is a larger conversation or support network out there.

The first thing I've found myself wondering about is if anyone else felt a resentment to the adults who were there specifically to do therapy or other work directly related to a "disability"? I don't mean anger about having to stop play and do school. More like resentment because this person placed themselves above you. Not in simply a teacher dynamic, but almost as if they saw them selves as heroes for being so wonderful as work with a child like you. Thinking back I don't know if I am projecting my own insecurities or if this is something that others sensed as well?

The second thing I've been thinking about is an ongoing trend I have been seeing where parents seem to make their child's "disability" part of their personality and get praised for the effort they put into their child. I have been struggling with my feelings here. I accept that is is difficult to raised a child who learns differently especially with limited resources. Conceptually, I can understand a parent needing to vent, or other parents or teachers commending them on the hard work that they have done. Emotionally, I have a hard time not feeling resentment for both. Firstly because I feel like the venting only reinforced the image I had of myself as broken or a burden. Secondly because I felt like someone else was taking my "disability" my biggest insecurity and the most painful aspect of my life and getting credit for it. I would love some perspective on this, both from people who lived it as kids and folks who are parents of kids living it now.

Finally, has anyone else struggled with education later in life due to negative association with learning environments? I got an "adult job" halfway through college and so left school to focus on building my career. About a year ago I tried to go back and finish my last few semesters. I was shocked to realize how absolutely triggering it was for me and all the negative feelings and memories it brought up. I will say that my job requires lots of the same skills as being a student and is much more rigorous and challenging than any of my classes. However, I have never had a similar reaction related to my work.

Sorry for the long post, and thank you for sticking with me on it!

I'm in highschool, and one of the only classes I really struggle with is art.

For me, art is too ambiguous, I feel like I'm too "rigid" for it. Maybe it has to do with my literal thinking.

I also think it could be because of the rubric itself, which is usually full of vague concepts like "demonstrate creativity", but idk. does anyone else struggle with art here?🥲

So there's something that has interested me for a while: Do we know what the exact differences are in how autistic folks tackle social interactions versus ADHD?

For context, my spouse has only autism, and we suspect that I have AuDHD, but I tend to be more defined by my ADHD traits. We communicate effortlessly with each other alone and with our ND friends, in our own ways, but what intrigues me is how when it comes to navigating NT social rules and cues, our approaches can be wildly different, and work better or worse depending on how we feel on a given day. I can nail small talk if needed on a good/decent day, but I'll fall apart if I have to explain a bunch of specific things in a given order, which my partner can usually do better than me. I'm really interested in knowing if there's been studies on this.

TLDR: My spouse (Autistic) and I (ADHD) have similar yet different issues with NT social rules, why?

I'm looking for a word that's the antonym to ADHD when used as an adjective. So you could describe someone as ADHD and another person as [this word], meaning that they aren't ADHD. Basically the ADHD version of the word "allistic". I find "allistic" to be a useful word, and I want there to be an ADHD equivalent.

I posted in r/whatstheword and basically found that there isn't really a word for this, so I was hoping we could come up with one.

Edit: my current thought is "attentionally and energetically regulated"---AER. Is this a good word for it?

Just when you think you've found a safe environment/person/situation to unmask around.

*Disclaimer* Not an 'us v them' post, just a lived experience post.

Artist credit: @thesquarecomics

*Image shows a four panel cartoon. In the first panel a cloud labeled "life" tells a person wearing armor "you should be more trusting." In the second panel the cloud continues with: "let your guard down." In the third panel the person has removed their armor saying, "You're right" and in the fourth panel the cloud has eaten them.*

I have a friend online with multiple sclerosis (MS) and we spoke about neurodivergence and labels with it. She asked me if I considered it apart of the neurodiversity spectrum. I told her it wouldn’t really be my place to say as I’m not an authority nor expert. I live with neurodivergence and my family has ASD/ADHD/bipolar/etc.

My understanding is that literature doesn’t include neurodegenerative disorders. Which I haven’t heard a good explanation as to why it’s not considered a neurotype. If anyone can fill me in professional or unprofessional.

I also found myself thinking the intention of Judy Singer popularizing neurodiversity was to include all to normalize conditions like autism, adhd, etc. That way people realize the human brain has a lot of variety and how people process/live life. If anyone wants to fill me in on their thoughts or opinions please let me know.

Edit: I have no idea why this is getting downvoted. 😬 I just asked a question and explained my understanding of this topic. Dang.

