ADHD and AuDHD: What Are They And How Are They Linked?
- Megon Champion
- May 5
- 8 min read
ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) is one of the most common disorders affecting children. However, in the last few years, we have seen the rise in the term AuDHD (autistic ADHD). But, sometimes it is hard to know how the two are linked and not linked.
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.
ADHD is a formally diagnosed, common neurodevelopmental disorder. It usually starts in childhood and can continue into adulthood.
What is ADHD?
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition that mostly affects children but can also affect adults. It is characterised by one or more of the following symptoms in an ongoing pattern:
Impulsivity - such as interrupting, intruding on others, or having trouble waiting one’s turn.
Inattention - such as having difficulty paying attention, keeping on task, or staying organised.
Hyperactivity - often moving around (including during inappropriate times), feeling restless, or talking excessively.
These behaviours occur often and across multiple situations such as work, school, at home and with family and friends.
Types of ADHD.
There are four main types of ADHD, and within these types, they are further broken down into mild, moderate and severe.
The four types are as follows:
Inattentive ADHD: This type struggles with focusing, finishing tasks, and staying organised. With this type, there are few or no symptoms of hyperactivity.
Hyperactive-impulsive ADHD: This type struggles with sitting still or having “quiet” time. They tend to have excess energy and are extremely talkative. They often interrupt people and act without thinking first. They show less obvious signs of trouble paying attention.
Combined presentation: This is the most common presentation of ADHD. This type has both inattentive symptoms and hyper-impulsive symptoms.
Unspecified presentation: This type is when symptoms are severe enough to affect daily life but do not meet the above criteria for the official types listed above.
Symptoms of ADHD.
Inattentive Symptoms:
Struggling to focus and concentrate on tasks they find boring or tedious.
Having difficulty organising tasks, activities, belongings or time.
A tendency to start but not finish tasks.
Not paying attention to detail and making careless mistakes.
Having trouble remembering things.
Putting off tasks that need sustained effort.
Not following instructions.
Being easily distracted or daydreaming.
Losing things.
Hyperactive-impulsive Symptoms:
Choosing a smaller reward now rather than a larger reward later.
Fidgeting and squirming more than others.
Participating in risk-taking or dangerous behaviour.
Talking nonstop and interrupting conversations.
Looking for stimulation.
Blurting out answers before the question has been finished.
Finding boredom intolerable.
Reacting quickly to situations without thinking about the consequences.
Badgering their parent, partner or friends when they want something.
What causes ADHD?
ADHD is genetic. It is most commonly found in families where either a parent or biological sibling already has the condition. This genetic change or neurodivergence changes the frontal lobe of a child's brain, which leads to them finding it harder to concentrate.
Whilst this condition is genetic, some risk factors may contribute to the development of the condition:
Exposure to certain toxins during fetal development, including tobacco, alcohol and lead.
Low birth weight.
Premature birth.
Complications of ADHD.
Untreated ADHD can affect the way people with the condition feel about themselves and the world around them. They may have:
Trouble getting and keeping a job.
Low self-esteem.
Frequent driving accidents and injuries.
Poor grades and an inability to reach their full potential.
An increased risk of developing substance use disorders.
Difficulty in social situations, partly due to peers teasing them or not wanting to hang out with them.
Getting an ADHD diagnosis.
Unfortunately, getting an ADHD diagnosis is difficult, as there are no simple lab tests that can be done. We also see that girls are less likely to receive a diagnosis than boys are because they are more likely to have unspecified ADHD. To get a diagnosis, your health care professional will go through a list of criteria in the DSM-5 (the diagnostic manual) and rule out other conditions that may be causing the symptoms.
Treatment of ADHD.
Treatment is dependent on the age of the person and the severity of the symptoms:
Parent training: This treatment is aimed at parents of younger children with ADHD. Therapists teach you how to help your child build on their strengths and improve behaviours that cause them difficulty. For example, you learn how to establish a routine for your child, encourage positive behaviours and respond to negative ones.
Social skills group: Again, this is for younger children whose symptoms are not as severe. Your child may benefit from social skills training groups. These groups meet for one or two hours a week, typically over a six-to-12-week period. Your child learns new skills for interacting with peers in a supervised setting.
Medications: ADHD medications improve the ability to use directed attention, in turn improving symptoms and, more importantly, quality of life and relationships. Providers monitor to see how the medicines are working and whether there are side effects. They adjust medication types and doses as needed.
AuDHD - Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD.
Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD often co-occur. Studies have shown that 50% to 70% of people who have Autism Spectrum Disorder have ADHD, and two-thirds of people with ADHD have Autism Spectrum Disorder.
What is AuDHD?
