Can Autism and Dissociative Identity Disorder co-occur?
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- Опубліковано 29 гру 2024
- This Autistic Selves video explores whether someone can have Dissociative Identity Disorder and also be autistic. Naomi is the narrator and she answers the following questions:
-When did my journey with autism begin?
-When did I realise I had DID?
-How was it decided that I am both autistic and DID? Could one or both of my diagnoses be misdiagnoses?
-Is an early diagnosis of autism and/or DID important?
-Why was I not diagnosed as autistic until I was 42 years old?
-How was I diagnosed as autistic?
-Why was I not diagnosed with DID until I was 28 years old?
-What is the impact of a later diagnosis of autism and can this cause the development of DID?
-Is DID different in someone who is also Autistic?
-Can autism be cured or is it a lifelong condition?
-Can DID be cured or is it a lifelong condition?
-Does it matter if a person receives a formal diagnosis of autism and/or DID?
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Please remember that we only ever speak for ourselves and our own lived experience. We are not professionals and Autistic Selves is not an organisation. We are an individual made up of many different alters, or selves. We share our lived experience to try and raise awareness and help others.
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Naomi and everyone at Autistic Selves.
I'm autistic and suspect I got OSDD-1/Partial DID. As you said, very common life experiences that a NT would breeze by were very much traumatic for us... but at the same time, we did also experience long term abuse and neglect at the hands of caretakers. We also were never tested for autism nor had a support system. It basically was a mixture of disorganized attachment (both parents weren't safe), abuse and neglect with no resolution, chaotic sensory environment, and the inability to express my distress or escape my plight. The first time I dissociated was at 2 years old, the memory of the traumatic event is from a 3rd person pov. I always thought I made it up until my mom confirmed the events.
So in shorter words... I don't necessarily think autistic DID is a sub category on its own, but that neurodivergent and namely autistic folk lack a lot of tools neurotypical children do that help them navigate every day life in more functional ways. Add on to that that ND kids are more likely to be abused. So I'd say there is a higher likelihood to developed dissociative disorders as a neurodivergent person, as a form of acute stress response in order to cope from events that might be less harmful to non ND kids.
Thanks for sharing and for your helpful reflections.
Oh my god you are saying everything I've been through. I feel like crying!!! D.i.d at 40 and maybe autism at 42
Yep. Our case too.
I actually think that DID is caused by a masking that went out of control (apart from the trauma)...
I was actually abused because I was autistic and I got my birth parents "on their nerves" due to things like my dispraxia, ecolalia and stimming.
Love this channel.
Love from Spain.
-Carlota.
Thanks for sharing. We can relate to what you say and agree DID can be masking gone out of control. we are/were also annoying to others - now we try to hide these annoying aspects where we can. So amazing our channel can reach people in Spain! We’re in the UK.
I have autism and I’m getting a DID diagnosis too. I can hear them talking to me. But I also split and change when a traumatic or very stressful situation. I have 6 alters maybe more but my boyfriend only sees 6 as of now
Good luck with getting your diagnosis and thank you for sharing.
I have both autism and did. I was told I'm autistic but was unable to be diagnosed. (90s bs diagnostic criteria) and im being diagnosed with the did. I dealt with an abusive family home that only added to my autism. The autism and the forced extreme masking caused the split of the alters I believe. I'm pretty sure I'm polyfragmented with majority of my alters being fragments to deal with the autistic traits that I wasnt allowed to express growing up. I love this channel cause it helps me see the things I was confused about for a long time. It gives validation that I'm not crazy and that this happens to others too. Thanks.
Hello! We are autistic and have DID. Both diagnosed. We really like your idea of Autistic DID cause it helps to explain a lot of things that not only happened to us, but for others as well. We didn't get our diagnosis until we were adults. We also got our DID diagnosis first and then our autism diagnosis later. There are so many things that an autistic child goes through that may not be the same things that a neurotypical child goes through. It doesn't mean that ones trauma is above the other, but that one is more likely to experience overwhelming situations due to their autism. I like the idea you guys have, because the few memories that I had of childhood seem to fit exactly with what you have said. I was overwhelmed and didn't have the proper help or care from adults so not only did we go through traditional trauma, as you put it, but also autistic trauma. We are glad that you now had these diagnosis that help you understand yourself better and you can now make accomodations to better help yourselves. Although our DID and Autism will be with us during our lives, it doesn't have to be something negative. We can all learn how to go through and manage our daily experiences as well as work on the memories from the past. This is a good thing. We aren't alone.
Thank you for reading and we wish you the best of days and that you take care.
-Waltr🖋️ and Flowr💛
Thanks for sharing your experiences and thanks for your comments. We’re glad others can relate.
as an autistic person who possibly has DID, i have several disorders along with that and have disordered eating so i relate to this video
Thanks for sharing and we’re so glad you can relate. We used to have disordered eating but not currently an issue for us.
As a male host in a system in a female born body, I presented autism like a boy's autism rather than a girls autism that's probably why I was diagnosed in early early childhood since I could not mask for the life of me
Hi, that is really interesting, thanks for sharing.
