AuDHD: Autism VS ADHD: What IS The Difference?
I have two NeuroTypes (or brain types) that are often at odds with one another (but also so similar it can be hard to tell the two apart).
I'm Autistic, and I'm also ADHD (combined presentation). I have two NeuroTypes (or brain types) that are often at odds with one another (but also so similar it can be hard to tell the two apart).
This difficulty in sorting out these two NeuroTypes has given birth to a term, AuDHD (shorthand for Autistic and ADHD), which is often used to describe the unique experience of being both Autistic and ADHD simultaneously.
The Autistic Part of me insists on order and routine, needing to know what happens next and gets anxious without a plan, and the ADHD side of me gets overwhelmed (and frustrated) without some sort of change or (controlled and planned out) excitement from time to time.
While these two parts often push and pull in opposite directions, they complement each other nicely.
Autism steers and grounds me, while ADHD pushes me (sometimes derailing me).
I've got enough caution (thanks to anxiety and an Autistic tendency to plan and prepare) and enough curiosity and novelty-seeking (ADHD) that it pushes me forward.
My Autistic brain knows what it wants to do... even if the ADHD brain won't let us do it (like the hour I wasted this morning putting off writing this piece, something I've been looking forward to).
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