Two distinct profiles, often overlapping.
Autism
Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC / ASD)
Autism shapes how a person processes social information, sensory input, and change. Autistic people tend to think in deeply focused, pattern-rich, and detail-faithful ways. Communication often follows different rules — more direct, more literal, less reliant on unspoken cues. Sensory experiences (light, sound, texture, taste) can be amplified or muted in ways that profoundly affect daily comfort.
It is a spectrum not because autistic people are "a little autistic" or "very autistic," but because the profile of strengths, sensitivities, and support needs varies enormously from one person to the next.
ADHD
Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder
ADHD is a difference in how the brain regulates attention, motivation, and impulse — driven largely by atypical dopamine and norepinephrine signalling in the prefrontal cortex. The name is misleading: people with ADHD don't lack attention, they struggle to direct it. They can hyperfocus for hours on something genuinely interesting and find a five-minute admin task nearly impossible.
ADHD comes in three presentations: predominantly inattentive, predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, and combined. The inattentive form, common in girls and women, is often missed for decades.
A common reality: roughly 30–80% of autistic people also meet criteria for ADHD, and vice versa. The combined profile — sometimes called AuDHD — has its own texture, with the two conditions often pulling in opposite directions (routine vs. novelty, deep focus vs. distractibility).
Common traits, uncommon combinations.
Sensory sensitivity
Fluorescent lights, scratchy seams, the hum of a fridge, certain food textures — what others filter out, autistic brains often cannot. This isn't fussiness; it's a different perceptual baseline.
Pattern recognition & deep focus
An ability to absorb, categorise, and recall information about a topic of interest in extraordinary depth — sometimes called a "special interest" or "passion."
Literal communication
A preference for clear, direct language. Sarcasm, hints, and subtext can take more effort to decode.
Routine & predictability
Comfort in sameness. Sudden changes — even small ones — can feel destabilising and exhausting.
Stimming
Repetitive movements (rocking, tapping, fiddling) that regulate emotion and sensory input. A natural, helpful response, not a problem to fix.
Time blindness
Time feels like only "now" and "not now." Fifteen minutes and three hours can be indistinguishable. Deadlines either don't register or arrive in a panic.
Dopamine-driven motivation
Tasks aren't done by importance — they're done by interest, novelty, urgency, or challenge. Boring-but-necessary work can feel physically painful to start.
Working memory gaps
Walking into a room and forgetting why. Losing the second half of a sentence mid-thought. Names evaporating mid-introduction.
Hyperfocus
The flip side of distractibility — hours disappearing into a project, meals forgotten, the world muted. A superpower with a cost.
Emotional intensity
Feelings arrive fast and big. Frustration, joy, embarrassment, and rejection sensitivity can land harder and louder than expected.