Autism is a neurodevelopmental difference that affects communication, social interaction, behaviour, thinking processes, and sensory processing.
Autistic people experience the world very differently to non-autistic people. If you are autistic, you may find some sensory input overwhelming, unpleasant, or painful; you may find it difficult or exhausting to interact and socialise with other people, or struggle to maintain friendships and relationships; you may have deep interests and passions, and huge depth of knowledge about specific subjects; and you may notice that you use a lot of repetitive movements (these are called stims, and can range from hand flapping and rocking to small, invisible movements like clenching particular muscles, to fidgets like playing with hair or clothes).
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental difference that affects social interaction, behaviour, and thinking processes (particularly around focus and attention).
ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which can be misleading – if you have ADHD, you don’t have a deficit of attention; instead, you have difficulty regulating your attention. If you have ADHD, your brain and nervous system are interest-based and interest- motivated; it’s very easy for you to focus your attention on new, interesting, or challenging things, and very difficult or impossible to focus on tasks that are boring, repetitive, or easy.
If you have ADHD you may be impulsive; you may notice that you often say or do things before you’ve consciously decided to do them. You may notice that you seem to have more difficulty managing your emotions than the people around you, or that you seem to find rejection harder to cope with. You will probably also have difficulty with planning and organising.
Similarities between Autism and ADHD include:
Hyperfocus – Autistic people and people with ADHD have an enormous capacity for learning and focus, when applied to their particular interest or passion, sometimes called a ‘special interest’. Both can get lost in their interests for hours and tend to acquire a lot of specialist knowledge. Both tend to find it very difficult to switch tasks away from a special interest.
Sensory sensitivity – Autistic people often have multiple sensory sensitivities – light, sound, textures, smells, etc. If you’re autistic, you may be easily distracted or distressed by sensory input that doesn’t seem to affect other people. If you have ADHD, you may be easily distracted by background noise or something visual going on in the background, particularly if it’s new or interesting compared to something you’re trying to focus on.
If you’re autistic and have ADHD, you might be sensitive to sensory input, and at the same time need a lot of sensory input to function or be comfortable. This can lead to feeling overstimulated a lot of the time, and it can also complicate diagnosis – if your ADHD is driving you to seek out more sensory input, then your autistic sensory sensitivity might be missed; or if your autistic sensory sensitivity is driving you to limit your stimulation, then your ADHD drive to seek stimulation could be missed.
Emotional regulation – If you’re autistic and/or you have ADHD, you may find it hard to manage your emotions. People may have told you that you go from 0 to 100 very quickly – it may feel like your emotions sometimes come out of nowhere, or it may feel like you’ve been increasingly upset/frustrated/etc. for hours and you’ve just lost the ability to hold it in. If you’re autistic, you may also have difficulty identifying your emotions, which can make regulating your feelings even harder.
In general, if you’re autistic and/or you have ADHD, you are dealing with a lot more stress than the neurotypical people around you; it’s common for autistic people and people with ADHD to become intensely upset or frustrated far more often than their peers.
Needing to move and fidget – If you have ADHD, your brain is constantly searching for stimulation, and you will find it deeply unpleasant or even painful to be under- stimulated. You may notice that you move around or fidget to help yourself pay attention, or that you need a fidget toy or a hobby like crochet to do while listening to others so that you can take in what’s being said.
If you’re autistic, you probably have a collection of stims. These fulfil a huge variety of functions, including identifying, expressing, and managing emotions; meeting sensory needs; orienting yourself and your body; helping to interpret physical sensations; helping with attention and focus; and many others. The reasons behind movements and fidgets are different for autistic people and people with ADHD, but the movements themselves often look similar.
If you’re autistic and have ADHD, you may find that your need to move around and/or fidget sometimes becomes overstimulating.
Trouble fitting in – If you have ADHD, you may interrupt others or intrude on conversations before you’re able to stop yourself. You may have experienced bullying or exclusion by your peers, particularly if you have a strong emotional reaction to rejection (which is a common ADHD trait – look into rejection sensitive dysphoria for more info on this).
If you’re autistic, your natural communication style is very different from the communication style of most other people around you. You may find socialising difficult, frustrating, and/or exhausting, and like those with ADHD, you may have been ostracised or bullied by your peers.
Executive function – If you’re autistic and/or you have ADHD, you probably have difficulty with executive function – planning, organising, prioritising, and getting started on tasks. This can affect work and academic study, as well as tasks like getting out of bed in the morning, planning meals, and getting to places on time.
Differences between Autism and ADHD include:
If you have ADHD, you probably find it easier to focus on things that interest you; and difficult or impossible to focus on things that don’t. If you’re autistic, it’s easier to focus on interesting things, but trying to focus on a boring task is just boring, rather than the deep unpleasantness that someone with ADHD would feel.
Autistic special interests tend to last longer than ADHD ones – if you’re autistic, you will probably keep the same special interest/s for years, if not your entire life. If you have ADHD, you may switch between deep fascinations every few weeks or months.
If you have ADHD, you may be easily distracted by noise or visual stimulation; if you’re autistic, this may go further – too much noise, visual stimulation, or other sensory input can become overwhelming or painful.
If you’re autistic, you may have specific stims for specific reasons – flapping your hands may mean you’re happy, rocking may mean you’re anxious, tapping your fingers together may be a way to orient where your hands are in space, etc. If you have ADHD, you are more likely to just fidget or move in whatever way is available.
If you’re autistic, you may have communication differences that people with ADHD don’t. You may find it difficult to interpret non-verbal communication (facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, etc.). You may find speech difficult or impossible and use an alternative form of communication. If you have ADHD, you may feel socially awkward or have trouble fitting in, but people with ADHD do not have the same difficulties using and interpreting non-verbal communication, and speech delays and difficulties are not an ADHD trait.
If you’re autistic, you may have some difficulties with motor skills – you might be clumsy, or have difficulty with precise tasks. Motor skills are not affected by ADHD.
If you’re autistic, you might find that having a strict, detailed routine or schedule helps you function. If you also have ADHD, creating and sticking to that routine can be incredibly difficult or impossible – needing strict plans and routines is one of the things clinicians are looking for when diagnosing autism, so this can complicate a diagnosis.
Other resources for adults with ADHD:
www.adhd.org.nz
adhdsorted.com
neuroclastic.com/autism-and-adhd-neurological-cousins
neuroclastic.com/living-with-rejection-sensitive-dysphoria
adhdaware.org.uk/living-with-adhd
www.planetneurodivergent.com/category/adhd
www.adhdfoundation.org.uk/resources
For more information about autism, head to autismnz.org.nz, or contact one of our Outreach team – you can find your local Outreach Coordinator at autismnz.org.nz/support-from-us
