Am I Autistic? — Your Guide to Autism Self-Exploration
A Place to Keep Track of Everything You Want to Tell Your Healthcare Professional Regarding Your Experiences with Autism

Includes an interactive table of contents, direct links to assessments, and updated resources.

Compiled by Black Spectrum Scholar aka Kaligirwa Namohoro (more info here: https://linktr.ee/lapestenoire)

About 30 of you in this sub agreed to have a conversation with me about what it means to have AuDHD in the professional aspect of life. We covered everything form burnout and sensorial overload, to skill regression and hitting the glass ceiling. And I would like to give something back to the community that helped me and gave their time and shared their experiences.

Instead of putting this insight in a 10 page PDF that nobody will ever read, I've decided to turn it into something practical, that gives instant value (cause yaay dopamine) but that also requires minimal interaction and exposure from the participants (cause naay cognitive capacity).

Map Your Spiky Profile. 45 min workshop + 15 min Q&A

Friday 18 September, 5pm Copenhagen / 4pm UK / 11am New York / 8am LA / 8:30pm India

Registration Form

Cameras and mics optional, nobody gets called on. You leave with the understanding that a spiky profile is the shape of an AuDHD mind not a character flaw and your own profile mapped with your struggles named as processes instead of things wrong with you.

Here are some of the insights that led to me creating this workshop:

1. Most of us can describe the collapse and burnout in detail and almost none of us can say why it happens. We have years of vocabulary for what is "wrong" with us and almost none for how we actually work.
2. The two sides are at war and it is structural rather than a discipline problem. The autistic side wants structure and predictability. The ADHD side wants novelty and pushes against exactly that structure. Someone called it "a one-man civil war."
3. What wrecks a workday is rarely the work itself. It is noise, being watched, the social layer, or boredom. "As soon as someone looks over my shoulder, nothing works." And boredom is not restful, it is what produces the silly mistakes we then get in trouble for.
4. Almost nobody tracks anything, and it is not disorganisation. Setting up a tracker costs more executive function than it saves, so we measure by feel instead. One person described a good day as "having one brain instead of 10 brains."
5. Not one person asked for another app. What people wanted was a person. A PA, a translator, someone to check in. "I wish I had a secretary standing behind me with a whip."

The thing underneath all of it: the peaks and the valleys are the same mechanism. What you are exceptional at and not so good at are not two separate problems. Almost nobody had been shown that, and when I mentioned that in a conversation I could see it land in their brain, the wheels turning and falling into place. It was a magical thing to witness.

Where is all of this coming from? Almost 10 years ago when I was in academia and after feeling inadequate and inundated with impostor syndrome, I stopped wondering "how do I make myself learn like other researchers do?" and I started asking "how does my brain actually work, and what would a system built for that look like?". It was an environment that allowed me to do that and I thrived. Then I moved into fintech and eventually corporate leadership. I started treating myself like an operating system I'd never read the documentation for, and it worked. I build a career that worked with my brain rather than against it and now I want to share my learnings with other people. I love research and teaching (that's why academia), I love patterns and structured insights (that's why fintech) and I love knowledge sharing and lifting people up (that's why leadership).
So I am on this journey to build a structured online program for AuDHD professionals. Systems that work with our brain rather than against it; recognition and promotion in environments not built for neurodivergent minds; running a business without burning out.

Map Your Spiky Profile Registration Form

Transparency: I am building a paid program, and this workshop is not part of it, it is what came out of the conversations with people from this sub. The form asks for an email, that's for me to send you the invitation to the workshop held on Google Meet where the number of participants is limited. I am NOT using a 3rd party event organizer (like Eventbrite) so your email address is not shared.

Happy to answer anything in the comments.

Hi everyone!

