u/Pigufleisch

I'm taking some extended medical leave from work after getting formally diagnosed ASD L1 after already being diagnosed ADHD. Both very late diagnoses.

The letter from my assessor recommended this step in order to recover from occupational burnout (but basically fitting the descriptions of autistic burnout complete with audio hypersensitivity and more). They recommended that I do things to basically rest, recover, replenish myself and then later in the process look at what it might look like to return to work in a different, sustainable way.

So currently I'm seeking advice and suggestions or even your past experiences around recovery from autistic or occupational burnout. How long did it last? How did you manage to reset? Did you get back to old baseline or was it a "new normal"?

Any suggestions about things that I can do which my tired and currently chronically overstimulated nervous system might appreciate and find healing?

This is work by practicing clinical psychologist and author, Dr Megan Anna Neff, who is also AuDHD herself.

AuDHD vs OCD (YouTube video)

Venn Diagram Lives: Living at the Intersection of AuDHD and OCD (author's website)

I enjoyed her wisdom and insights in my own journey towards late (and recent) diagnosis.

As part of the formal DSM 5 criteria, a person cannot be assessed as ASD without being able to exclude competing diagnoses. Also, as many of us audhders have experienced, our ADHD may have quite literally overshadowed and compensated for our autistic side and this can lead many to only realising they might be autistic once the ADHD symptoms have been medicated enough to expose that other part of us. That happened with me.

Long story short (too late), this is a really great video including a venn diagram of Dr Neff's work at teasing apart the common, co-occurring experiences and symptoms of autistic people and those with ADHD or OCD.

After all, a ritualised behaviour is just a movement. The rationale, reasons, and significance is what makes the difference between autistic stimming or an OCD compulsion.

This kind of work has been super helpful for me so I figured I would share it with you all :)

Suggestions for burnout recovery?

Autism, ADHD, and OCD diagnostic overlap