ADHD, comorbidities

When being shiny and autistic collide

Aviva Seigler

It is common knowlege by now that I am both Autistic and Shiny (ADHD). They seem like two opposite conditions. How can someone be both?

One area it does affect is routine. My autistic side loves routine. If the same things happen every day, I thrive on it. I know what to expect. Nothing will take me by surprise. Everything is predicable.

My shiny side gets bored easily. The same thing day in and day out. When I get bored my routines do change. Then I throw myself off with the change in routine. Its an ongoing cycle. When establishing a new routine, it normally takes a long time for it to get established. This causes confusion, uneasy feeling and some anxiety. After the time passes where the routine finally gets established, my brain sometimes get bored again.

Another area is executive dysfunction. What is executive dysfunction? It is difficulty planning, organizing, flexibility and self motoring. When I do need to do something, I lack the ability to do it. Dates and time become a jumbled mess in my head.

There are tools to keep you organized. It has been suggested to me to use planners, stickers and other things to help. If I was just autistic, that would be amazing. I could make it so stimmy. But I am also shiny. This means I loose EVERYTHING. I am constantly losing my keys, phone, pens (which is why I do digital), etc. Paper planners are not for me. I have to program my phone to beep at me whenever I have to do something. This is something that works. Not all the time. My pet sitting clients are patient with me and know to let me know the schedule on the weekend when I am sitting in one place and can enter it in the calendar and not forget it.

Impulsiveness. Being impulsive is my downfall. When I see someone responding to me in a negative way, I have to stop what I am doing to respond to them right away, whether it is a good idea or not.  Most shiny people have a hard time with impulive shopping but I do not make enough money for that. I am sure I would find a new organization tool and I would buy it to see if it would help, whether it is practice or not. I would not think things through. I have often bought things at the thrift store and when I get home wonder why I bought it.

I am going to end with something positive. Being more neurodiverse than some has its advantages. Multitasking. This is the main reason I do not take ADHD medications. Instead of focusing on one thing, I can focus on many things at once. When I am zoned into tasks, I can complete many at once. That is me being Autistic and Shiny working together. That is how I am able to run my own business and my blog/facebook page.

Published by Aviva Seigler

Aviva Seigler is the executive director at Fierce Autistics and Allies. She is a writer, an activist, and an advocate. She is an LGBTQ+ autistic from South Florida, is married to a very supportive husband, and has six children. She has been fighting the CD protocol and other quack treatments since 2014. She is a veterinary technologist (LPN for pets). She has her associates and bachelors degree in Veterinary Technology from St. Petersburg College. She is very involved with scouting with her six children. Three of the children are autistic but all are Neurodivergent. Her hope is to bridge the gap between allies and autistics while fighting the pseudoscience that threatens all people, not just autistics.

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