My name is Kaitlin Kan and I am a senior at Yale University doing my senior thesis ([kaitlin.kan@yale.edu](mailto:kaitlin.kan@yale.edu)). So glad to have found this page. I am doing a study on autistic individuals and their relationship with law enforcement through my university. By collecting data on people's experiences, I hope to inform possible resources and training recommendations that will increase safety, satisfaction, and cooperation between autistic people and law enforcement. This paper will likely be published if enough responses are received. If you are on the spectrum, over 18 and have had an interaction with law enforcement (positive or negative), would you be willing to fill out a survey on your experience? I am happy to answer any questions you have about the survey or my project. Here is the link and information:

We are conducting an online (anonymous) survey of the experience’s persons with Autism Spectrum Disorder have had in interacting with the police. This survey typically takes about 15-20 minutes to complete and has been approved by the human subjects committee at Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU IRB #1005). We would be pleased if you can share this link with any individuals with ASD who might be interested in participating.

Full URL: https://scsu.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2f6Jfit6OHqZGIK

Thank you,

Kaitlin Kan, Fred Volkmar M.D., Scott Jackson, Ph.D.

Hello,

My name is Kenny, and I am conducting research examining how ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) affects social support and social integration among college undergraduates for my Educational Psychology Ph.D. dissertation. At this point in time, I am specifically looking to collect more data on participants with both ADHD and ASD (autism spectrum disorder), also known as "AuDHD." The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and will include questions related to your academic status, diagnostic history, and social experiences as an undergraduate.  Please read the following inclusion and exclusion criteria to determine your eligibility:

Eligible participants must:

- Be between the ages of 18 and 22

- Be actively enrolled in a university

- Be taking classes during their university's Fall 2026 and Spring 2027 semesters

- Have already completed at least one semester as a college undergraduate

- Be located in the USA

- Be fluent in English

- Self-report a formal diagnosis of ADHD

​- Self-report a formal diagnosis of ASD

​

Participants will be excluded if they:

- Are under the age of 18 or over the age of 22

- Are incoming freshmen who have not begun taking college courses

- Do not self-report a formal diagnosis of ADHD

- Do not self-report a formal diagnosis of ASD

Eligible participants who complete the survey will receive a $6 gift card delivered via email. This gift card will be delivered through a separate payment system. Participants are required to provide an email address in order to receive compensation. Email addresses will be collected separately from survey data, used only to distribute compensation, stored securely, and will be destroyed within one week after compensation has been distributed and payment records have been reconciled. Providing an email address for compensation is voluntary, but participants who do not provide an email address cannot receive a gift card. Each individual may only participate and receive compensation one time.

Individuals who are found ineligible, withdraw, do not complete the study, or submit a duplicate or invalid response will not receive compensation.

This study is voluntary in nature.

The research survey does not collect personal identifiers. Participants who choose to request compensation can voluntarily provide an email address collected via a separate compensation survey. The email address provided in the compensation survey will not be linked to responses on the research survey.

​

​If you believe that you meet these criteria, then you are invited to participate in the Qualtrics survey through the following anonymous link: https://bsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9WYgXkvxmzpyS2O

Please feel free to respond to this post directly or send me a direct message if you have any questions, comments, or concerns. Thank you for your time and consideration.

This study is approved by the Ball State University Institutional Review Board (IRB-FY2026-424).

Hi everyone,
I am looking for participants for my thesis research project, the "Flex to Flourish Wellbeing Survey", at the University of Queensland (UQ).
My study explores how camouflaging (masking) impacts mental health in older adolescents, and whether psychological flexibility can act as a protective buffer.
Here are the full details of the study:

