Hey all, can we please stop lumping autism and ADHD together?

I feel like there’s a lot of people who are drawing attention to comparisons and fair enough, as they do have overlap, but they are two very different conditions. They can coexist. They can also exist independently of each other.

I have ADHD. My brother has autism. My brother does not have ADHD. I do not have autism. I’d like to stop being lumped with him as if he and I think the same way when we differ wildly and do not get along.

He has sensory issues and struggles to understand when things are too loud or too quiet. I do not.

He has repetitive movements that cause him to smack himself or make faces. I fidget sometimes, but I do not have repetitive movements or tics.

He talks to himself constantly, compulsively. Out loud. At full volume. I do not. If I talk to myself, I do so very quietly or in my head.

We both struggle with filter, but my filter is infinitely better than his and I am good at remembering what ticks people off. He constantly forgets and has to be told repeatedly what annoys people.

He does not understand facial expressions or tones and constantly gets them confused. I do not have these issues and I am perfectly capable of reading someone’s facial expression. My issue lies in missing signals because I’m not focused on the right things.

I struggle to focus on tasks that are uninteresting. He can focus if he needs to, but he has to decide to do so. I cannot make this decision for my brain.

One of the biggest reasons ADHD and autism are often confused for each other is the fact that they may do some of the same things but for completely different reasons.

Talking too loud? Autistic people might not even be able to sense that they’re shouting and may continually shout again after being reminded. People with ADHD may not have noticed that their voices are louder and will be able to tell they’re too loud if it’s pointed out to them.

Missed a social cue? Autistic people saw it but didn’t understand it. People with ADHD didn’t notice it, but it’s more than likely that they would have understood it if they had.

My point is that autism and ADHD are not the same disorders and it’s harmful to lump them together as if having one automatically means having the other. Please please please consider the WHY and understand that an autistic person’s reasons for a symptom may be completely different from someone with ADHD’s reason.

just a rant from someone who has spent her ENTIRE LIFE being compared to her autistic brother and is really sick of it
i'm not him
he's not me
we have almost nothing in common