Struggling with the Overlap Between ADHD and Autism

From what I’ve read, ADHD & autism are commonly comorbid and while ADHD is missed in women like crazy, autism is missed in women even more. I’ve been masking for as long as I can remember, and it wasn’t until I was diagnosed with ADHD at 24 that I started to figure out who I actually am without neglecting my needs. The more I figure that out, the more I think I probably also have autism, and that might be why I have such terrible social anxiety. So you’re definitely not alone!

Autistic and ADHD here! Yes ADHD and autism do overlap a lot, it's actually hard to tell (for me) what is ADHD and what is just autism. If you believe you have autism I do recommend just trying to get diagnosed with it. It won't hurt to try and it will help you know how to properly help yourself. Most autistic people can absolutely tell if someone else is autistic so if an autistic person asks/tells you you have autism then it's probably true.

I also have ADHD but most of the people I know definitely think I’m also autistic. I’ve never actually been diagnosed but I can definitely relate. What I was told is that unless you feel that it’s directly affecting your day to day activities, you don’t necessarily need a diagnosis. But if you feel like it would help you, you should go for it and get diagnosed. My ADHD is really bad so that’s what got diagnosed because it was impacting everything. I hope that made sense!

Its like I wrote this post!

The main differentiator is with your ability to read people as far as I understand. If you struggle with reading social cues at times, there may be a dual diagnosis including autism. If you don’t struggle with this it’s most likely just more ADHD symptoms. If I’m wrong here I’m open being corrected but that’s what I understand about the difference between the two! I definitely have ADHD and have tested myself online for autism and I was right on the cusp, so I get that the two are often blurred together since they are very similar disorders. Either way our brains think differently from NTs and that can be such a beautiful thing and can be very useful in high pressure situations that require creative solutions! I hope you figure out your DX

AuDHD!! I was able to get my adhd diagnosis this year after struggling with the self dx for 10+ years, but also found out about the ‘tism this year. You can be both and there’s lots of us who are :)

OMG I’m in the same boat too and everyone keeps dismissing it too and saying I’m “asking for more things wrong with me. I too was diagnosed with ADHD and anxiety (and depression) when I was 13 because I could hardly function at school without having a meltdown. Pre-pandemic I was struggling, but I was managing. Once I started isolating and not interacting with others on a normal basis, I noticed more things looking like asd. I truly believe some of people, especially those born as female (due to the under-diagnosis), were forced to kinda unmask and get out of practice with socializing and functioning as a human in society. Idk if y’all are struggling more now than before, but I am totally in your boat and I see you!! I hope some progress is made in the right direction soon ❤️

I don’t have any input, but I wonder the same thing. I was diagnosed with ADHD and social anxiety at 13, and now over 10 years later I really think I have ASD that was missed. It seems super hard to get evaluated as an adult :/