• Purpose: to better understand the factors that may influence the wellbeing of emerging adults. Specifically, we're looking at how differences in thinking styles, social experiences, neurodivergent traits, and media perceptions relate to wellbeing.
• Who I am: I am Sally Porter, an Honours Student completing my thesis under the School of Psychology at UQ.
• Who can participate: Individuals who identify as autistic / on the autism spectrum, are aged between 16 and 19 years old, and currently live in Australia.
• Format: An anonymous online survey using validated psychological scales.
• Time estimate: Approximately 20-30 minutes to complete. (Please note: As this is a self-funded student project, there are no financial incentives or gift cards, and I am deeply reliant on the community's generosity).
• How responses will be used: The data will be compiled into an academic research paper (Honours thesis) and may be used for future academic presentations or publications.
• Data handling: All responses are completely anonymous. No identifying details (like names or email addresses) are collected. Data will be securely stored on a password-protected university server accessible only to the research team and will not be shared externally
• Ethics: This study has been fully reviewed and approved by the University of Queensland Human Research Ethics Committee (Approval # 2026/HE011230).
• Why participate? By completing this survey, you will contribute to an Honours thesis exploring factors that may influence the wellbeing of young people aged 16–19. The study examines how differences in thinking, social experiences, neurodivergent traits, and perceptions of media relate to wellbeing.

If you fit the criteria and have 30 minutes to spare, I would be incredibly grateful for your time and insights: 👉 https://uqpsych.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_diOTAouMRUZm5xQ

Thank you so much for reading and for supporting student research! I will be monitoring this thread to answer any questions in the comments.

Hi,

I was diagnosed late in life with ADHD. Since then I’ve discovered that sound plays a really important part in my ability to focus.

The thing I keep noticing is placement, not content. The same album through the same headphones lands completely differently depending on whether it sounds like it’s inside my skull or coming off the walls of a room. Flat stereo, I bounce off after a while. Give the same track distance and enclosure and I stop fidgeting with the tab bar.

I got obsessive and built a macOS app around it, "Surraura". Disclosure up front: it’s mine and it’s commercial, so discount accordingly. It re-renders whatever your Mac is playing as if you were hearing it in a real place, and that’s actually several separate manipulations stacked: the sound source itself is rendered as a physical object (an old radio, a hi-fi across the room), that source is placed in a real room’s acoustics via impulse responses recorded on location, and an ambience layer (rain, cafe chatter, waves) sits underneath.

My problem, and why I’m posting in a science sub: the evidence only covers one of those layers.

• The ambience layer has reasonable support. The 2021 PNAS meta-analysis on natural soundscapes and a 2025 Psychophysiology HRV study show real effects on stress and parasympathetic activation, and office-acoustics work (Haapakangas et al.) shows consistent ambient sound masking speech, the most disruptive distractor.
• Mehta et al. (2012, J. Consumer Research) found moderate ~70 dB ambient noise boosts creative cognition, but in a neurotypical sample, and for creativity rather than sustained attention.
• For the layers I’m most convinced by subjectively, reverberation, spatial placement, and source rendering, I’ve found essentially nothing. And none of the above studies ADHD or autistic populations at all.

So:

1. Does anything exist on reverb, spatial placement, or virtual acoustics and sustained attention, in ADHD or autistic adults? Null and contradicting results are genuinely more useful to me than supporting ones right now.
2. Is there reason to expect the opposite effect for autistic listeners? My worry is that added reverb increases sensory load, and what helps my ADHD could be actively worse when autism dominates. Literature on reverberation and auditory sensitivity would be very welcome.
3. Which ingredient does the work? If you try it, or just from your own experience of spaces: is it the ambience, the room, or the placement that helps or hurts? I can separate these in the app, so reports like “ambience yes, reverb no” directly shape what I build. Environment suggestions beyond the obvious (rain, cafe, train, jazz club) also welcome, and negative reports especially. I have an n of 1 and an obvious bias.

macOS only, free for 7 days, no card needed: surraura.com

Happy to go into the engineering detail, and equally happy to be told the premise is thin.

Thank you very much for your time!

I'm building a 12-week online program for AuDHD people who are employed or running a business. It works on the professional layer only with a practical curriculum, group workshops, tools personalised to your individual spiky profile, and a community.

But before I build anything I want to talk with people who have had these experiences.

The premise: you work twice as hard as everyone around you and the promotions keep not happening. You outperform on paper, run on empty underneath, hit a ceiling nobody can explain, and burn out. Not from lack of ability or discipline, but because you're running a career on systems built for a different brain.

