My Partner Thinks I Might be Autistic But Maybe I’m just ADHD
Me (22f) and my partner (25m) have been together for a year and a half and friends for longer but after we started dating he started understanding my motivations for different things I do and has been saying that I might be autistic.
Some Examples (I have no idea which ones of these would even be related):
- I hate being around people and i find having friends stressful
- over the course of pretty much my entire life I can't handle having more than one friend at a time
- I don‘t like having the overhead light on, i strongly prefer warm or natural light
- I HATE wearing socks
- I’m passionately interested in freshwater fish and Batman
- I wear headphones and listen to music when i go outside to cover up sounds I don’t like. Usually I wear them on my way to class, during lecture, and the commute home.
- I have a lot of fears (heights, wood, spiders, pregnancy, etc.)
- I’m very expressive with my feet. Like I bounce them and tap them when I'm excited and I have to rub them against my blanket so I can go to sleep.
- I really like slime and anything squishy
- Ocassionally when I’m really upset or sad I find it really difficult to speak. He calls it going nonverbal but I don't think I would call it that because if I was in a situation where I really needed to speak and I was upset I could still do it. I honestly think it's cuz I'm comfortable with him that I can't talk or something like that. When I was younger and it would happen and no matter what I couldn't talk.
He also thinks my mother might be autistic which i actually agree with and I hear ASD is pretty hereditary so maybe that’s relevant. Both me and my partner are diagnosed with ADHD. I was just wondering if this sounds like autism or just part of my already diagnosed neurodivergence.
Also for context when I was assessed for ADHD I saw two different psychologists and neither of them asked me questions about any autism criteria or sensory issues. They each strictly asked ADHD questions and questions about my academics specifically.