Appendix D: Functional Pattern & Sensory Profile

**Appendix D: Functional Pattern & Sensory Profile**

\*(Compiled for clinical, narrative, or biographical reference – Danielle Katsouros / "Dee")

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### GENERAL NEUROCOGNITIVE PRESENTATION

* **Confirmed Traits**: Strong alignment with AuDHD profiles (Autism + ADHD combined presentation)

* **Diagnosis Status**: No formal diagnosis, but shows overwhelming alignment with AuDHD profiles. Scored over 200 on the RAADS-R (threshold: 65), matches high masking patterns per CAT-Q, and exhibits classic AQ profile traits. Historical, sensory, and behavioral data all strongly indicate neurodivergence. A formal diagnosis would be highly likely under clinical evaluation.

* **Cognitive Traits**:

* Highly verbal, reflexively expressive

* Deep pattern recognition in narrative, emotional, and sensory information

* Retains emotionally significant information for decades; remembers songs from childhood near-perfectly

* Excellent improvisation skills, real-time analysis, and narrative construction

* Difficulty with rote, abstract, or authority-based systems unless emotionally anchored

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### SENSORY PROFILE

* **Touch / Tactile**:

* Cannot tolerate scratchy fabrics, tags, synthetic tight materials (nylon, polyester, wool, leather)

* Underwires or tight seams (esp. on ankles, wrists, neck, diaphragm, back of knees, upper biceps) trigger discomfort and distraction

* Clothes often require alteration (e.g., cutting v-necks) for tolerability

* Sensitive to hair on face/neck—must wear up at all times when sleeping, working, eating

* Grooming products must be scent-tolerant; avoids strong or synthetic scents entirely

* **Auditory**:

* Reflexive singing/humming upon exposure to music (often within seconds)

* Processes emotional tone and memory through musical engagement

* Echolalia present: quotes media, finishes character dialogue, improves script in real time

* **Olfactory / Smell**:

* Extremely reactive to burning smells (e.g., firewood), causing coughing and physical withdrawal

* Uses scents as environmental filters—negative response to floral/heavy scents

* **Visual / Light Sensitivity**:

* Sunglasses often required, even indoors. Responds emotionally to visual patterning (animals, symmetry, or aesthetics)

* **Temperature & Regulation**:

* Requires moving air in most settings (e.g., fan or window in van, bedroom)

* Extremely heat sensitive—will shower multiple times daily in hot/humid climates (e.g., New Orleans trip)

* Cooling wrists, ankles, head/neck are core strategies for thermoregulation

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### MOTOR & PROPRIOCEPTION

* **Driving**:

* Skilled driver with exceptional spatial awareness under calm conditions

* Accident-prone when rushing: bumps into doorframes, stubs toes, hits limbs on surfaces

* **Movement & Body Awareness**:

* Frequently readjusts position to avoid pain; sensitive knees, back, ankles

* High degree of flexibility (hypermobility noted) with strong physical endurance on flat terrain

* Bruises easily without immediate awareness

* **Oral/Fidget Regulation**:

* Requires near-constant oral stimulation:

* Vaping (marijuana and nicotine)

* Sipping via straws

* Chewing lips, mouthing words, mimicking speech

* Prefers stim tools: squishies, crunchy snacks, soft/fuzzy textures

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### MEDICAL & GENETIC CONTEXT

* **Current Conditions**: PCOS, GERD, anemia (chronic iron deficiency), non-alcoholic fatty liver, tilted uterus, cystic ovaries, exercise-induced asthma, sensitive digestive response to high-fiber foods (beans, brussels sprouts, etc.)

* **Medication Response**:

* Extremely high pain tolerance

* High medication resistance (e.g., opioids have no effect)

* Needs balance in supplements/meds to avoid emotional flatness

* **Family History**:

* **Paternal**: Mexican-American, alcohol dependency history (father), esophageal cancer, dementia (grandmother), large family network in Texas

* **Maternal**: English/Scots-Irish/German/PA Dutch ancestry; history of cancer, MS, heart disease, Parkinson’s, and severe mental illness (bipolar, MDD, schizophrenia)

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### BEHAVIORAL / COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING

* **Trivia & Language Games**:

* Excellent performance in non-luck-based games (e.g., You Don’t Know Jack, charades, wordplay)

* Regular winner in family/friend trivia games

* **Social Functioning**:

* High emotional intelligence; rapid empathy reactions

* Able to intuit mood shifts in others; often adjusts tone and behavior reflexively

* **Displacement Response**:

* Father died when Dee was 15, immediately leading to displacement, grief, and housing instability

* History of housing instability and early independence under severe stress

* **Gender & Sexuality**:

* Pansexual: attraction based on vibe/energy rather than gender

* Does not show addiction tendencies with substances despite long-term vape use; addiction history isolated to nicotine and (historically) gaming

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### SUMMARY

Danielle Katsouros exhibits a clear, traceable profile of combined-type AuDHD, marked by profound sensory sensitivity, deep emotional pattern recognition, high cognitive adaptability, and a unique suite of survival-based behaviors. The presence of chronic physical conditions, trauma-informed development, and a complex but integrated sense of identity only sharpen this profile.

This document is intended to reflect and validate what has been lived and proven: this is a neurodivergent system—adaptive, emotionally articulate, sensorily complex—and should be interpreted accordingly, with compassion, accuracy, and care.

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*End of Appendix D: Functional Pattern & Sensory Profile*