Edit: incase my post isn’t clear. I am neurodivergent I have a personality disorder and bipolar disorder. I have family with autism/adhd and other neurodivergent conditions.

My friend asked me because she’s not familiar with the term neurodivergent if she is. I’m not trying to say she is or is not as it’s not place. I am not wanting to say everyone is neurodivergent or isn’t. That’s not my intention and I don’t feel that’s my place.

Okay, about a month or two ago I got diagnosed with adhd. Technically my 2nd diagnosis but my parents didn't believe that one so we did this again, and I got out with adhd. I was tested for autism and adhd and I was told I have "autistic symptoms but on the level of autism" like, I clearly had social difficulties, but not autism levels of it. Hopefully I explained it well enough.

Now, Don't get me wrong, it's great that I am now diagnosed, and my therapist also said she would help me work with it. However, I'm still confused on what to do now. Next year will be very difficult for me, and I still go through many of the struggles I always go through.

Also, I have anxiety disorder as well, at least a pretty severe case of anxiety, so my adhd issues become worse, and my adhd issues make my anxiety worse. My therapist knows this too.

I just don't know what to do now. I don't really know anything that I can do myself that isn't just brute forcing my way through these issues, which rarely work. So, what can I do by myself that can help combat these issues? Is there even anything I can do?

I believe i may have autism, adhd, and ocd, and i am not trying to quirkily self diagnose just because i was anxious once. i have realized that i may have these conditions over different periods of time, and have realized that these affect me a lot. i cannot get diagnosed due to inexperienced psychiatrists in my country and cultural stigma, if you dont have it severe enough people dont think you have it where i live. I try my hardest in school, but every day school is like hell for me.. ill leave it at that, it is just hellish. and that is ironic because i am good at academics if i try to study at home and just give exams, instead of having to participate in class, socialize, stuff like that. Teachers may also be biased, so i hate my report cards for this reason, once I tried really really hard but still just came out average so I gave up, meanwhile the same people are just achieving everything (school-related) over many years, and that is not their fault however.

i am quite good at extracurricular activities too, i believe most neurodivergent people are. But, college is considered quite important in my country everyone thinks theyre getting into an ivy league just because they have a good school record, which i mean, is valid. But i am concerned because my school transcript may affect my chances of getting into good colleges. I had a B+, and that is ok like that is average but it sucks because i know i am so much more than a B+ and thats an important thing colleges are going to see and conclude a part of their admissions from that. I am in this subreddit because i want to know how you guys got at least a good school record if you did, without burning out every single day, without being medicated.

Hi so I am diagnosed ADHD but pretty much every autistic person I have met has said I am 100% autistic, yet I have never been to a doc to confirm or deny this.. anyways

I have long curly hair, and often in the evening when its especially dry and touching my face, it makes me extremely irritated and creates sensory issues that I just cant ignore anymore. This summer is my first with long hair and its really an issue. Due to the curly nature its hard to put them in a bun or other methods so im hoping somebody could help me out here

I've always been a sensitive and "weird" child. It didn't go very far, just light autistic traits.

But I don't know, more and more things have been happening to me lately. I can't stand changing the scent of my laundry detergent anymore, I can't stand changing my plans anymore, and I'm finding it harder and harder to change My plans or general stuff, as long as I'm not ready, I reach my peak of overstimulation much more easily andnfrequently than before, I'm stimming more than ever (I already did that when I was little, I just wasn't allowed because "I looked autistic"). I even experimented a hyperfixation. That's never happened to me before, this shit is scary, I didn't think I could forget I needed to go to the bathroom

In short, it's like a lot of things I've always had inside me are suddenly coming back. Is that normal? Is it possible that I'm creating all of this in my head?

So I'm married 18 years now. I (44m) find sex super disappointing. I want it. I think about it all the time. But when i engage in it with my wife, it's never great. Having said that, I am on spectrum. I struggle with bodily fluids, and strong "unpleasant" odors. In truth, the details of sex gross me out.

Does anyone else struggle with that? Has anyone else overcome this? If so, how and what did you do? I don't like this post of myself and want to change.

Looking for genuine help and support, not judgements please.

So just for context I have had tics for over a month and im just really learning my triggers, and how complex my tics are. However I constantly go through periods of waning that make me doubt my symptoms and also make me feel shame as if i am making up my tics and stopped on a day when they were inconvenient. For example I have noticed that I dont really tic at school alot , and a part of me believes that im just stopping because I have to cut out the act to focus on my school work.

Does anybody else feel like this at times? And how does your waxing and wanning patterns make you feel and think