[AS] Do we naturally have attention issues? My symptoms

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I'm going to be seeing a therapist soon to see if I have some form of ADD, I've had these symptoms all my life, but I think they've gotten worse over the last few years. I've been periodically keeping a list of symptoms as experience them or remember them, so it's slightly disorganized. Do any other Aspies or even just general Autistics here have some of these symptoms? Have you found ways to cope or reduce them? Any medications? Any comments or observations?

Get tired when studying, spend most study time not doing anything.

I actually function better in loud environments than quiet ones. I need it for stimulation

Stress affects this. If I have a test soon I can magically concentrate more than before. If a textbook is very wordy (most are) I get annoyed. I often need to read something 5 times to understand what it's saying.

I used to study fine, but then years ago I became intolerant to it. It's had a toll on my grades since late high school

If I am in silence for a long period of time I become very sleepy. If I don't talk for more than an hour I get very sleepy. If I read anything I find slightly dry I get sleepy.

If people give me directions I cannot follow what they are saying after the first sentence. I don't even bother hoping I can learn from lectures, I just teach myself (although that's common practice these days)

Concentration seems like something mythical to me. If I try focus I often get mental images of people bothering me.

Everything I do is time consuming. I get super tunnel visioned on things. Some days I am super unproductive and feel like I can't get anything done or even start on things. I have plenty of time for everything, but I can't utilize that time. This doesn't seem to be affected by how much things I need to do. I feel my life would be carefree and easy if I could use my time. Frustration ensues from this. I often leave things to the last minute. My sister has ADD.

I cannot stand sitting for long periods of times, unless the thing keeping me sitting is very powerful such as a really amazing film. I define long as maybe 30 minutes.

I know I am a burden on classmates who I always ask to remind me what is we are doing or how to do something. I feel so disabled at times.

If I can’t complete something I destructively only focus on the thing I didn’t do. For example I was getting behind in a class and it in turn made me start to get behind in all courses.

I often forget what I was supposed to be doing, like why did I want to open my drawer for, why did I go down the hall, etc.

I I have something to do I get tunnel visioned into it and can’t be at east until it is done.

I am inclined to believe that we can naturally have attention issues (or at least I seem to)....especially in times of heightened anxiety (like adulthood in general...) and overstimulation.....or when we don't feel well physically....that's another kind of stress...

Here's a list of possible things AS-related I can think of that may cause this:

. Poor short-term memory
. Hyper-focus
. Sensory issues

And then of course disinterest as something is not a special interest, though this disinterest I wouldn't consider any different to what an NT experiences, just the special interest would render less things engaging.

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Unapologetically, Norny.
-chronically drunk