What is AuDHD & Why Should We Talk About It?
AuDHD is a term used to describe a person who has both autism and ADHD. However, the term AuDHD isn’t simply referring to someone who has two separate conditions, but rather refers to the unique profile that autism and ADHD blend together to create. You can think of it as both additive and interactive. You may also hear the term “AuDHDers,” which is used frequently in the neurodivergent community to refer to people with AuDHD.
Although ADHD and autism share multiple overlapping symptoms and traits, ADHD is often associated with high levels of distractibility, novelty-seeking, spontaneity, impulsivity, and wanting to do or think about many things at once, while autism is often associated with a strong need for routine, predictability, preparation, self-regulation, stability, and calm environments.
For some AuDHDers, ADHD and autistic traits have a compounding effect, while for others they counterbalance or appear to contradict one another. The interaction of symptoms can vary greatly from person to person. This means that an AuDHDer may not present in ways that clearly align with either an ADHD or an autism profile.
In addition, AuDHDers often report an internal “tug-of-war” experience, such as:
Wanting structure but avoiding it
Wanting to be social but needing time for solitude and recovery
Switching between high energy and burnout
Wanting to create a detailed routine, then becoming bored and abandoning it later
Wanting to seek intense experiences to feel stimulated, then quickly becoming overwhelmed or experiencing sensory overload
Clinical experience and current research both suggest that many AuDHDers are being missed, misdiagnosed, or misunderstood because they may not present with a classic ADHD profile or a classic autistic profile. This can lead to significant short- and long-term impacts on mental and physical health, school, work, social relationships, family life, and self-esteem.
If your child or teenager is experiencing challenges with executive functioning, social interaction, emotional regulation, sensory sensitivities, flexibility, or self-esteem—and their profile does not fully align with typical presentations of Autism Spectrum Disorder or Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder—it may be worth considering whether an AuDHD profile could help integrate these experiences.
An accurate diagnosis can help reduce shame and confusion, increase access to AuDHD-specific accommodations and personalized support, and offer a clearer framework for understanding the “why” behind the internal conflicts that AuDHDers often experience.
Written by Joanna Nappi, LCSW
