There comes a time in every person’s life when they are forced to reconcile the fact that, actually, what they think is entirely normal doesn’t represent how the average person operates. If one happens to not be neurologically typical, then this might be the list for you.
Someone made a post stating “Neurodivergent folks, what’s a symptom you thought was normal until you realized it absolutely wasn’t?” and people shared their best examples. Note, many of the things here can be attributed to neurodivergence, but are not exclusive to it. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to write down and obsess over your own examples in the comments below.
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Constantly googling things when I don’t know. It boggles my mind that people don’t know something and then just keep moving through life not knowing…..
Not actually “missing” many people or feeling the urge to talk to friends or anyone besides the people you’re around everyday. People are like out of sight out of mind.
I replay conversations I have with people in my head.. to try to determine if said the appropriate thing and I totally over analyze it. It can be exhausting…
I don’t know if there’s a word for it but just thoughts ALL the time about seemingly everything. If I’m interacting with someone I’m thinking about the way I’m sitting or standing, what they think of me, if I’m responding normally, eye contact, that random thing that happened 10 yrs ago and made me feel bad, am I nodding too much?” It takes me out of the moment. Makes me wonder how ppl genuinely enjoy things for a prolonged amount of time.
Constant overthinking, ruminating, worrying, intrusive, racing thoughts. Until my 30s I thought everyone had the same & were just sailing through life not bothered by it.
Object permanence, I don’t miss anyone or anything, is a struggle 😩
UnclFredstr:
Object permanence, especially with people. I can go months without communicating, and yet to me, when I do, it feels like just yesterday.
Over explaining 😭😭 I need to keep everything short and sweet but then I feel like I’m not getting my point across good enough.
Getting genuinely obsessed with something for a period of time only to then drop it and start the process all over again with something else that caught your interest.
Having to do two things at once in order to pay full attention to one of those things. Example: playing a game on my phone in order to be able to pay attention to a lecture or meeting.
Eating the same option for 3 weeks…then hating it for years 😭😂
Pattern recognition, re-reading the same sentence/question 10 times and still not understanding, reading a whole page in a book and not even knowing what i read, food hyperfixations, rumination, hating showering because it’s a “big task” for me, not doing anything before a work shift (even if it’s at 4pm) because i’m afraid i won’t have time, listening to the same song over and over, overstimulation by crowds/loudness, getting overwhelmed/frustrated REALLY easily, over analyzing, i could probably think of more.
Needing lists of things. If I don’t have my checklist then i’ll probably forget half the things i was supposed to do.
Inability to sleep before any event the next day no matter how unimportant it is
task initiation. 1. i cant do a task just by thinking i want to do it. i have to have an actual external push/drive. like cleaning my house, i mope around all day thinking i will clean i will clean. but tell me you be dropping by in 45 mins, and i can clean it all up. 2. I cant do anything alone, i need a body double to just be there with me even if they aren’t doing the same thing im doing. 3. i cant just start and stop a task by my own. i could literally work all day with no breaks if no one tells me to do a bathroom break, or a meal break. so yeah. when I learned about that, I’m like, this is too complicated.
Hating ice breakers. For some reason people genuinely like those.
Predicting the end of movies, shows, conventions. Being human lie detector and not being able to put into words why I don’t like someone immediately.
Having to train myself to make eye contact with people in conversation.
Over analyzing every interaction I have with another person. Rejection sensitivity. Extreme reactions to any type of music that tickles my brain and gives me a dopamine release.
The constant second guessing of everything I do or feel, making things harder than they are, being able to feel what others are thinking and assuming they hate you, completely underestimating how long it takes to do things.
Behavioral pattern recognition and intuitively knowing what decisions people will make before they act. Also, having entire conversations in your head about hypothetical situations that could occur before you attend an event or have the actual conversation.
Never being able to remember people’s names, forgetting words in the middle of speaking, losing track of what I was trying to write because I couldn’t write fast enough and my brain won’t slow down, forgeting appointment is, forgetting homework. Basically everything that has to do with working memory. I am very lucky to live in a time when supports are readily available and culturally acceptable.
