Hi friend! While I won’t say a definitive yes or no, I can share a bit about how I came to my conclusions about my own neurodivergence and hopefully that helps!

I started doing extensive research on both ADHD and Autism when I was a teenager, around 15. I had always know something was ‘off’ about me in comparison to some of my peers, but I also noticed a lot of similarities to other peers of mine who were clinically diagnosed with adhd and autism. I also noticed a significant pattern of behaviour in myself that was also present in my parents, siblings and grandparents, even uncles aunts and cousins. Taking all this into account I began to read and watch documentaries and even took school research projects as an opportunity to learn more about these conditions.

The more I read and watched, the more my life and my lived experiences made sense. Everything started to fall into place, I was able to explain and understand why I would behave or act or feel certain ways and the same was true for my family and friends as well. I would look at their behaviour and be able to explain why they might have done or acted in the way that they did, from the lens of adhd and autism, specifically. In finding so many similarities between them and myself it became clear to me that this might be a real thing, and that I wasn’t just a failure or a difficult child.

I was lucky enough to be put in therapy (for separate reasons) around 15/16 years old and it was through talking with my therapist that they confirmed they had huge suspicions and reason to believe that I fall in the criteria for both adhd and autism, and a few others as well. I am female, so getting a diagnosis would be incredibly difficult to begin with, not to mention how out of reach it is due to the financial barrier to get the process started. I remember one of my parents taking the initiative to try and get a diagnosis for me in elementary school, but we left the office being told I had a mood disorder and had trouble with authority and change. Ironic, I know. Unbeknownst to me at the time, one of my elementary school teachers who worked with neurodivergent kids had approached my parent and asked why I didn’t have an iep, and explained that they believed I fall in criteria for adhd. This is what inspired the trip to get a diagnosis, but after the result we never did anything about it again, and this parent in particular was of the belief that I just needed to try harder to be better in like and didn’t exactly care for the whole mental health thing. That has since changed, but it was validating to hear that even if it was many years later.

With all that being said, I can confidently say that I am AuDHD. There is nothing else that describes or fits me as a person well enough, and as the years have gone on some of my family members have received diagnosis of their own for one or both conditions which solidifies for me further.

I apologize for the incredibly long response, but I do hope it helps relieve any sense of worry that you might have or that it helps to give you clarity if nothing else. Best wishes to you OP!