People Who Were Diagnosed With Autism And ADHD As Adults Are Revealing Their Lesser-Known Symptoms

10.

“People permanence or emotional permanence: My thoughts and feelings about other people stay relatively fixed from one interaction to the next — meaning that although I might not have seen someone for over a decade, I will still feel like we’re friends. Conversely, a bad or awkward interaction will stay with me until a new interaction ‘overwrites’ it. (I will often avoid that person or place as a result).”

“I always assume that people don’t remember me, like me, or want me around — which is also the exact opposite of how I feel about others. Just last week, I went to a funeral with a group of people I hadn’t seen for over five years, and I was convinced no one would recognize me, remember me, etc. I was very wrong! They remembered me, wanted me there, expressed that they had thought of me and wondered about me, etc.

All of it makes maintaining relationships difficult. I rarely reach out to others because I assume they don’t want to hear from me, and I tend to need a lot of overt reassurance that I’m liked and wanted. It does make it easy to weed out people who aren’t a good fit as friends — they just fade away, and people with the willingness to accommodate my quirks stick around and put in the effort. One of my best friends won me over by saying: ‘I will always persist in making you hang out with me!'”

—u/crossbeats