why autistic/adhd people may not ask for help
- i’m not sure where to start and i don’t even know what questions to ask that would help me understand any of this
- i want to ask you but i’m deathly afraid that you will hate my guts and resent me forever
- i feel stupid and embarrassed for not knowing/understanding this
- i wasn’t paying attention/i zoned out/you were talking too fast while going over this
- “oh my god are you serious? it’s obvious, weren’t you paying any attention?” thanks for confirming i’m as stupid as i feel, appreciate it
- i forgot about this deadline and i should’ve done it sooner but now it’s too late and awkward to say anything
- your criticism will cast me into despair
- i have no idea how to articulate my concerns so i will sit here silently until i can
- i feel horrible about not doing it and not asking you initially and so i’m avoiding talking about it in the hopes that i will miraculously and suddenly understand it instead of doing the walk of shame to your office and risking the chance that i’ll piss you off and ruin your night
- i’m working up the confidence to ask you
- i’m formulating in my head a way to ask that doesn’t make me sound like i didn’t care enough to do it sooner, and that i actually have the willingness to do it, and that doesn’t place any blame on anyone except maybe me
autistic/adhd people feel free to add on! obviously this will vary from person to person, but this is my personal experience as an autistic and adhd person. if you’re neurotypical, please don’t try to offer tips for how to get around this because i can almost guarantee it will not be helpful :)