What is it like to be AuDHD?
Being both autistic and ADHD can feel contradictory — and it often is.
Published 18 August 2026. Written by Dr Chris Worfolk.
AuDHD, a portmanteau of autism and ADHD, can be a confusing experience: wanting novelty and routine, plans left undone, desiring social interaction and solitude. In this article, we will explore what AuDHD is like and what you might experience if you are AuDHD.
What is AuDHD?
AuDHD is where you are both autistic and ADHD. AuDHD is not currently recognised as a diagnosis: you have to get both diagnoses separately, although many services now run a combined assessment.
This in itself is new. Until 2013, under the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) they were both exclusionary for the other, so it is only in the last decade or so that having both diagnoses has been possible.
We now know that it is not only possible, but common. Estimates range anywhere from 20%-70% crossover. These figures vary greatly from one research paper to the next depending on the methodology used. My guess would be that around half of our clients are AuDHD.
Unfortunately, this is sometimes missed because AuDHDers do not present as stereotypically autistic or stereotypically ADHD. The two sets of traits can mask each other. Socialising and seeking novelty may cause a clinician to overlook autism, while rigid systems and hyperfocus may cause a clinician to overlook ADHD.
A contradictory experience
At first glance, they may seem like opposites: autism thrives on routine whereas ADHD craves novelty. How can those possibly be the same thing?
The first thing I would say is that we do not need to reconcile these contradictions. A key thing about AuDHD is that it is hard: you may well be torn between routine and novelty and find it very difficult, or even impossible, to find a balance. They don't work "in harmony" and you may experience two contradictory things at the same time.
However, there are times where the AuDHD experience does line up: for example, both neurotypes typically come with a spiky sensory profile where we may be more or less sensitive to certain sensory experiences than neurotypicals.
Examples of AuDHD experience
Autistics may have communication differences. ADHDers may find their mind wanders during conversation. AuDHDers may experience both differences in communication and mind wandering.
Autistics may prefer fewer social interactions. ADHDers may prefer lots of social interaction and busyness. AuDHDers may desire lots of socialising and then feel exhausted and need to withdraw.
Autistics may find they hyperfocus on one thing. ADHDers may find they are constantly jumping between things (hyperattention). AuDHDers may find they can hyperfocus at times and experience hyperattention at other times.
Autistics may find they have a life-long passion for certain topics. ADHDers may constantly crave novelty. AuDHDers may find they engage deeply with certain hobbies but these hobbies change or rotate over the years.
Autistics may find they do a lot of planning. ADHDers may feel they are disorganised. AuDHDers may find they constantly develop new plans and try to bring order to their lives, but that these plans often go unfollowed.
Autistics may experience meltdown or shutdown when overwhelmed. ADHDers may experience intense, fast-moving emotion that passes quickly. AuDHDers may find emotion arrives at ADHD speed but takes an autistic amount of time to recover from. The sudden spike and long recovery can then look, and feel, disproportionate.
Over time, this cycle can lead to burnout: prolonged exhaustion, heightened sensory sensitivity, and the loss of ability to do everyday tasks.
A few specific examples
Let's look at some concrete examples of AuDHD experience. These won't necessarily resonate for everyone, but give us clear examples of what AuDHD can be like.
AuDHD households can sometimes be chaotic and messy. There might be periods where you decide to "get on top of it", write a new cleaning rota, have a reset on tidiness or come up with a new system for organising everything. This might work for a little while but typically falls off over time.
You might find you get deeply engaged in a new hobby, job, or business idea. It is all you can think about for several months and you want to know everything about it. Anywhere from a few weeks to a few years later, the idea is forgotten and just doesn't seem important anymore.
In times of novelty seeking, you may sign up for lots of activities and fill your calendar. Then, in times of overwhelm, feel there is too much, but struggle to reduce what you are doing because you struggle with change. This can lead to feeling too busy and overwhelmed with no clear exit path for making things simpler.
Rejection sensitivity and autistic trauma
In the ADHD camp, we have Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD). This is characterised by a high, often extreme, level of sensitivity to perceived or actual rejection. RSD can have a significant impact on relationships, self-advocacy, and our ability to set boundaries.
In the autism camp, we have autistic trauma. This is a specific type of trauma experienced by late diagnosed autistic individuals who have spent a lifetime being misunderstood.
While neither of these terms can be found in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) or DSM, they are both well documented in the neurodivergent community.
In the AuDHD experience, these combine to give us a double whammy of sensitivity when dealing with others.
Reconciling contradictions
I said above that the contradictions between autism and ADHD do not need to be reconciled: the gears can jam against each other and that can be a good description of AuDHD experience.
However, it is worth touching on why they might not be as different as they seem.
Autism is primarily defined as a communication difference, whereas ADHD is defined as differences in attention. These could be describing a similar phenomenon in the two different domains of communication and attention.
It is also possible they are underpinned by the same theory. The leading theory within the autistic community to explain our experience is monotropism. This suggests we give our attention more deeply to fewer tasks, in contrast to polytropic individuals.
With ADHD, this happens as well. Although ADHDers are often thought of as multitaskers, this doesn't accurately describe the experience. Attention jumps from one thing to the other: once we see the washing machine, the drink we were pouring ourselves is forgotten. It's quite monotropic in its focus pattern, compared to a polytropic person who may pay attention to the drink and the washing.
We also need to consider the role of context. Routine provides a sense of predictability and safety to many autistic individuals and allows us to organise and process information without being overwhelmed. Once these conditions are satisfied, novelty can then be explored. Thus, someone can both crave routine and enjoy novelty.
Conclusion
AuDHD can seem a contradictory experience at first. And it often is. AuDHD individuals can face challenges that other neurotypes do not. AuDHD can produce a unique set of experiences which don't seem to fit into either box until you look under the surface.
If a lot of this sounds familiar, you may wish to consider an AuDHD assessment. A combined assessment looks at both neurotypes in one process, rather than sending you down two separate pathways where each set of traits can mask the other.