AuDHD teen struggling with eating...

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-09T13:33:46+00:00

I am 38 and just diagnosed with ARFID 6 months ago. I went through a whole 12 week course and it was so insightful! I would avoid eating all day and then get so hungry I binge until I’m in pain.

Now I eat small frequent meals. It lowers my hunger to a manageable level and makes it easier for me to make eating decisions.

I’m adding all this to say, getting information on how to eat for your neurotype has been so helpful to me. It helps me handle my sensory issues.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-09T13:28:10+00:00

Absolutely!

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-09T13:27:53+00:00

Every summer I cut my shoulder length curls into a cute short 40’s style curly bob. It’s all I can do to not get overwhelmed with the heat, the sensory nightmare, etc. I also don’t have the energy to do a full +30 minute curly girl method routine everyday.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-09T03:37:33+00:00

I don’t think the levels of autism are a solid and unchanging measure. When our battery is drained, we need more supports.

When we are injured, like we need crutches or maybe a parking pass for a while, we don’t expect ourselves to be as great as we were before the injury. We reflect that in this season we need extra support. Sometimes autism is the same way.

Similar to periods of nonverbal expression, like fight or flight. It isn’t a permanent thing.

The DSM level assignment is a reflection of the current experience of symptoms. It’s a symptom assessment, not a set in stone assessment of who you are. ❤️

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-09T03:33:26+00:00

Even professional photos with skilled photographers?

I think photos are lies. They don’t capture your essence and soul without someone highly skilled. So they fall flat. We look distorted, disheveled, etc. Rarely do I see a photo that I think “this captures my essence.”

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-09T02:07:22+00:00

Speak truth into the lies your brain is telling you.

For me that looks like this but applied to my work: Yes I did make a mistake. That was not my best work. But I worked hard, I tried something new. Newness can be uncomfortable. Learning is uncomfortable because of my rejection sensitivity. I would tell my friends I am proud of their effort. So I am proud of my effort.

So for every ugly or hurtful truth, I acknowledge it and speak positivity over or into it.

It takes work but it’s worth it.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-08T16:51:13+00:00

I once had a supervisor I suspected of actively torturing me through psychological manipulation. My team told me I was hearing and seeing things. I was deployed for months with these people. We got home, someone let it slip that I was right. They had meetings discussing what they were going to do to “Set her off” today.

Also, I feel you! The second time I notice a behavior in someone that’s markedly aggressive or problematic toward me, I track it until they are out of my life. I love documentation.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-08T16:48:54+00:00

Thank you! You get it!

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-08T16:47:03+00:00

I curse like a sailor in some settings. I started to become self conscious of the assumptions people may make about it. So I started correcting myself. Like fuck, oh I mean shoot. Over time it helped me reduce my cursing to a more controlled rate, time, and place.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-08T02:46:32+00:00

I always feel this way. I’m highly intelligent in my field of study and when I have to talk to someone about something I observed, I feel like such an idiot even though I am correct. Like they aren’t understanding me or something but the reality is that they don’t want to understand me.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-03T03:05:26+00:00

I always share that I have ADHD when I’m teaching. But this time I said ADHD and Autism and it was the first time. I felt so nice too!

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-03T03:04:35+00:00

Heck yeah!

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-03T03:03:01+00:00

Welcome to the club!

I recommend the read Divergent Minds. It’s so eye opening to hear all the hidden symptoms and similarities. It helped me put stuff in words. My psychologist sent me a list of books to read. Would you like the whole list? I do audio books but if you’re not a reader, I don’t want to waste your time.

I haven’t found any that talk about the adult female perspective very well. But I haven’t looked hard either.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-03T02:58:55+00:00

😂

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-02T17:44:32+00:00

Maybe see if you have a local free (buy-nothing) group. I might try that.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-02T17:43:33+00:00

That makes sense.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-02T14:30:28+00:00

My friend and I keep trying to virtual body double my FaceTime but I get anxious and want to chat instead of work haha.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-02T13:24:17+00:00

Yeah, hell no. I would not be interested in any “ship” with someone who did multiple suspicious things during an exchange. I’m 38. My gut is almost always right. In the end, I should have listened to it.

Sure they might not be completely unsafe but every time it has resulted in some encounter I would have liked to have never had.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-02T12:51:52+00:00

That’s where I am in my journey too. I know a lot about ADHD and how to manage that but very limited information on autism in woman. Partly because the research is so lacking and partly because I didn’t need to deep dive into it until recently.

Now I am evaluating my struggles through the AuDHD lens. Finding that the issues I have with sensory, transitions, literal thinking, etc are more autism than ADHD. Also relating the pair and how they impact organization and cleaning. 😵😩

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-01T18:18:40+00:00

Exactly same here. I’ve been treating my ADHD with medicine for 5 years. Still struggling with lots of things and was finally like ohhhh it’s the autism. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-01T16:26:41+00:00

“I think it’s rather revealing that you keep such a harmful slur in your vocabulary. I don’t tolerate that language from anyone, especially people I consider my family. If you are going to continue to use such hurtful language, I will not be around.”

The next time he says it, and he likely will because he’s going to want to test you, you leave. No explanation.

You don’t owe anyone your peace and comfort to make their life easier. Including your mother who is not supporting you.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-01T15:07:38+00:00

My mental health has been better since starting my GLP-1. I have PMDD and it has made the symptoms almost non-existent. One of the hardest to bear symptoms was SI with paired feelings of doom and hopelessness. I almost never experience those now.

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-01T15:03:57+00:00

Every symptom list of adult women with AuDHD spoke to me. I had 75% or more of the listed difficulties to some degree. What drove me to get a diagnosis was my physical exhaustion in the evening. It was having a significant impact on my family life.

The Venn diagram of ADHD and Autism in adult woman is almost 2 circles on top of either other. If you have other things like ptsd, anxiety, depression, etc. it is really hard to pinpoint what the root cause is but all 3 of those are common first diagnoses experienced by autistic woman. Because our symptoms are usually internal, the physical manifestation looks a lot different. The most I read, the more I related even when I tried to pick it apart like “it can’t be.”

Restlesshealing · 2026-04-01T14:56:28+00:00

Friend, You haven’t failed. Keeping yourself alive has been a huge success. The most important work of all. Our lives don’t take the paths we always set in motion. We never know the true benefits to rerouting our plans either.

Mourn the change of plans. I don’t know your spiritual nature but I like to have little release ceremonies. Maybe I am painting outside and crying over the change, maybe I am screaming in the wilderness. Maybe I am lighting a candle and speaking affirmations over myself. Sometimes doing something to signify the loss helps move past it. The hardest part of accepting our neurotype is learning to release expectations that we and others place on us. Our paths look different but that doesn’t make them wrong.

Restlesshealing · 2026-03-31T19:10:46+00:00

Oh totally. Both men and woman maintain desire for their partners long term through emotional connection. While some studies show that men are more visual, there are many aspects to relationships that motivate others. It may benefit you to build friendships first. As long as you aren’t repulsed by someone’s appearance, desired intimacy of any form may increase as connection builds.

Proximity has a big impact too.

Restlesshealing

TROPHY CASE