So what the bloody hell is AuDHD?

By their powers combined - ADHD & ASD form a condition known as AuDHD, but lets not get too far ahead of ourselves.

I grew up feeling like something was 'off' it was like everyone else had the rule book on how to socially interact, how to ask for help, how to kind of exist without 'apologising for existing'.

So I when I was first told about something called Autism (or ASD) and also ADHD (back in the 80's known as ADD) and bits of each made sense, however every you looked it states 'ASD & ADHD can NEVER co-exist due to their contradictory nature'.

So I was confused, figured 'maybe I'm stupid', and then over the last few years it's been recognised that ASD & ADHD actually CAN co-exist, it's not massively uncommon, and they can actually hide the presence of the other - meaning it can be hard to spot, and equally hard to work out yourself, and if you make it that far - it can be hard to diagnose, but new research comes out all the time, so things are getting better.

So the official yet also unofficial definition on AuDHD from the Cambridge Dictionary:

AuDHD - a word used for the condition of having both autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
AuDHD is not an official diagnosis, but many psychologists and researchers take it seriously. If you're AuDHD, you likely have to juggle both autistic and ADHD traits, which can be confusing.

1.Cambridge Dictionary (2026). AuDHD. [online] @CambridgeWords. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/audhd [Accessed 20 Jan. 2026].