Autism & ADHD: What the dual diagnosis feels like

Do you ever find yourself listening to podcasts about Autism but feel like you don’t quite relate to everything, but then you listen to an ADHD podcast and feel like that doesn't quite fit you either? Well, that might be because you have both.

Join me as I try to describe what having both at the same time looks like. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but I’m trying to add to the lacking resources surrounding this topic.

PS: Do not play a drinking game with every time I say "Just Autism" or "Just ADHD". You will die

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[VoytenTechnologies]

If we can use both conditions to balance out the negatives of each condition we will literally become super humans

[tomasvoldrich]

I am autistic but sometimes at my job it seems to me like the lesser energy I have the more autistic I am and the more energy I have the more i think i am AuDHD.

[jayabee]

I can really relate to being easily overstimulated and being easily understimulated. It's a delicate balance.

[checkitoutlove]

I think my favorite part is feeling so bored with my routine but so deregulated with novelty. That when I have some spare executive function points left to spend from doing a good job managing that I burn them like rocket fuel trying to leave the atmosphere in anxiety to do something spontaneous and novel and exciting while crying/ smiling in anxiety. I come back to routine once totally annihilated and useless but some other part of me fed and happy. Lmao my purely autistic friends when you look over after having convinced them into joining the adventure and say now wasn’t that worth it? They will be like nope and next time I will choose to stay behind and listen to your adventure when you return only. 😂 and I look over at my adhd friends their ready to go again while I’m on life support post trip. And the neurotypical is just like that was nice. 😅

[zhanzhengxisupremacy]

i swear WHY IS THIS NOT VIRAL??? I feel like this is the only video i found being about both autism and adhd that made me feel actually REALLY called out (as you said there's not much resources about it anyway, nobody talks about this lol), thanks to you now i know exactly what i will say to my psychologist next year when i will start the official diagnosis procedure, i think you just confirmed i had both because i'm actually kinda lost with impostor syndrome
your videos are awesome keep it up, and please make other about audhd (if you want to obviously), i feel like you're the only person who talks about this
i just want to thank you so bad, i absolutely hate hugs and the emotional stuff but i'm definitely sending you a virtual one now

[alternativetentacles]

When I was younger ADHD ran the show. I was dangerously spontaneous and lived for new experiences. Now that I’m older and have kids I’ve slowly gravitated towards letting Autism take the wheel. Both have definitely coexisted together all my life but it’s never felt balanced. It’s either one extreme or the other.

[Tsordi]

I watch lots of AuDHD stuff, much of it very good. But this video captures how my specific brain works better than anything else I’ve seen. So relatable. The idea of doing things spontaneously, but then needing them to go a certain way — my goodness, that’s been my life but I never had the language to describe it.

[monriatitans]

Nailed it; here's a story.

Before COVID, I would take the bus to work, then bike home every day.
When my job sent us home, my brain completely flipped and now the thought of working in an office makes me shudder. But it was also why, on top of quitting coffee, I needed to start taking meds for my ADHD. The caffeine and the exercise were my "medication".

(For anyone considering medication and thinking you need to quit coffee, you might not. When I told my doctor I needed a higher dose, she said she would rather me have ONE cup of coffee along with the meds due to the increased heart palpitation side effect of the medication.
It's a balancing act.)

After I found out about the autism, after doing a bunch of research because my mom suggested I probably had it, I started advocating for myself at work, by getting a break accommodation for my ADHD, as the autism social mask began to slip.
It resulted in my being fired, but I don't have proof.

And they are using "poor performance", which they caused by not helping/listening to me, to keep me from getting unemployment.
After 7 years, 9 months, and 16 days of working there.

This is why I will not be seeking an official diagnosis of autism, coincidentally.

Funnily enough, since becoming unemployed, I haven't needed my meds, outside of my menstrual cycle.
That's how bad the job was for me.

[mtsanri]

I think you have captured the essence of the internal contradiction and hypocrisy of being AuDHD very well, better than anyone else.

I'm so upset that no one in healthcare ever saw through me. I was too ADHD to be autistic, and too autistic to be ADHD. It was like a punch in the gut being denied both diagnoses.

Now I'm starting over with a well-regarded specialist, who will hopefully see me for the AuDHD I am.

