There’s a lot of ways to get a formal diagnosis. I recommend starting with your primary care doctor or your child’s pediatrician if you are inquiring about your child. Be aware that some medical providers aren’t aware of the wide range of these conditions and may think they are making you feel better by talking you out of your thoughts and ideas. However, they may give you an ADHD rating scale, or direct you to another provider for an evaluation, so it’s a good first step. Most primary care doctors will not diagnose autism, or ADHD, without a formal evaluation. Typically a psychologist will conduct these evaluations, but sometimes other medical doctors, social workers, or even nurses can also do this. If you’re curious but not ready for a formal evaluation, adults can complete these free self ratings for here: https://embrace-autism.com/autism-tests/
Please note these are not for a formal diagnosis, but just to give you more information prior to pursuing a formal diagnosis.

First of all, take a deep breath, and know that you or your child are still the same amazing, unique, wonderful person that you were before the diagnosis. Research shows that the best outcomes for health and wellness happen when we build a positive identity, including a positive Autism or ADHD identity. This happens by learning more about our diagnosis, how to work with our unique brains, and connecting with other people like us. Parents can help their young children by doing this work on their behalf and teaching them. You may wish to work with a therapist to learn more about your brain and how to work with it to reduce or prevent anxiety or depression. The same strategies that work for neurotypical kids and adults don’t always work for autism or ADHD. Make sure you find a provider that is neuro-affirming and understands this work. We don’t learn about this in therapy school, so a neuro-affirming therapist or provider will be committed to training and learning in this area beyond grad school. If you are in CT, I can help. Book a free consult call here.

ahh, the struggle is real! Many neurotypical people find motivation simply to please other people or make themselves happy. For example, they feel good with a clean house so they tell themselves they’ll clean tomorrow morning…and they actually do it! This doesn’t work for people with ADHD, who have an interest-based nervous system. People with ADHD get motivated by interest, passion, purpose, novelty, and urgency (nothing like waiting to the last minute to motivate an ADHDer!) Some ways to use these concepts to hack the ADHD brain include: make it fun. Use new cleaning products or office supplies for example, or listen to music you love, tap into your creativity, make it a competition with a friend, or make a game out of it. Have you heard of the Finch app, where you get gems and rewards for routine tasks? Find more information about this here: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/working-with-your-interest-based-nervous-system/?srsltid=AfmBOorV2GhVo8c9aeHs61_tS06c08edMeZZYs0ZJWhwTeiF261si11o or read .