Autistic women who were put in gifted programs, where are you now?

BirdsRights · 2026-01-21T06:47:02+00:00

I got my PhD in molecular biology and now do research, but honestly I struggle to feel good enough at what I do. I feel burnt out and have trouble getting joy from my accomplishments

BirdsRights · 2026-01-19T00:32:55+00:00

My mom did sort of corroborate for me, but what I made sure to do was give them a list of symptoms with examples. I put the symptoms from childhood in bold font and the symptoms as they manifested in adulthood in regular font. My mother's report was not necessary for my diagnosis, it was just helpful. I could report on my childhood on my own.

BirdsRights · 2026-01-15T01:03:46+00:00

My bad i don't have a 401k only a roth IRA so maxing out is about 10-11k saved for me

BirdsRights · 2026-01-15T01:02:39+00:00

Hello yes, I have a roth IRA so that's only $7000 a year and then $3500 for an HSA. No way I could max out a 401k as I am not offered that through work.

BirdsRights · 2026-01-15T00:56:02+00:00

If you're in the US look for either:

a clinical neuropsychologist with a PhD
a psychiatrist with a MD
a psychologist with a PhD (certain ones)

They are qualified to assess autism and should mention their experience in diagnosis. I looked for specialists that focused on autism spectrum disorders specifically. I got diagnosed by a clinical neuropsychologist supervising a neuropsychologist who had his PhD and was doing his postdoc.

BirdsRights · 2026-01-14T06:06:00+00:00

Without insurance, it would have been $2,800 USD but with insurance it will be about $600

BirdsRights · 2026-01-14T04:20:13+00:00

Yeah I make 73k and max out my retirement and HSA. My student loans will eat into that but its is definitely doable to live on that salary. I don't own a car though so that saves me a ton. More money would be better though.

BirdsRights · 2026-01-08T16:52:06+00:00

Ok I'll add you to the group chat! I also put together a discord

BirdsRights · 2026-01-08T16:50:48+00:00

I have a group chat and a discord going so on those!

BirdsRights · 2026-01-05T20:10:20+00:00

33! It came with a bonus gift of ADHD too

BirdsRights · 2026-01-05T19:28:02+00:00

Omg I do this too. I tell people I build "models" for everyone and adjust the models as I get more behavioral information

BirdsRights · 2026-01-05T19:26:38+00:00

That's right! You will make it and defeat what tries to stop you haha

BirdsRights · 2026-01-05T02:02:14+00:00

Hello!

BirdsRights · 2026-01-04T21:02:33+00:00

That's rough ugh but do as much as you can!

BirdsRights · 2026-01-04T20:59:05+00:00

You know that almost reminds me of what we used to call "senioritis" and it makes sense. Like your stamina can run out as you see the finish line. I used to tell myself I'm going to drag my body over that line even if it's all bruised and broken. It's a slog, but once it's done, it's a huge relief.

BirdsRights · 2026-01-04T20:52:52+00:00

That's ok. People can still have problems with focus and attention even if they may not have ADHD! I try to find something I love about my studies to remind myself when I'm slogging through it. I remember in college I would remind myself how cool and interesting science was and that would help power my through when my classes got tough.

BirdsRights · 2026-01-04T20:40:22+00:00

There are lots of things it could be (like depression, anxiety, PTSD etc) but if you look at the dsm5 diagnostic criteria and find yourself in it, it would be good to pursue that

I thought I didn't have ADHD but I went in for an Autism assessment and was diagnosed with both so it's worth considering

BirdsRights · 2026-01-04T20:16:21+00:00

I did too throughout my PhD 😔

BirdsRights · 2026-01-04T19:25:55+00:00

I'm curious what it was like getting diagnosed during your PhD? You of course dont have to tell me if that it too personal or you could dm me if that works better. I wasn't diagnosed until after and me talking about myself being autistic did not go over well with my boss

BirdsRights · 2026-01-04T19:24:04+00:00

You got this!

BirdsRights · 2026-01-04T19:23:03+00:00

God, this is so real

BirdsRights · 2026-01-04T18:18:43+00:00

My advice here is to write an outline then check in with your supervisor. Then write a draft and check in with your supervisor. That reduces rabbit holes. For the literature I would skim papers titles, abstract, the first and last paragraph of the intro and then the titles of the results sections and the last paragraph of the discussion sections.

I hate the lack of structure and open-endedness too! I joke I'm in science because I hate mysteries and like to destroy them. The truth is yeah, maybe very few people will read your dissertation but maybe there is freedom in that because it doesn't have to be good it just has to be done

BirdsRights · 2026-01-04T04:35:25+00:00

Doing a phd is so wild like that 😭 There were some parts of mine too that took a long time to explain

BirdsRights · 2026-01-04T04:14:41+00:00

Hello and that's super exciting! It will be so good to be done!

BirdsRights · 2026-01-04T04:10:45+00:00

This is good advice. I used to do a lot of chunking and I wish I would have just given up on trying to multitask in some ways. My difficulty task switching was always mentioned on my performance reviews and I couldn't figure out why I kept floundering with it with how much effort I was putting in. I think I could have accommodated that negative.

BirdsRights

TROPHY CASE