Handling Disclosure as a Self-Advocate

Posted on by Gregory Wood

We have talked about this in the support group I am in.  When I was dating my ex wife I told her about it. She never made the effort to understand asbergers and recently she told me her family told her to run from me when we were dating.   My goal was to have understanding in my behavior under anxiety situations.  If I had know this while working I could have saved a couple of jobs.  – Greg

by Ryan Walsh

As an autistic self-advocate, it is no secret that disclosing my autism to others has and always will be a complicated process throughout my life. There are many factors that go into how, when, why, and to whom I will disclose my autism, but they all have to do with the purpose for the disclosure and the anticipated response. I do believe there are times where disclosure is disadvantageous as a result of potential mistreatment. When I do disclose, I generally only share the information that is relevant to the individual I’m disclosing to. read more

The Boring Back & Forth of Social Interactions: Advice from People with ADHD

Posted on by Gregory Wood

by Cynthia Hammer

Note: the following is a collection of perspectives from different people with ADHD. The * indicates another person’s input. 

This article was of interest to me because I did have people tell me over the years that I did not have good social skills. I at times struggle with small talk.   – Greg

Social Interactions & ADHD: Why We Get Bored 

*Small talk can be profoundly boring. The older you get, the more this is true. Truly, it is hard to find people who “match” in terms of what they find stimulating.

*Yesterday I talked with a friend who also has ADHD about how typical conversations go.   One person says his whole monologue and then the other person says her whole monologue. The monologue-ing gets so boring it is hard for us to stay engaged.

We prefer conversations where people interrupt with interesting tidbits as this makes the conversation more engaging and exciting.  Our preferred way of communicating is perfectly acceptable although there are settings where we need to reel in our enthusiasms and engage in more socially acceptable ways

*The more I work on conversation skills, the more I find the “take turns to dump” style grating, It’s hard to follow the conversation and contribute anything meaningful.  My brain wanders off when I try to sit and wait my turn! read more