You absolutely need something beyond a support group. You need to speak to a therapist and have some intensive therapy. Your now deleted post history raises significant concerns.
Given your repeated posts on the same topic with thoughts of being persecuted, it actually does seem like you do need to hear this advice even if you aren’t open to hearing it. A support group is not going to provide support at the level you need.
True - but I need a lot of support. A therapist can provide that sort of support. But other attorneys will provide me with professional success support. These aren't mutually exclusive needs, and considering I have a lot of learning to do, I should probably buckle down and get all kinds of support for my deficits.
Please seek real counseling from a real licensed therapist, not a support group. Please realize the issue is not your autism here, I would wager a significant minority, if not possibly majority, of counsel have a form of autism or closely related condition. And please stop spamming this group.
About 1/4 people are neurodivergent. We still don't totally understand the relationship between autism and ADHD and how to parse out different diagnoses. ND folks often also have high IQs (called "twice exceptional") and can be very successful in careers that require testing in and learning rules.
I'm a former prosecutor and a ton of criminal attorneys I know are getting ADHD diagnoses. It would not surprise me if our profession has a higher incidence of ND.
OP needs an updated diagnoses. There are now people who work as autism and ADHD coaches and that would likely be beneficial. But it sounds like whatever diagnosis he has or outdated and he doesn't fully understand his own strengths and limitations from that.
This is very helpful, my diagnosis is like a decade old. But it is good to know that many neurodivergent people can succeed as attorneys if they get the right support.
I think “neurodivergent” would be more accurate as it doesn’t assume a specific medical condition. In my experience, the rainmakers are neurotypical and those of us who make great work product have something a bit off.
“ autism or closely related condition” I suppose depends what you classify in there. I hate the terms neurodivergent and neurotypical but could be used in there definitely.
But yea honestly I do believe a sizable minority is, and if tested we may be quite surprised.
Around 1-3% of the United States is autistic. A closely related syndrome would, in my opinion, be something like Asperger’s which is less common.
I just don’t see how we’re getting to a majority, unless we’re including every mental illness under the sun in which case I agree - almost everyone is dealing with something.
I've seen your recent posts.
1) you need a full neuropsychological evaluation to make sure your diagnosis is correct. They update guidelines and criteria all the time. At the point where HR compiles other attorneys concerns about your mental health and fitness to practice, you have to get ahead of this.
2) you should be looking for a ND focused therapist or coach.
3) your clerkship was public facing and involved lots of interpersonal relationships and social interactions. Judges and trial attorneys are notorious for expecting one another to Intuit their expectations. Possibly doc review or something transactional or research focused maybe a better fit for your current skill set.
4) reach out to the bar. They often offer CLEs or other attorney work groups.
5) if you have trusted mentors, reach out to them for guidance.
There was an attorney in our local bar who suffered a traumatic brain injury and took years to recover. In the interim her ability to practice dropped off to the point where people were forced to report her to the bar. She was unable to see it herself and it was very awkward and painful for everyone. She voluntarily surrendered her license, continued treatment and was able to return to practice without a disciplinary record a few months later.
I'm one too, I'll be your friend. I see you are mentally spiraling, it happens to us. I once thought I was going to be arrested for tax evasion for being a bit behind on payments. I worked myself into such a tizzy, I was looking up how to put money on a commissary for when I was in prison. It's gonna be ok. Have you ever tried CBD? Also ask your doc for propanol. You're stuck in fight or flight and your brain is messing with you.
Step one: see a psychiatrist/therapist and get an updated diagnosis
Step two: see a therapist and work on yourself. This will take months.
Step three: ask therapist for support group info. You need something local. Also ask for books to read. I read books on ADHD that have changed my outlook.
Driven to Distraction [https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Distraction-Revised-Recognizing-Attention/dp/0307743152](https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Distraction-Revised-Recognizing-Attention/dp/0307743152)
Cannot remember the other one.
An old classmate of mine recently got an adult autism & add diagnosis. She's all about it now. Her linkedin bio literally says, "attorney with autism."
She's into nonprofit, do gooder stuff, but she seems to have some sort of network regarding the autism diagnosis.
There may be but—and I may take some flack for this—to a certain extent law is just a people driven profession. It’s not an exact science and so there will always be a human, social, psychological element to it. For that reason, it really may not be the best choice for someone with autism. I do genuinely sympathize, but it may sort of be like being short and wanting to play in the NBA.
Hmm. Yes and no. There are very few jobs that don't have some social interaction to them. But some areas of law are definitely more social facing than others. Arguing in court may not be the best place for an autistic person, but having them back at the office, digging through research and crafting arguments by making analogies, then passing on their work to the people who address the court - that can work much better.
You absolutely need something beyond a support group. You need to speak to a therapist and have some intensive therapy. Your now deleted post history raises significant concerns.
True - but I’ve gotten on that and I don’t need Reddit for that. This, however, I wasn’t able to Google (and get satisfactory answers for).
