The Diagnostic Trap: When ADHD Hides Your Autism | Dr Megan Anna Neff

If you’ve been told “it’s just ADHD,” there may be autistic traits hiding in plain sight under AuDHD. In this video, I walk through 6 specific ways ADHD can overshadow autism in AuDHD adults, and what that actually feels like in everyday life. Whether you’re a neurodivergent adult or a clinician, in this video from from Dr Megan Anna Neff you’ll see how diagnostic overshadowing works in practice — and why so many AuDHD adults, especially women and marginalized folks, don’t get the full autistic picture until later in life. 📖 Read the companion article + resources: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/ad... Time Stamps: 0:00 Missed for years: AuDHD adults 1:20 Autism + ADHD overlap and misdiagnosis 2:30 What diagnostic overshadowing is 2:45 Research on delayed autism diagnosis 5:20 Six ways ADHD hides autism (overview) 6:00 Social and communication differences 6:45 Sensory differences and “hyperactivity” 7:35 Executive functioning and bottom up processing 8:50 Emotional regulation, predictability, and change 10:15 Special interests vs “hyperfocus” 11:10 Masking, unmasking, and self‑understanding 12:10 AuDHD and diagnostic overshadowing 13:05 Why this matters for support and care We cover: → Why social struggles get read as “just impulsive” or “ADHD social skills issues” instead of autistic communication differences → How sensory seeking and sensory overload get filed under ADHD “hyperactivity” instead of autistic sensory processing → Executive function differences that go deeper than ADHD alone, especially in AuDHD adults juggling multiple roles → Emotional responses to change being misread as “poor frustration tolerance” instead of autistic need for predictability and transition support → Special interests being collapsed into “ADHD hyperfocus,” hiding autistic passion, depth, and pattern‑seeking → How masking uses ADHD traits to cover autistic traits, and what unmasking can look like for AuDHD — Dr. Megan Anna Neff | Neurodivergent Insights Clinical Psychologist | AuDHD Researcher & Educator This video is not medical advice and is not to be considered therapy. More from Neurodivergent Insights: 📩 Weekly newsletter: https://newsletter.neurodivergentinsi... 📚 Self-Care for Autistic People: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/se... 🧠 The Autistic Burnout Workbook: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/au... 🌐Neurodivergent Insights: https://neurodivergentinsights.com 🎓Trainings: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/tr... 📒 Neurodivergent Insights Workbooks: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/wo... Dr. Megan Anna Neff (she/they) is an Autistic-ADHD clinical psychologist who blends research, clinical insight, and lived experience to make sense of adult neurodivergence. She creates clear, compassionate, neurodivergent-affirming education for autistic, ADHD, and AuDHD adults, and for the clinicians who support them. #AuDHD #ADHD #Autism #DiagnosticOvershadowing #NeurodivergentInsights