ASRS is a screening test for adults to see if it's worth pursuing an ADHD diagnosis. It is 18 questions, written by neurotypical people who assume their external observations of ADHD are accurate representations of what it's like to have it, so needs to be translated into "actual person with ADHD" before you fill it in.
That's why it includes stupid shit like, "do you feel driven by a motor?" No, I do not. Things driven by a motor spin round and round and I do not spin.
And, "Do you have problems remembering appointments" to which everyone responds, "It's 2026 and I have a fucking SMARTPHONE".
So that being the case, I have often thought one written BY ADHDers, FOR ADHDers would be better.
It would include questions like:
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"Do you think your friends all dislike you and that you annoy them?"
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"Is there a song on repeat in your head? Is it the same 3 bars over and over? It is, isn't it?"
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"Your partner says, 'we need to talk'. Do you flee to Antarctica? If not, is that because you got distracted by TVTropes when trying to find out how to flee to Antarctica?"
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"Do you do the thing with candles? You know the one. Yes you do, stop playing dumb."
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"'Right, but you need to show your working' - how much homicide do you want to commit when you read this?"
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"How many bottles of ketchup are there in your fridge? Did you have to get up to count?"
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"How many are expired?"
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"By more than a year?"
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"You left the fridge open, didn't you?"
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"Which leg is bouncing and why is it always the same one?"
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"Do you rehearse conversations in your head before having them?"
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"And then get annoyed when the other person doesn't say their correct lines?"
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"How long have you managed to lie in bed desperate for a pee without getting up to pee and why is it six hours?"
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"Cleaning your teeth twice a day is easy|common|aspirational|not happening|I own a toothbrush?|I own five toothbrushes?|And don't know where any of them are? (delete as applicable)"
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"You notice a scab on an easily accessible body part. How many seconds is its life expectancy?"
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"Where did you get those bruises? The ones on your legs? You don't know, do you?"
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"Rock climbing, knitting, or both?"
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"How long have the clothes in the washing machine been there?"
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"And is Indiana Jones getting excited about the early Mesopotamian sock layer at the bottom of the pile on your chair?"
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"Ikea Skadis. I know, right?"
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Agnieszka R. Turczyńska
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •> Do you do the thing with candles?
Wait, is it a THING?
Darn, I've made some minor material damages once, due to extreme heat generated 🫣
waldi
in reply to Agnieszka R. Turczyńska • • •Sarah Brown
in reply to waldi • •Pwassonchat the enby catboy
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Blobinette Frétillante
in reply to Pwassonchat the enby catboy • • •Sarah Brown
in reply to Blobinette Frétillante • •Pwassonchat the enby catboy
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Pwassonchat the enby catboy
in reply to Blobinette Frétillante • • •Agnieszka R. Turczyńska
in reply to Blobinette Frétillante • • •Gary
in reply to Pwassonchat the enby catboy • • •@pwassonchat @waldi @agturcz so a friend at school (we were making candles and had a large vat of molten wax) dipped their finger in, and kept dipping after it cooled, just like how you make actual candles.
But they didn’t stop.
Half an hour later they had a ball of orange wax the size of a melon coating their entire fist! It was awesome! The teacher did not agree! 😂
Pwassonchat the enby catboy
in reply to Gary • • •Sin Vega
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •@waldi @agturcz but that's... that's what they're FOR
right
waldi
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Graceless Hippo
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •@waldi @agturcz
I like taking the melty bits off and pushing the top sections into the heat on wider candles. There's usually splashes of wax all over my hearth.
Sarah Brown
in reply to Graceless Hippo • •Sarah Brown
in reply to Agnieszka R. Turczyńska • •@Agnieszka R. Turczyńska I've never done anything like that. Frankly I am shocked at this revelation.
LOOK IT WAS MY CARPET AND SO I WAS ALLOWED TO OK?
Agnieszka R. Turczyńska
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown
in reply to Agnieszka R. Turczyńska • •Jeder
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •@goatsarah
😭
Sarah Brown likes this.
Heather 👻
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown likes this.
kopper
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •ooo
in reply to kopper • • •Sarah Brown
in reply to ooo • •like this
kopper and ooo like this.
kopper
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •luna the doggie
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •"Do you think your friends all dislike you and that you annoy them?"
Do they even consider me a friend anymore
Sarah Brown likes this.
Sinnamon (despicable arc 😈)
in reply to luna the doggie • • •Oh, also this. But with a specific friend.
Spoiler: We're not friends anymore
👾 Attila Gonda
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •(yes, I should get my brain diagnosed at some point)
Sarah Brown likes this.
Sarah Brown
in reply to 👾 Attila Gonda • •Flame
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •> Do you do the thing with candles?