[denisedarland]

I was diagnosised with ADHD when I was 9. That was 1984. My mother was told at the time that I had been misdiagnosed because "girls didn't get ADHD" because it was a "boy thing." Now that I am almost 50, I feel like I have been misdiagnosed, but I feel like I should have been diagnosed autistic. But also, that I have both. I never really fit the ADHD diagnostic. I fit better with the Autism diagnostic. I don't have an official autism diagnosis, but I deeply feel that AuDHD is exactly what I am. It makes the most sense for me.

[christalintentions]

Omg!!!! I’m convinced I have both! Thank you for explaining how I can do months of research on a topic and become stuck learning about it but when someone asks me to explain it sounds like I read one thing! I’m like why can’t I rattle off all the things I learned!!!? Ahhh! I know so much yet seeming so little about a lot of things! I can’t seem to keep my house in order to save my life but I care about it so much. I hate clutter but I can’t seem to stay on top of it so it’s an endless cycle of cleaning then messing up so I’m always cleaning yet no one understands why it’s never done.

[linam.]

Just last night (as i struggled to fall back asleep ofc) I too came to the conclusion that Audhd are basically their own thing. We definitely need our own DSM entry with pertaining diagnosis criteria. We should have a "spectrum" umbrella diagnosis with at least those three sub diagnoses under it.

[biaberg]

Hi, I have both and everything you say make sense to me. I have said for years that I am jack of all trades master of none, and I have seen so many aviation videos. Especially about accidents and why they happened. A while ago I saw many videos about mountain climbing every day. Not exactly my usual interest, I’m an 63 year old grandma 👵. 😂. Realized this summer that I’m autistic. It was exactly like you said in an interview with Orion, all the puzzle pieces of my life came together and made sense. A huge surprise and a huge relief. I already had figured out that I had a kind of inward ADHD.

[retrogradevector]

Your video is so relatable, thanks for making it! Even down to mentioning specific youtube channels that I also follow (74 Gear and Mentour Pilot), that's just spooky!

I've known for a while that I'm autistic, but I've been on the fence about ADHD - I've actually ordered the DSM-5 and gone through all the criteria and such but couldn't really find myself in all of the diagnostic criteria, but videos like yours just make me see how well ADHD and autism together explain my life.

Getting an inside perspective on what these neurodivergent conditions are like is so crucial!

[jamesogara]

Ok…stop looking into my brain!

Diagnosed Gifted at 5, ADHD at 45. Identified with HSP for the past 1.5 year until I see that many just see that at another side/type of Autism.

AuDHD explains so much of my life, behaviors, and brain functioning.

[Tired.c]

This absolutely decribes me.
Everyday is a battle within myself and it's so exhausting!

[PurpleStarsaver]

I’ve always described myself as an extroverted introvert. Although I was diagnosed with ADHD Inattentive - I resonated a lot with both ADHD and Autism. Now, I have a son who is autism and adhd and I’m waiting to have a re-evaluation to see what’s going on with me.

Plus not to mention my new job drains me so much. It’s not cut and dry instruction and has too many variables 😢

[LEO]

I am undiagnosed. Two of my children have adhd. The other one seems likely to be autistic; but, flew under the radar. I believe I'm both. I'm 56, now. Youtube videos like yours are really helping me process a lot of this stuff. Thank you!!!❤ I took a career training test in the 90's that said I was an introverted extrovert; which, is pretty much the story of my life. I am a walking contradiction, a jack of all trades, master of none. I research constantly; but, retain very little. I have a lot of difficulty expressing what's going on in my head. You just verbalized a massive amount of it in just one video!!!❤

[mochichi]

A big thank you for making this video. Now I finally have the words to describe my experiences.

About a year ago, I was diagnosed with autism. My family didn't want to belive this. They think, you can't be autistic if you don't know everything about your intests. Or like to do spontanious things sometimes. They were so persistent with it, that I started to think, that I don't have autism and maybe really are just too sensitive. But your video showed me, that all this contradictories finally make sense.

[pamelamann]

Your video is very relatable. I was just diagnosed with Autism in December 2023 at 55 years old and was "unofficially" diagnosed with ADHD by a licensed therapist about 15 years ago. I never heard of AuDHD until I started watching YouTube videos after my Autism diagnosis. It explains so much about why I don't quite fit in either group on its own. It also explains why it took so long to get a diagnosis. I really think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned something about AuDHD needing its own diagnostic criteria. I think more mental health practitioners need to be trained in the signs of it. Thanks for doing what you do!