Studies show that anywhere between 30 and 80
percent of autistic people also have ADHD. And the number seems slightly lower for the number
of adhders who are also autistic but that's still a pretty hefty chunk of overlap. The disparity
between the two probably just means that ADHD is slightly more prevalent or maybe slightly
more diagnosed on a population level. Weirdly enough the DSM, which is the diagnostic manual
for use by psychologists, doesn't actually talk about this at all. And the criteria for autism
and ADHD within it do not overlap, despite the fact that there is a great deal of overlap
between the two conditions. Especially when it comes to things like, executive functioning
issues. Up until recently you couldn't even get a dual diagnosis of autism and ADHD, if you had
one you couldn't be diagnosed with the other. Consequently there is very little in professional
literature about what it actually looks like when someone has both. How do they present? Luckily
we have the internet now and people from all over the world can share their lived experiences
relatively easily. "Uhuul!!" So you clicked on this video maybe you have one diagnosis but we're
always kind of wondering about the other one. Maybe you don't have any but you think both of
them kind of apply to you, so that's what we're going to talk about today. Disclaimer: I'm not
a doctor, I do have a psychology degree but if you want real clarification, you probably should
find a professional and not an internet person. Just think of this video as kind of like
a starting point in your journey. Let's go. (music) Hello everyone, for those of you who are new,
I'm Sam and I make videos about Autism and neurodiversity related things right here on
YouTube. After I was diagnosed with autism in my early 30s. I now know that I also have ADHD and
the overlap is a really interesting topic because there's very little out there about what it's
actually like having both. Because we don't really look like what people expect from one side or from
the other side. So today I'm going to go through five signs that you may, (may!) have both. Number one: a constant conflict between apparently contradictory traits. You might feel inconstant inner conflict
with yourself which often results in becoming frequently frustrated with yourself. You may crave
order and routine but be unable to maintain it; You might get overstimulated as much as you get
under stimulated, and sometimes this might even happen at the same time or in a very short space
of time, which can be confusing and frustrating for yourself and probably also for others around
you. So these two sides of me are both there they're both part of me but sometimes they have
completely opposite desires and needs and I think this can result in what looks like apparently
hypocritical behavior from the outside, although it makes perfect sense when you know what you're
dealing with. Like, for example, needing everyone around you to be completely quiet and then making
a lot of noise yourself. Number two: Your traits might appear to balance each other out at times.
I think that what can happen sometimes, not for everyone but for many people, is that the opposing
actions of autistic and ADHD traits can seem to balance each other out or maybe even conceal each
other. My struggles weren't always obvious growing up. I only was diagnosed closed in my 30s because,
for example, the social awkwardness aspect of my autism often kind of gave in to the chattiness and
sociability of my ADHD, so from the outside I kind of just appeared as if I was shy at first and then
took a little bit of time to warm up to people. But that wasn't what was happening inside, both of
those people were me. The person who does not want to talk at all in a crowd but also the
one who can't stop talking sometimes. Luckily now I have a YouTube channel which means I can talk
at many many people at once and never actually get over stimulated (ish). And while my brain is plenty
chaotic on the inside because of my autistic need for order and routine and everything being correct
and right I try really really hard to maintain a tidy house clear of clutter because of the visual
stimulation that loads of clutter brings me it. Stresses me out to have a house that naturally if
left to my own devices I would make. So I may not look like a typical chaotic ADHDer, because my
autistic needs dictate that I need to create order and calmness. Yeah right! Number three: a larger
variety than typical of special interests and/or hyperfixations. Now special interest is a topic
that really varies from person to person, even within the autistic spectrum itself. But if you're
also an ADHDer, you may be more likely to have more intense special interests for a shorter time. You
know, to use up the dopamine before switching to another one. Possibly, alongside longer running
special interests kind of throughout your life. That are more stable and less prone to being
suddenly bored with it. There is a stereotype that autistic people can only be into one obscure
or weird topic their whole lives but this isn't exactly true. I found myself becoming extremely
obsessed with many different things throughout my life so far, while maintaining, I guess, an ongoing
intense special interest in, for example, psychology. That's one of my ongoing special interests, I did a
degree in it. But I also have these occasional micro fixations, which I guess is more like the
ADHD hobby "Merry-Go-Round". You know, I'll get really into dressmaking for a few weeks and that's a
really intense period of obsession. I remember when that actually happened, I struggled to sleep
because of it! Because my mind was so busy creating patterns and constructing them and figuring out
how to put the dress together and stuff like that. I was sitting there awake at night and my brain
would just not turn off, because I was so into this particular topic. The intensity of that didn't
last long and now it's kind of something that's, well actually it's in the cupboard behind me. So special interest is something that varies so much from person to person, but you may relate more
to having lots of different ones or a mixture of lots of different ones and some ongoing ones than
just one or many. I feel like as I've got older, or maybe just because I have kids, like I don't
really have the energy left for that kind of those intense bursts but it still happens occasionally.