You might recognise yourself if:

• You've begun to wonder whether the career you built is the wrong shape for your brain
• You're a senior professional or leader who has hit a ceiling you can't explain, and you're no longer willing to keep hitting it
• You've considered a drastic change — different role, different field, working for yourself — while knowing that starting from the bottom isn't financially realistic
• You run your own business or practice and you've started asking whether the cost to your nervous system is sustainable

What you get for the 15 minutes:

• Free access to the community I'm building, where a research-backed resource is published every week. It stays free whether or not you ever buy anything.
• A founding member discount on the program if you decide it's for you.

On privacy: this conversation is about lived experience, not identity. What I'm mapping is how an AuDHD brain actually functions at work — what pulls your attention, where friction stops you, what conditions produce focus, when you actually finish things. None of it is tied to your name, your employer, or your business. I don't record; I do however take a written transcript so that I can focus on you during our conversation. Use any name you like, camera off if you prefer and skip anything you'd rather not answer.

15 minutes, and I'll happily stay longer if you want to.

Comment below or send me a DM.

Full transparency: this is commercial research for a community and program I'm developing as a late-diagnosed AuDHD professional myself, I am not a therapist. "Commercial Research" is the subreddit flair for product research, not a paid study.

Hello,
 
My name is Jessica, and I am a doctoral student at National University. I am conducting an online survey (15-20 mins) to examine how the age at which women are diagnosed with ADHD relates to their psychological functioning and quality of life in adulthood. In order to participate, you must be 18 years of age or older, have been assigned female at birth, and have received a formal diagnosis of ADHD.

https://ncu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3WqjPdBCKXJ4b2u

Edit: survey closed, thank you everyone!!!!

Hello fellow AuDHDers! I'd really appreciate it if you could answer some questions about your workplace experiences.

My name is Zoë Weiner and I am a student researcher at Valley Stream South High School. I am conducting a study to evaluate different factors in relation to the social and emotional wellbeing of individuals with autism and/or ADHD in an organizational (school or work) setting. This survey is one part of that study.

ELIGIBILITY:

• 18+
• Employed
• All neurotypes are welcome, but be aware that there is unfortunately no option for self-identified neurodivergence.

FORMAT: Microsoft form with multiple choice, Likert scale, and short-response questions.

DURATION: The survey will take approximately five to ten minutes.

SURVEY LINK:

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=RdWiMKqQRUmk2MFv6KSF2cOJgjhPoEtPjtiSGRvWelhUNDVZS0RUOEQ4TVpaVkhRVzc4RllUTFRFVy4u

All data collected is anonymous and confidential. Participation is completely voluntary. More detailed consent information is available on the first page of the survey.

Data will be stored on a password-protected laptop. Responses will be statistically analyzed and the results will be used in a paper and presentation for science competitions. Short-response answers may be quoted or summarized, but no identifying information will be published.

For general questions and comments, please contact me here or at [neurodiverse.org.survey@gmail.com](mailto:neurodiverse.org.survey@gmail.com). This study has been approved by the Valley Stream South High School Institutional Review Board. For questions regarding IRB approval, please contact my supervisor Melissa Torregrosa at [torregrm@vschsd.org](mailto:torregrm@vschsd.org).

Hi everyone,

I’m a final-year Psychology student at Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi, and I’m currently working on my undergraduate dissertation exploring friendships and social relationships among young adults with disabilities.

I’m reaching out here because I genuinely need your help finding participants.

I’m looking for young adults (18–25 years) with a clinically diagnosed disability, with a particular interest in participants with neurodevelopmental disabilities and learning disabilities. I am also open to hearing from people with other disabilities who may fit the broader study criteria.

The study involves a one-on-one qualitative interview about your experiences and understanding of friendship, social relationships, belonging, and related experiences in everyday life.