We are osdd 1.b, and we are also on autism spectrum. alters at front have no access to the inner world, or the minds eye (aphantasia). we are gender fluid transgender and on estradiol. we recently learnt how to switch which alters control the body.
We have autism and DID and for us, every single alter has it but each mask differently. We suffered a lot of trauma with our neurodivergence, that's what one of our alters believes helped fueled our DID. We dealt with a lot of trauma with our autism because of its stigma and the fact we are AFAB. Some of our alters like Tismo or Ying (our protectors) can mask our autism and DID, fully functioning as "normal" While others like Eoshka and our littles, have a hard time masking. They try but it always seeps through. Even our alters who a capable of masking fail at times. We have 11 alters and have fount out about our DID for about a year now.
It started with an internal analysis that lead to a google search. That search lead me here, listening to your video with my wife. My jaw has been slack most of it because your story is so familiar. It's nice to know my experience isnt singular. Thanks for posting.
So glad you can relate. Hope you find our other videos helpful too.
You’re suuuuuper underrated. Could we have a collab? To spread awareness. Also, I recently received a psychiatric evaluation and I am quite certain I have DID. I have been creating multiple characters for years that resonate completely with how a big part of me feels. I’ve already been diagnosed with ADHD. I think I am also on the spectrum.
I also struggle with literalism as well as magic realism and I feel like I am living in a Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, M Night Shamalayan, Donald Glover, and Vince Gilligan production
Thank you for making this video. While we don't have a diagnosis of Autism nor Osdd-1b, we highly suspect we have both. Our therapist hasn't really pushed for any more diagnoses after getting one for adhd. We've been trying to bring it up more despite still having a lot of denial, especially because we seem to lack some of the more 'traditional' signs of trauma. This helped us realise that there really might be a place for us.
Glad our video has helped and good luck in your journey
Hearing your story was very helpful for me to understand my dissociative disorder. I knew I was autistic from a young age and coped very similarly to you. Thank you for sharing your stories with the world
Thank you for your kind words and feedback
Thanks for sharing! I do not suffer from DID, but had a late ASD diagnosis at 64. I believe my life would have been much with an early diagnosis. I had a lot of anxiety as a result of never understanding social situations.
Thank you for sharing, I don’t have DID/ASD but my best friend is very suspected to and this helps me understand and help them further
So relate 😩💔😢 58 and so frozen from triggers and waiting on formal dx if ASD and DID …… 💞💙👊🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I relate to this so much and it helps me accept myself/ourself
Hi, thanks for sharing and we’re so glad sharing our story helps you in your own acceptance of self/selves.
Same. But my Therapist has kind of put my autism on the back burner. He's more focused on the DID. (If by back burner, I mean there's twenty burners in a line, and the autism is on the very back one.)
Hi, we hope your therapist will think about your autism too as for us our autism affects everything else about us - how we process the world, the way we think and feel - it’s all different and it’s helpful when we can be understood in our entirety.
We have Autism but also childhood trauma and create alter from both trauma and autistic t.
Thanks for sharing and good to know others have similar experiences to us.
I'm in the same boat, but am much younger, and not oficialy diagnosed for either (don't have the money, but it's so clear everyone around me knows without me telling). It's scary to me, so I'm happy to know I'm not the only asd system :)
Starting this channel has been great in realising there are lots of autistic systems. We don't know any in real life so its really nice to know we aren't alone too. We needed the external validation of a diagnosis but really it only confirmed what was already known and we often wonder why we needed that official confirmation so much! Probably something to do with needing permission from others to just be ourselves....
Because both involve quiet a bit of masking and are very similar in symptoms to each other it's possible. I have 22q and have been diagnosed with that at birth. It is said I am to have a higher chance of autism and other psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, and I've even at some point debated if I had DID or not. I'm still debating that. We are working on one diagnosis at a time. I'm working towards my autism diagnosis, because of my 22q when I was born I think it was missed. I do think I have a lot of conditions that went missed, but I don't wanna go to so many doctors to get diagnosed. As if I have the autism assessment that should be enough. I already have a feeling with 22q I have enough for occurring conditions as well. Which makes navigating daily life all the more difficult.
We found having an accurate diagnosis helped us in understanding and accepting ourselves. Good luck with your journey.
I also have a question cause im curious if you have autism does that mean the rest of your alters are also an autistic system?
We’d say yes because autism is how your brain is wired and we all share the same brain.
I’m also transgender too
I cant even receive real therapy. Medicaid and Medicare.
I think male and female autism are extremely different. of course autism isnt gender biased, but anatomically it is. Autism affects anatomical males much differently than females. Male stimulus is primarily visual, so where a lot of females struggle with other kinds of sensation, men struggle with having to look at the floor or hide their eyes from tv, in addition.
We sometimes have to excuse ourselves from uncontrollable arousals. Because fear also triggers us. We cant exactly hide our symptoms when they protrude and a lot of young boys find themselves with criminal charges before they even hit puberty.