ADHD, Autism, or AuDHD? How to spot the signs in yourself

Published 5 April 2026 · 8 min read

One of the questions I get most often — from friends, from colleagues, from strangers at parties once they figure out what I do — is some version of: "How do I know which one I am?" It's a fair question. And the honest answer is that you probably can't tell on your own, but you can learn to notice the patterns that suggest it's worth asking.

The three-question test that actually helps

Forget the online quizzes for a second. I've found three questions do more work than any twenty-item checklist. First: does your energy come in waves that don't match anyone else's? Second: do unexpected changes feel physically painful, not just inconvenient? Third: does a loud room, bright light or scratchy jumper derail your whole day?

If you said yes to the first only, you're closer to ADHD territory. Yes to the second and third only — closer to autism. Yes to all three — welcome to the AuDHD conversation.

Signs that often point to ADHD

You start five things before finishing one. You lose car keys, wallets, entire relationships to time blindness. You can hyperfocus for six hours on something that interests you and then forget to eat. You fidget, you interrupt, you apologise for interrupting, you interrupt again. Rejection stings harder than it should — something researchers are now calling rejection sensitivity.

Signs that often point to autism

You notice things other people don't — patterns, inconsistencies, the hum of the fridge. Social scripts feel like scripts, not instinct. You love routine and hate surprises. Eye contact is tiring. Sensory input accumulates across the day until you need a dark quiet room. You've been told you're "too much" or "too sensitive" since you were small.

Signs that point to AuDHD

Here's where it gets interesting. You crave novelty and recoil from it. You need routine and break your own routines. You talk too much around people you trust and say nothing around people you don't. You procrastinate on things you love. You burn out on small tasks and rise to big emergencies. You feel both too much and nothing at all, sometimes in the same hour.

"The contradiction is the diagnosis."

What to do with this information

Don't self-diagnose and close the tab. And don't dismiss yourself either. Write down the patterns you noticed. Take that list to a GP you trust, or to a clinical psychologist who works with adults. An assessment isn't a label — it's a better map.

Further reading

See our guide on getting diagnosed as an adult in Australia. Science Works Health — ADHD vs Autism vs AuDHD in adults.