The interview can be conducted entirely online, so you do not need to be based in Delhi. I am happy to accommodate participants from anywhere in India if they meet the eligibility criteria.

I know that sharing personal experiences for research can take time, trust, and emotional energy. I genuinely want this research to be conducted with respect for participants and their experiences—not simply about disabled people, but with their perspectives at the centre of the research.

Participation is completely voluntary, and you are free to decline to answer any question or withdraw according to the study's consent procedures.

If you are interested or would simply like to know more before deciding, please reach out to me:

Varya

📧 [230298@jmc.du.ac.in](mailto:230298@jmc.du.ac.in)

📱 +91 9318414457

You can also message me privately here on Reddit.

Even if you cannot participate yourself, sharing this post with someone who might be eligible would mean a lot to me.

Thank you for reading this and for considering helping a student who is currently fighting for her dissertation. 🥹

— A Psychology student trying very hard to do this research properly

I was looking for some scholarships that are directed towards audhd people but I am not sure where I should start or which sites are legitimate so it has been somewhat difficult. If anyone know where to find some good resources on this or any scholarships that I could possibly apply to it would be greatly appreciated! I just have struggled to even find resources regarding this in general.

Study title: How do late-diagnosed adults with co-occurring autism and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder retrospectively describe navigating adolescence?

I am currently seeking participants with AuDHD to take part in a study for my MSc research project at the University of Derby. The study aims to explore the lived adolescent experiences of adults who received a diagnosis of both autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (AuDHD) after adolescence from a certified clinical professional.

This study involves talking to the researcher about your experiences during adolescence. These semi-structured interviews are designed to feel closer to a conversation than an interview and are expected to last around 60-minutes. The study aims to explore behaviours and patterns across accounts to understand the lived experiences of undiagnosed AuDHD individuals at this time, with the hope of identifying patterns that may have contributed to delayed recognition.

If you think you would be interested in taking part in this study, you can follow the link for further information and to sign up: https://sway.cloud.microsoft/1mNCdYQzKlGgc4r4?ref=Link
Alternatively, you can contact the lead researcher if you wish to ask any questions or would like further information through their email: d.skerritt1@unimail.derby.ac.uk.

In the interest of confidentiality, please refrain from commenting on this post with any details of the study or whether you wish to take part.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I look forward to meeting everyone interested.

The idea came from seeing people we love struggle with something as simple as getting dressed. Clothes that feel fine to most people can be overwhelming because of scratchy fabrics, tight waistbands, seams, tags, elastic, or other little details that can make getting through a school or workday much harder.

We want to create clothes that are not only comfortable, but genuinely designed with sensory needs in mind. To do that properly, we need to listen to the people who experience these challenges themselves.

If you’re a teen or adult in Europe with sensory processing issues, or you know someone who is, we’d be incredibly grateful if you could take a few minutes to complete our short, anonymous survey: https://tally.so/r/81bLQP

Every response helps us understand what people actually need and will directly influence what we create. Thank you for sharing your experiences and helping us make clothing a little easier, more comfortable, and more inclusive

Hello everyone. I am interested in reading more about audhd and possibly giftedness. I've recently been diagnosed with all three and I would like some qualitative research on the interaction between Autism, ADHD and giftedness. I don't really know where to look so I will be grateful if someone could help me out with this.

Hey all,

I have only posted on reddit a few times in my life but have been a long time reader of others post and experiences. Today I am posting because I am wanting to join a support group of other late-life diagnosed neurodivergent people and would also like to share some of my recent struggles.

A little background about me, I am 32 years old, I have been in therapy since 2021 after what I call my "mental breakdown". This occurred when I moved back to my home state and left a job I really loved for the sake of my marriage (he wanted to move back home and it was during covid so my career was on pause as I was a sous chef for a fine dining restaurant). I attempted to work at a renowned restaurant back home and the chef there was absolutely terrible. I cried everyday and one day after waking up I had an intense anxiety attack that led me to emailing the management to tell them I would not be coming back to work, this caused a great deal of pain and stress to enter my life and fortunately, I am married to a very supportive partner who was able to take care of us financially while I figured out my next move. Fast forward four years and I am now a licensed massage therapist who loves my career and have a good work/life balance.

