As an AuDHD person navigating life in a neurotypical world, there are some approaches that I have found much more helpful than others. This is my perspective and I find that this resonates with my clients as a good starting point for understanding individual experience. 

There is still a lot to learn about what we currently define as Autism and ADHD. In earlier versions of the diagnostic criteria, it was not possible to diagnose both in one person, as it was thought that you had to be one or the other. Now we see a huge overlap and many people identify as AuDHD.

I find it most helpful to reframe ‘symptoms’ and ‘diagnostic criteria’ as natural responses to sensory difference. The association with sensory difference has been demonstrated in a great deal of research and more recently it has been demonstrated that this is very similar between those with an Autism or ADHD diagnosis (Scheerer et al., 2024).

Sensory difference can be thought of as dealing with a much larger volume or intensity of sensory information than is ‘typical’. This is from all the senses, including the less acknowledged senses of interoception, proprioception and vestibular. It makes sense that this results in a ‘bottom up’ way of processing information, which starts with a large amount of detail. The brain then has to find a way to work out what detail to pay attention to. This contrasts with the ‘top down’ processing style which can take in a less detailed broad perspective of experience and then focus in on detail as necessary.

This sensory processing difference is sometimes noticeable as hypersensitivity, hyposensitivity or sensory seeking behaviours. However, it can also be camouflaged by parts of self which develop ways to manage the volume of information. An Internal Family systems Therapy informed approach can be really helpful in identifying and understanding these parts of self. They often have to work exceptionally hard to deal with the sensory overwhelm and also to manage the pain of being treated as over sensitive since childhood.

If you would like to explore more about this approach, please don’t hesitate to book an introductory chat with me.

Reference:

Scheerer, N.E. et al. (2024) “Transdiagnostic Patterns of Sensory Processing in Autism and ADHD,” Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 54(1), pp. 280–292. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05798-3.