01/04/2026
If you are also a middle-aged woman who recently received an AuDHD diagnosis, this likely reflects your experience.
NEW AuDHD RESEARCH
A new 2024 qualitative study is drawing attention to the experiences of women diagnosed in adulthood with both ADHD and autism, a combined neurodivergent identity often referred to as AuDHD.
Published in Qualitative Health Research, the study by researcher Emma Craddock focuses on women who describe a lifelong sense of not quite fitting. Many said they felt out of place in ADHD spaces, while also not seeing themselves fully reflected in Autistic identities. They often related to parts of both, but neither quite captured their lived experience.
Through in depth interviews with six late diagnosed women, the research describes a shared experience of living between identities, where traits overlap, interact, and sometimes hide one another. Participants said they could relate to parts of both ADHD and autism, while also feeling that neither identity fully explained how their brains work.
Rather than experiencing two separate neurotypes, the women described a blended neurology. This neurology shifts across the lifespan. At some points, ADHD traits are more visible. At others, Autistic traits take the lead. The way autism and ADHD interact made their experiences hard for clinicians, educators, and even the women themselves to make sense of.
The study also points to a clear gap between how things look on the outside and what is happening on the inside. Many participants appeared capable, compliant, and as though they did not require support. Privately, they were using tremendous amounts of physical and emotional effort to cope with sensory overload, emotional intensity, executive functioning challenges, and chronic exhaustion. Because much of this struggle was internal, it often went unseen.
When support was sought, participants were often given mental health diagnoses such as anxiety or bipolar disorder. Looking back, many recognized that what they were experiencing was better explained by the interaction of ADHD hyperactivity and Autistic burnout, rather than separate psychiatric problems.
One key finding centers on a tension common to AuDHD, the Autistic need for structure alongside the ADHD difficulty with providing and maintaining it. Autistic traits often create a strong need for routine and predictability. ADHD traits, at the same time, make it hard to keep those routines going. Over time, this creates shame and burnout.
Craddock’s study suggests that AuDHD may be a distinct neurodivergent identity, one that current diagnostic systems and support spaces are still learning how to understand.
Among the key findings, the research shows that women with AuDHD often appear capable while expending enormous internal effort. The Autistic need for structure clashes with ADHD difficulty sustaining it, leaving long term emotional and physical costs.
This study matters.
It listens to women with AuDHD and takes their experiences seriously, something research has rarely done. It gives words to a way of being that has long been misunderstood, split apart, or ignored altogether.
At the same time, this is only a beginning. We still know far too little about what actually helps AuDHD people in daily life, at different ages, and in different situations. Understanding the experience is one step. Figuring out how to support it, without forcing people to mask or break themselves to fit, is the work that still lies ahead.