*plays the drum drop from "In the Air Tonight"* I don't know what you're talking about.
> Which leg is bouncing and why is it always the same one?
Well, my leg was bouncing until you made me self-conscious enough to not do it.
Sarah Brown
in reply to Flame • •Flame
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Ah, yes, accidental arson. Anyone who didn't almost burn down their house with candles at some point should cast the first stone. *gets pelted by rocks from every possible direction*
My thoughts went to those long thin candles, which are the perfect size to use as drumsticks to play airdrums with. That's at least what I like to do. Might just be a me thing though.
Dofain
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •I NEED TO KNOW!
I'm so going to buy a candle after work and get distracted by a squirrel and forget i wanted to buy a candle only to find out in 3 weeks that I STILL DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE THING WITH CANDLES!!!
2something reshared this.
2something
in reply to Dofain • • •Sarah Brown
in reply to 2something • •Interpipes 💙
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Interpipes 💙
in reply to Interpipes 💙 • • •Sarah Brown likes this.
World Basement Classic
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown likes this.
Sarah Brown
in reply to World Basement Classic • •Claireity
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •"Rock climbing, knitting, or both?"
*sigh of resignation*
… both
Sarah Brown likes this.
Cadmus
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown likes this.
Sam Livingston-Gray
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown likes this.
UnformedWorlds
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown likes this.
Katy Swain
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown
in reply to Katy Swain • •Daniel, aka. CactiChameleon9
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •@cordelya
"Rock climbing, knitting, or both?"
Hi, I think I was summoned?!
Sarah Brown likes this.
Kichae
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •High, yes, sorry, as an Autism- and non-ADHD haver with a partner, I, uh, need to ask about the candles thing. For raisins.
Sarah Brown
in reply to Kichae • •Bruchpilot
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Maria “indigoviolet” Ivy
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Hold on a second let me go read it and see how bad it is.
"How often do you make careless mistakes when you have to work on a boring or difficult project?"
"How often do you have difficulty concentrating on what people say to you,
even when they are speaking to you directly?"
"How often do you interrupt others when they are busy?"
Oh it is bad bad
Sinnamon (despicable arc 😈)
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •I once blew a candle so hard that I splashed half of the furniture with wax. Does that count?
I feel I'm 💯
identified with half of the things on the list, and completely alien about the other half. I may have half of ADHD, but I still haven't decided which two letters. Probably "Deficit Disorder", but no clue about what I'm missing
Sarah Brown likes this.
MostlyBlindGamer
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Sarah Brown likes this.
https://pleroma.ledoian.cz/users/ledoian
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •i must admit this does feel very relatable :3 yet even with this list i have some answers of the kind “technically no, but for an absolutely non-neurotypical reason”, like with “By more than a year?” – two, i know it from the top of my head, i've been meaning to get rid of them for the past three years but i only remember about them when i am far from the fridge so i only take 1 psychic damage from remembering about them /lh
“Rock climbing, knitting, or both?” no, i'm sewing, thanks for asking 😛 and the rest are me being clumsy and hitting random stuff when walking
dpflug
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Ketchup expires?
Candle thing? Did you know crayons will burn like a candle if you get a little paper exposed?
@ActuallyAubrey
Evelyn 🐉
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •jamesb (MW1CGG)
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Graceless Hippo
in reply to jamesb (MW1CGG) • • •This 😂
Richard
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •CIMB4
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Infrapink (he/his/him)
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Infrapink (he/his/him)
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •.
"Do you rehearse conversations in your head before having them?"
.
"And then get annoyed when the other person doesn't say their correct lines?"
Wait, there are people who DON'T do this?! (I don't have ADHD, this just seems like normal behaviour)
AudhdDespiteNoisyAbleism 🇨🇦
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Me during the diagnosis process at the question about missing appointments:
- I have a physical calendar in the kitchen, a physical agenda, and x reminders in my phone, laptop and tablet. 🤨And most of it I am
ALSO autistic so no I don’t miss appointments. 😆🤷♀️
Wonderdog 🏳️🌈
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •(Dammit the wash had only been in there a day, I'm sure of it.
And the bruises? Nobody REALLY knows where bruises come from. Bruise pixies?)
Bellycan
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Fabio G.
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Okay, the good news is i don't have ADHD. Negative for most of the questions 😁
The bad news is what the hell do i have then 🥲
Faintdreams
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Wait - you keep your ketchup IN THE FRIDGE ?!?
It's room temperature for me or nutthin !
Cold ketchup? :: shudder ::
Beth McKinley
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •Éléanore
in reply to Sarah Brown • • •@Nocta_Senestra
Does this court as a valid diagnosis ?
For the fridge, you just have to keep a full inventory in active memory every time. Tiring ? What is this word ?
But I still have too much butter.