Having to listen to something to stimulate my brain so i can go to sleep, otherwise ill just be up thinking about any and everything.
I hate being in the kitchen doing anything if someone else is there😭
When people are talking interrupting to ask questions. I thought I was actively listening… turns out you have to let people finish their sentences?
CONSTANTLY misplacing/losing things and then consequentially having a full blown meltdown over not finding it as a full grown adult.
Maladaptive daydreaming, specially how it affected my memory.
I don’t like lights. I want the house dark no lights. My bedroom is very dark. That’s where I want to be
Chatter in my mind, always thinking always ruminating making up scenarios, making up entire new worlds, navigation skills, time anxiety and being soooo prompt, taking things literally, pattern recognition to point I can tell the future based on it 😅 ocd but messy too.
Going down creative rabbit holes and not being able to sleep until I “get the itch out”.
High emotions for everything and having a hard time getting over things… I’d mad for days if you let me.
Having to read someone’s lips to understand what they are saying.😭😭😭
Feeling like I’m watching myself live in 3rd person.
I did not realize people genuinely do not see an issue with things being moved/touched. I tell my coworkers constantly “if you use my stuff, put it back EXACTLY where you found it” but they just toss it on my cart instead. it makes me irrationally upset. It’s MY STUFF, why are you touching it.
Having a particular order to eating foods and making sure to have ideal bites.
Being able to automatically identify other neurodivergent people.
Not ever having an agenda book or planner work for me longer than maybe three days😂
Immediate and severe 2nd hand embarrassment even though it has nothing to do with me. Intense and complete full conversations in my head before speaking. Pacing while on the phone. Needing to do everything in order ie there are 3 houses- have to go to house 1, first house 2, second etc., watching the same movie, shows, or books that I know every word to on repeat., unable to wear mismatch socks without anxiety, cutting every nail and filing them because one nail broke.
Ruminating to the point it keeps me up at night and I make myself physically sick, avoiding eating certain foods altogether bc I don’t like the texture, safe foods or “fixation meals”, non-linear grief, lack of maintaining a self care schedule and lacking time management… I could keep going but yeah.
Remembering EVERY. THING. I was well into my thirties before I realized that most people do not remember every single detail of most situations. 😅
Always counting 😭😭😭why am I counting how many times I typed A😭😭5 btw
Randomly thinking “touch that object or something really bad will happen.”
Listening to a song 5000 times until you find a new fixation. Repetitive actions (I twirl my hair into a pattern repeatedly) without even thinking about it.
I thought everyone was aware of how loud they were crunching when eating crunchy things.
Being gifted. I could read early, learn multiple languages from library books, do advanced college classes in middle school, and I was a speed reader.
Organizing my shirts in the color of the rainbow with matching hangers.
I am a synesthete – I feel different sounds in my body (pressure/vibration/pulling/…), which I only became aware of when I put on noise-cancelling headphones for the first time and all these bodily sensations suddenly stopped. The sensory overload caused by AuDHS therefore has a double impact.
Trying to understand why some people did what they did almost obsessively is so bad learnt to only care about WHAT HAPPENED not WHY it happened.
Avoiding showering because I don’t like the feeling of wet hair. But I love being clean.
Needing a plan for every single plan so i know what and when i can do my routine for getting ready and if there’s no plan im extremely confused and don’t know what to do.
My pedantic speech, everyone says I’m “well spoken” no, I have a large vocabulary and speak like this mainly because it brings me comfort knowing nothing I said is left for interpretation. Any misunderstanding is entirely the other person’s fault.
Getting irrationally upset and not being able to comprehend when someone doesn’t like the same things as me.
Derealization/depersonalization. Literally thought everyone had those, until I randomly started to ask around and everyone started to look at me like “???” when I described it.
Moving from room to room and cleaning it my mind was blown when I found out people don’t actually clean this way. I thought it was a flex now I’m cleaning paralyzed.
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