AuDHD is an informal name for the coexistence of the neurodevelopmental conditions Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a blanket term that covers a wide range of neurodevelopmental differences in social communication and behaviour.
ADHD, as covered above, has symptoms of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
The combination of the two can affect a person's day-to-day life, including social interactions, focus, and executive functioning.
Where do ASD and ADHD overlap?
Both conditions cover a wide variety of symptoms, and a lot of those symptoms seem contradictory. However, there is some overlap between the two:
Genetics: Both ADHD and ASD have genetic components and may run in families.
Stimming: Short for self-stimulatory behaviour, stimming is a feature of both conditions and includes repetitive movements such as tapping, rocking, and noise-making.
Hyperfocus: Autistic people and people with ADHD may both hyperfocus (intensely focus) on things they are interested in.
Emotional regulation: Both may have difficulty regulating their feelings, resulting in emotional outbursts.
Sensory processing: Both have sensory processing characteristics. For example, both conditions may cause a person to be over- or under-responsive to sensory stimulation, such as noise, light, and touch.
Mental health disorders: Anxiety and depression are common in both people with ASD and people with ADHD. This may be due to the social challenges they experience and the feeling of being different from their peers.
Social difficulties: People with ASD and people with ADHD may both experience social difficulties. They may have difficulty responding to or noticing social cues and may not be able to determine whether behaviour is socially acceptable.
Academic or work difficulties: Both ADHD and ASD can cause a person to experience challenges in school or at work due to social and attention difficulties.
How are ASD and ADHD different?
It can be hard to tell the two conditions apart, as some symptoms overlap. It is also hard to tell if someone has one, both or the other due to the high rate of coexistence of the conditions. However, there are some clear differences between the two:
Autism Spectrum Disorder | ADHD |
Communication issues centre around difficulties with understanding social language, such as sarcasm, and understanding nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions. | Communication issues often relate to difficulties in listening and turn-taking rather than the structural aspects of language. |
Has a strong preference for strict routines and familiarity and may experience difficulty with changes or transitions. | Often makes impulsive, unplanned decisions and actions and may get easily bored with routine and crave newness. |
Regularly experiences sensory sensitivities that can cause significant distress or overwhelm. | Does experience sensory sensitivities, but they may be less pronounced than with autism. |
Has highly focused and specific interests that may be consistent and long-lasting. | Has highly focused interests but may easily move from one interest, hobby, or project to the next. |
May show delayed developmental milestones from birth, such as a delayed start in talking. | Does not usually show delayed developmental milestones, and symptoms may first appear between the ages of 3 and 6 years. |
Have difficulty with communication in social settings, show withdrawn behaviours, and prefer to perform activities alone. | May seek social stimulation, be eager to talk or socialise, and seem to be always “on the go.” |
What does AuDHD look like?
We now know how ASD and ADHD are both similar and different. Now we can look at how that translates into someone who has both. A person with both conditions can experience symptoms from both or neither. Studies have also found that the most common symptoms of AuDHD are as follows:
Craving social interaction and stimulation, but finding it hard to understand others or make themselves understood.
Feeling comforted by sameness and routines, but also craving newness and impulsivity, and regularly devising new routines to try and stick to.
Regularly feeling anxious about running late or not being on time, and being hyper-organised to compensate.
Having intense special interests that may come and go rather than being heavily consistent throughout a person’s lifetime.
Becoming easily burnt out from social situations and stimulation, but finding it difficult to slow down and recharge.
Getting an AuDHD diagnosis.
Much like getting an ADHD diagnosis, getting an AuDHD diagnosis takes time. And because it is two separate diagnoses, it may take even longer. However, much like ADHD, your healthcare provider will make the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder based on the DSM-5 and then do the same for ADHD. This will then lead to a diagnosis of AuDHD.
Treatment of AuDHD.
There is no direct method for treatment for AuDHD as it is a combination of two conditions. There are also large variations in symptoms between each person who has the condition.
Treatment will be supportive and can include:
Counselling from a mental health professional or social worker.
Stimulant medications to treat attention difficulties, such as methylphenidate (Ritalin).
Extra academic support.
Medications to help reduce symptoms of other disorders, such as anxiety or depression.
Cognitive behavioural therapy: is a technique that aims to help people find new ways to behave by changing their thought patterns.
Support groups.
Occupational therapy: is a treatment that helps you improve your ability to perform daily tasks. It can help you learn how to move through your environment or use different tools to participate in your activities safely.
Conclusion.
Although ADHD and ASD seem to be very different on the surface, they are more linked than previously thought. And since 2013, the DSM-5 allows professionals to diagnose them as linked conditions, which means that we can spend more time understanding that link. And knowing when it is AuDHD and when it just is ADHD allows for the proper treatment and support.
References.
ADHD.
AuDHD
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