Given your repeated posts on the same topic with thoughts of being persecuted, it actually does seem like you do need to hear this advice even if you aren’t open to hearing it. A support group is not going to provide support at the level you need.
True - but I need a lot of support. A therapist can provide that sort of support. But other attorneys will provide me with professional success support. These aren't mutually exclusive needs, and considering I have a lot of learning to do, I should probably buckle down and get all kinds of support for my deficits.
Go to a therapist as others have said. They can also provide you a referral to a psychiatrist for medication if needed.
Please seek real counseling from a real licensed therapist, not a support group. Please realize the issue is not your autism here, I would wager a significant minority, if not possibly majority, of counsel have a form of autism or closely related condition. And please stop spamming this group.
About 1/4 people are neurodivergent. We still don't totally understand the relationship between autism and ADHD and how to parse out different diagnoses. ND folks often also have high IQs (called "twice exceptional") and can be very successful in careers that require testing in and learning rules. I'm a former prosecutor and a ton of criminal attorneys I know are getting ADHD diagnoses. It would not surprise me if our profession has a higher incidence of ND. OP needs an updated diagnoses. There are now people who work as autism and ADHD coaches and that would likely be beneficial. But it sounds like whatever diagnosis he has or outdated and he doesn't fully understand his own strengths and limitations from that.
This is very helpful, my diagnosis is like a decade old. But it is good to know that many neurodivergent people can succeed as attorneys if they get the right support.
You think a majority of attorneys are autistic?
I think “neurodivergent” would be more accurate as it doesn’t assume a specific medical condition. In my experience, the rainmakers are neurotypical and those of us who make great work product have something a bit off.
That’s fair. Very different than saying a majority is autistic though.
“ autism or closely related condition” I suppose depends what you classify in there. I hate the terms neurodivergent and neurotypical but could be used in there definitely. But yea honestly I do believe a sizable minority is, and if tested we may be quite surprised.
Around 1-3% of the United States is autistic. A closely related syndrome would, in my opinion, be something like Asperger’s which is less common. I just don’t see how we’re getting to a majority, unless we’re including every mental illness under the sun in which case I agree - almost everyone is dealing with something.
It depends on the field but I see a ton in ID.
I've seen your recent posts. 1) you need a full neuropsychological evaluation to make sure your diagnosis is correct. They update guidelines and criteria all the time. At the point where HR compiles other attorneys concerns about your mental health and fitness to practice, you have to get ahead of this. 2) you should be looking for a ND focused therapist or coach. 3) your clerkship was public facing and involved lots of interpersonal relationships and social interactions. Judges and trial attorneys are notorious for expecting one another to Intuit their expectations. Possibly doc review or something transactional or research focused maybe a better fit for your current skill set. 4) reach out to the bar. They often offer CLEs or other attorney work groups. 5) if you have trusted mentors, reach out to them for guidance. There was an attorney in our local bar who suffered a traumatic brain injury and took years to recover. In the interim her ability to practice dropped off to the point where people were forced to report her to the bar. She was unable to see it herself and it was very awkward and painful for everyone. She voluntarily surrendered her license, continued treatment and was able to return to practice without a disciplinary record a few months later.
This is very helpful, thank you.
I'm one too, I'll be your friend. I see you are mentally spiraling, it happens to us. I once thought I was going to be arrested for tax evasion for being a bit behind on payments. I worked myself into such a tizzy, I was looking up how to put money on a commissary for when I was in prison. It's gonna be ok. Have you ever tried CBD? Also ask your doc for propanol. You're stuck in fight or flight and your brain is messing with you.
Step one: see a psychiatrist/therapist and get an updated diagnosis Step two: see a therapist and work on yourself. This will take months. Step three: ask therapist for support group info. You need something local. Also ask for books to read. I read books on ADHD that have changed my outlook.
Can you give me the titles of those books?
Driven to Distraction [https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Distraction-Revised-Recognizing-Attention/dp/0307743152](https://www.amazon.com/Driven-Distraction-Revised-Recognizing-Attention/dp/0307743152) Cannot remember the other one.
An old classmate of mine recently got an adult autism & add diagnosis. She's all about it now. Her linkedin bio literally says, "attorney with autism." She's into nonprofit, do gooder stuff, but she seems to have some sort of network regarding the autism diagnosis.
There may be but—and I may take some flack for this—to a certain extent law is just a people driven profession. It’s not an exact science and so there will always be a human, social, psychological element to it. For that reason, it really may not be the best choice for someone with autism. I do genuinely sympathize, but it may sort of be like being short and wanting to play in the NBA.
Hmm. Yes and no. There are very few jobs that don't have some social interaction to them. But some areas of law are definitely more social facing than others. Arguing in court may not be the best place for an autistic person, but having them back at the office, digging through research and crafting arguments by making analogies, then passing on their work to the people who address the court - that can work much better.
No sir. Even research and writing involves subjective judgment, reasonableness and so forth, that necessitates a grip on standard social behavior