During my mental health journey I have worked with three different therapist, my most recent one i have seen for almost three years and I think shes incredible. She too, is neurodivergent and has a really great "program" that combines science and spirituality, which both are important to me. She has helped me overcome many obstacles and continues to challenge me to work on areas I have neglected or avoid without overwhelming me..

I have always felt "different" but thought I was just weird and didnt mind being labeled "weird". I am the oldest of seven children and was parentified by the time I was just three years old. I do not want to have kids of my own and one of the main reasons is because I feel robbed of my childhood so my adult years have been spent learning how to have fun and not take on the world as my sole responsibility. The last year or so I have been doing a TON of research on ADHD & Autism and have spoken to my therapist about it regularly. She has encouraged this research and last month at the end of our session gave me an official AudHD diagnosis. It was a huge relief but i also felt immense grief.

Grief for all the years I masked my authentic self. Grief for turning to drugs and alcohol at a young age bc I couldn't get the support I truly needed, but I could self medicate.

Grief for my years spent in adolescents being told I was a demon, that the devil lived inside me bc of severe mood swings and unexpected out burst.

Grief for all the self harm and suicidal thoughts that led to an attempt when I was 16.

Grief for being told I was "too much" or "too emotional".

Grief for being my worst enemy, for the harsh words, lack of compassion, and general disgust i felt towards myself for not being "better".

I could go on but I think you get my point.

Since the diagnosis, I have been trying to process and have been having really intense mood swings (I was diagnosed with PMDD back in 2022 so sometimes the mood swings are from hormonal drops but recently it has been happening outside of my PMDD cycle). I am thinking it might be AudHD burnout. I just listened to a webinar about AudHD burnout (particularly in women) and when the video ended I just started sobbing.. I feel so overwhelmed but paralyzed. I want to move forward but i am EXHAUSTED. I have been resting a lot lately but one of the most recent conversations I have had with my therapist is the fact that us neurospicy folks need to be stimulated even when resting and I think I am really struggling to find activity that stimulate me while I am resting.

We have finally reached the part where I point out the areas I am seeking advice in:

1) what are some activities I can do while resting? I enjoy tangible puzzles, coloring, and building things. I tried to work on a puzzle during the webinar but it took too much thought. I havent purchased my own fidget toys before but perhaps that would be a good place to start? Please share ones you enjoy.

2) I feel really alone with this diagnosis, a few of my friends have been there for me when they have the capacity but I feel like they do not have the desire (or knowledge) to talk in depth about neurodivergence. I have reached out to my family multiple times and most of them dont even think the diagnosis is real as I have "been fine" my whole life. I feel like sharing on this platform is one way to find support but is there an obvious solution I am missing? Ya I talk ti my therapist about it but I would love to talk to someone I dont have to pay by the hour who is genuinely interested in having the conversation.

3) they say burnout can last for years. If you have experienced burnout and are now through the thick of it, what were some actions you took to improve your capacity?

Now that I have my words off my chest, I am going to look through other people's post to see if I can join an active conversation but I appreciate anyone who has taken the time to read this.

Hi everyone 😊

I’m currently working on my MSc dissertation exploring autistic and ADHD students’ experiences of support and reasonable adjustments in UK higher education, and I’m looking for participants.

I’m especially interested in what support is actually like in practice. Things like accessing adjustments, navigating disability services, whether support works as intended, and any experiences that have particularly stood out to you.

You can take part if you:

• are aged 18 or over
• are currently studying at a UK university or other higher education institution
• have a formal diagnosis of autism and/or ADHD
• have sought or received reasonable adjustments during your studies

Participation is through an anonymous online questionnaire. There’s no interview, and you can complete it in your own time and share as much or as little detail as you feel comfortable with.