Number four: different versions of yourself come out at different times and in different places.
When I'm out of the house or when I was at school or working in an office. I believe that my
autistic traits became a lot more noticeable. Out of the house I'm getting some kind of novelty and
stimulation so the ADHD monster within is pretty satisfied because "hey we're doing something new,
we're getting out, we're seeing things we're seeing people". But the things that I can't control out of
the house is the sensory environment and it's a less predictable social environment too and those
are the things that my autistic self starts to struggle with. When I'm at home, in the environment
that I have set up to be as comfortable for me as possible, my ADHD traits are far more dominant.
Within the house I control the sensory aspect as much as I can, so my autistic side is more or
less appeased. But it's a familiar environment, it's pretty predictable. Dare I say, sometimes boring.
So that's when the ADHD traits become way more noticeable to me. When I'm struggling to manage
daily life, keep things organized or struggling to find that kind of novelty in a really familiar
place. And number five: you relate to people who also have both. This is something that is often
really missed by the professionals, is relating to other people. And relating to other people is a
really important aspect of our humanity and it's not very easily measurable. But is something
less real because it can't be quantified? At a point after my autism diagnosis I felt a little
bit of kind of imposter syndrome because I was meeting more autistic people and I was a bit
like, "well, I'm not really like, completely like them. I'm a bit different from them". And I
feel like I am often, dare I say, a little bit too much for autistic people. I talk a lot and I get
excited and when I'm being social I want to be really really social. So I do actually tend to
have more friends who are just adhders. The irony is that these people are often too much for
me. So I tend to find myself needing more downtime from socializing and more social recovery time
than they do. What I'm trying to say is if you have a couple of friends who have a dual diagnosis
and if you just find yourself clicking with them or if you think you have one diagnosis but you
don't completely... It doesn't explain everything. You feel it's correct but it's not everything.
Maybe that's a sign that you have both as well. And you know, neurodivergent people do tend to run
in packs, we do tend to kind of seek each other out, consciously or unconsciously. So you know, it's
not so unlikely. So that was it, five signs that you may have both ADHD and be autistic. Let me
know if any of this resonates with you. If you have these similar experiences of being kind
of in inner conflict with yourselves. Tell me about your inner conflict in the comments! Take
care and I will see you next time. Bye! (music)
Subtitles: Ana Muhlethaler
That reflection on her glasses….
This is great!
I have an autism diagnosis (got that last summer), but have recently been thinking I might have ADHD, too. I’ve had a hard time finding information on what that combo actually looks like, though. Now I’m convinced. All of the things she said are me!
This is so disturbing... I marked that "watch later" less than 12 hours ago lol
She's so great at explaining this stuff!
I don't have the attention span for a nine minute video. That's the problem with all the autistic videos. They ramble on about something for like 5-10 minutes when they could've said all that crap in like 30 seconds. There was only one autistic Youtuber who I liked and she took down all her videos. ☹️ Yes, I'm being a negative nelly.
I watched that this weekend! I adore her. :)
Everyone I watch one of her videos I’m like
✨I’m in this video and I don’t like it ✨
She’s great.
Thanks. Was literally thinking "where can I find info on the autism/adhd mix" when I saw this post. This was just what I needed.
This is great!