I’ve seen it referenced on TikTok but I’m curious about the evidence. It seems pretty plausible. The same gene is involved apparently. There’s very high “comorbidity.” Even in non “AuDHDers” many of the symptoms of one (that an individual “doesn’t have”) are present. Autists can be very different from eachother and it seems like they may sometimes have more in common with some ADHDers than eachother. Dividing things into specific labels like this is kinda lib and undialectical anyway. People already realizing Aspergers and other things were just autism. “Pathological Defiant Disorder” (allegedly) seems to basically just be a common presentation of AuDHD. There’s also the monotropism theory that both tend to be high in.
This is just my uneducated opinion on something I’ve been fixated on and pondering for a little while. I’m curious if anyone has any serious evidence or more interesting thoughts. There’s probably also connections to other neurodivergences.
I cannot agree with the idea of them being the "same thing". Potentially related? High cormorbidity? Sure.
I have AuDHD and the two have been in conflict my entire life. Since I began medication for ADHD I've finally begun to understand how my autism actually presents and that I can comfortable live with it.
Before this I constantly encountered executive dysfunction because the two have been completely opposed.
A special interest? A desire to understand something on an extremely detailed level? An important work project that I'm both motivated to complete and will help advance my career?
Nope here's an overwhelming urge to do literally anything else, we got the happy brain feeling from starting that, it's been 5 minutes and it's time to chase a new one.
Even sensory overload or uncomfortable feelings. Hey you want to be reminded of the time you touched something gross when youre trying to fall asleep? Or the time you ate something and it made you feel sick. Or the most anxiety inducing sound on loop in your brain. Since I started medication these intrusive thoughts have stopped almost entirely. ADHD was turning the most uncomfortable aspects of my autism against me for absolutley no personal gain.
I get that, I tend to find a lot of internal conflict in myself and explain it as those two sides fighting. Still, gotta give every idea serious though.