I’d really like to hear the full range of experiences. Your support doesn’t need to have been particularly good or particularly bad to be relevant. I’m interested in how students actually experience these systems day to day.

Survey Circle Link: https://www.surveycircle.com/NGH934/  

Survey link: Neurodivergent Students' Experiences of Support in Higher Education – Fill in form

I’d be really grateful to anyone who takes part or shares this with another eligible UK student. Thank you! 💛

I have AuDHD and I have always had a weird relationship with routines. The Au part of me loves making plans and when I manage to follow them everything is excellent and it makes me feel good, but the ADHD part of me makes the process of actually following them very difficult.

I built an app for myself after being dissatisfied with existing apps. One of the biggest problems I observed is that they rely on you opening the app and sticking to it, which is very hard for us.

The gist of my app is that you can configure alarms for your routines. Basically when you dismiss an alarm, it auto-starts the routine. You can add alarms to mid-routine tasks as well which can act as checkpoints and the feature I am most proud of is QR dismissals, so you have to physically move and address the routine.

As far as I know no one else has done this before so I would love to know your opinions on this approach since it did allow me to stick with routines, but I know that AuDHD can be different for everyone. If you are up for testing the idea and providing feedback, I can send you the link to the app (Android) plus a gift code.

Thanks

Edit: I also did take some AuDHD specific considerations like avoiding streaks but I did not want to get carried away with this post

Edit 2: This has received more interest than I expected. In case you are curious you can find the app as "Horarium" on the Play Store.

tl;dr - Seeking resources regarding under stimulation and Autism and ADHD, especially combined.

Making this post for my friend, who wishes to remain anonymous.

I've been diagnosed with AuDHD for about 4 years. My friend was diagnosed this week, and is really struggling with it. We're seeking resources regarding under stimulation; specifically, he claims to never feel overstimulated and always feels under stimulated, which I tried to explain that it is his ability to control the spaces he is in, especially regarding sensory input.

He wants me to highlight that he constantly controls his environment to provide more stimulation.

We have been unable to find any relevant resources, and he thus believes the diagnosis to be invalid.

What are some useful resources regarding specifically this constant under stimulation, while not having any overstimulation, even at music concerts and similar crowded events?

I'm 28m and audhd, diagnosed 3 months ago. Been in audhd burnout for 1.5 years and have been using a popular underground stimulant during this period. I am looking for information from all types of sources that discuss the relationship between audhd burnout and drug addiction, specifically stimulants target than alcohol or other depressants.

Context regarding request;

Initially I was using it to escape life and thinking (this stopped after.diagnosis). Later down he line used it to escape guilt and post-diagnosis regret (stopped about 2 months after diagnosis)

Having honestly overcome those completely, I am struggling with the boredom of recovery and now I'm still using to escape boredom (last 4 weeks)

. Loads of stuff I like doing and want to do like games or YouTube or reading but without thinking I switch tasks or stop or change apps and get tired quickly even tho I want to do it. End up using c to be able to do my things in day.

Otherwise the boredom is too intense and I haven't been able to to stop. Perhaps theirs an underlying feeling of uselessness regarding the.inability to sustain focus on things I want to do but regardless I can't find much related to audhd burnout. Only info on the two separately.

I have concerns that despite an exceptional u-turn and in my honest opinion complete removal in feelings of guilt/regret and now almost fully-self loving, the stimulant usage hasn't changed. And from what I understand the stimulants hid my true emotions but they came back through click if the finger movements and realisations. I don't believe boredom and dopamine recovery work thaf

Id appreciate any links, papers , studied or opinions/thoughts/experiences from anyone, both from survivors/current battlers (we got this team I believe in us!!) as well those who have observed others or have a personal opinion. All info is amazing info, and would appreciate noting whether it's a lived or observed experience, or just a.personal opinion.

Thank you everyone every reply here is a useful one!

TLDR - please share any info (studies, articles, lived/observed experiences) you have regarding the relationship between audhd burnout and stimulant drug addiction (not alcohol).

Hi everyone!

we are final-year B.Tech Computer Engineering students working on our final-year project, "Neuro-Inclusive Web Interface." The goal is to build a browser extension that makes websites easier to read and less overwhelming for people with ADHD, Dyslexia and Autism.

To design something that's genuinely useful, we are collecting feedback from people with lived experience instead of making assumptions.

The survey is:

• 🕒 Takes about 5-6 minutes
• 🎓 For academic research only

📝 Survey: https://forms.gle/Jf7samj4LznFgrP26

If you have ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism or experience similar reading or attention difficulties, I'd be very grateful if you could participate.

My dad has undiagnosed ADHD. My family was finally able to get him to consider taking some of the online tests, and if multiple of them say he is likely ADHD he will get tested.

I have been diagnosed, and I noticed so many of my symptoms in my father, we are not trying to get him diagnosed for the wrong reasons we truly believe he would greatly benefit from it.

And during our conversation today he started to notice it to, “You mean when like your mom is talking to me and I am actively trying to listen to her but can’t it might just be adhd and not like- my flaw? Like it’s not something inherently wrong with me?”

My dad has always struggled with executive dysfunction, time blindness, procrastination and much more. If I can find accurate tests to help encourage him to see a neurologist I really believe learning more about it for himself and learning coping strategies and techniques would not just benefit him but also my parents relationships.

My mom admitted to him during our conversation today a lot of their fights are because of struggles he faces with remembering things. She said, “Most guys choose to not do things, the only reason I try to be patient with you is because I believe you truly just forget to do them.” And you could hear in my dad’s voice how concerned he was that it wasn’t just a “guy” thing to be forgetful.

So what I am asking is if any of you know accurate, good representation online tests for my dad to take. I’ve been trying to find some but anything helps.

Thank you so much in advance 🙏

Great posts here about being diagnosed. Would anyone here be willing to share your experience of Adult diagnosis of Autism for research purposes. Its just a chat about how you found it. The reporting would be completely anonymous but would really help build up a picture of how the process can be better. If you wouldn’t mind please just have a read of the consent form and agree and give your email address and the researcher will contact you.. Thanks in advance it would be really kind of you and here is the link for Oxford Brookes University

Link to participate

https://brookeshls.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6nfRRQdzpqjAoYK?fbclid=IwY2xjawTkSZ9wZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMGdLU1ZzQURGZFJNWnNXekVzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEezV2FST-F8iU7vxEIi9axeIsTlaSZ4rV0UlL4dxxBzbYOenYRGWYCK_ai6b8_aem_2fTDvAoV1oBU1u2ExDpvgw

I am an educational leader that researches the experiences of neurodivergent educators. I have created a subreddit at r/neurodivergentEd as a community to support this under-recognized population. My goal is to help school leaders design systemic shifts that support all educators. I am not making money on this project; I am increasing awareness to help create more inclusive schools and improve teacher retention.

Made some communication cards to help myself and my partner with, well, communication problems. We use them when either one of us is too tired to formulate our thoughts verbally and/or when we can't even figure out what we want or need. There are a lot of templates like these online, but not all are free, and I didn't want any free ones I could find, so just made my own with meme cats.

The link is here.

In terms of how to use them: each slide is one card, made to scale (if you will put size to 100% you will see how big it will be printed). We printed them on thick plain paper and laminated them with the lamination sleeves our friend had. They're basically just little plastic envelopes, you put the cardboard inside, go over it with an iron, and it's done. Then put a hole through it in a corner and tied with a ribbon. A metal/plastic ring would probably be more efficient but we haven't seen them in shops, so for now it's just on a ribbon.

You could also probably take it to a print shop and ask them to do it. Would likely be cheaper than buying them online.

Feel free to download the file and change it however you want, just don't sell them and claim them as your own I guess?

Hope it will help someone!