I Thought It Was Just ADHD — Living with Both ADHD & Autism

I thought treating my ADHD would solve everything. Instead, it uncovered something I'd been missing for years—my autism.

What happens when your ADHD meds work, but you're still struggling? When the diagnosis explains some things, but not everything? This episode is about the complex reality of having both ADHD and autism (AuDHD), how they mask each other, and what changes when you finally understand you have both.

👉 Subscribe to Hypercast for real talk on neurodivergent life: https://www.youtube.com/@HypercastPodcast?sub_confirmation=1

🎙️ In this conversation:

• How ADHD and autism hide each other
• Why stimulant meds can unmask autistic traits
• The difference between meltdowns and shutdowns
• Learning to recognize masking and sensory overwhelm
• Why the DSM misses so many late-diagnosed adults
• Moving from "floating through life" to understanding yourself

This is raw, unfiltered conversation about dual diagnosis—equal parts recognition grief and relief.

Melissa Llewellyn Snider Melissa is an ADHD coach who supports neurodivergent adults finding their rhythm in work and life while building real confidence. She's the Executive Producer of Hypercast and offers 1-to-1 coaching. Learn more: https://www.likemindcoaching.com/

Brianna Morton
 Brianna is an ADHD coach and neuroaffirming therapist who supports individuals navigating ADHD challenges with compassion and understanding. She offers therapy and coaching services. More about Brianna: https://www.understandingadhd.ca/about

🎥 Watch next: ADHD & Masking → https://youtu.be/Mz3zUbptYPg 💬 What part hit home for you? Let us know in the comments.

If you've ever wondered "Why am I still struggling even after my ADHD diagnosis?"—this one's for you.

#ADHD #Autism #AuDHD #NeurodivergentLife #ADHDPodcast #DualDiagnosis #Hypercast

Music:

https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/IrVEjR69Dw/

Melissa's Contact:
Email: melissa@likemindcoaching.com
www.likemindcoaching.com

Brianna's Contact:
Email: info@understandingadhd.ca
www.understandingADHD.ca

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Transcript

[00:00:00] Brianna: 

[00:00:00] Melissa: I was in my late twenties when I started on stimulant medication, and when I started taking it, I thought my real personality was emerging. And what was emerging were my autistic traits. 

[00:00:11] Brianna: very certain that's a common experience.

[00:00:14] Melissa: 

[00:00:15] Melissa: You know you have ADHD, but do you ever feel like there's a place where your ADHD [00:00:20] stops and something else begins?

[00:00:22] Melissa: Something that's always been there running right alongside it. What if there's more to your story? Today we're talking about Autism and ADHD and what happens when you start to wonder if you're living with both?

[00:00:33] SWOOSH

[00:00:33] 

[00:00:33] Melissa: welcome to Hyper Cast.

[00:00:35] Brianna: to hyper cast.

[00:00:36] Melissa: Hi, I'm Melissa Llewellyn Snider, an ADHD coach and educator.

[00:00:39] Brianna: [00:00:40] Hi, I'm Brianna Morton, a neuro affirming therapist and ADHD coach.

[00:00:43] Melissa: why is it important to discuss both a, DH, D and autism and the possibility of having both?

[00:00:48] Brianna: I think it's because of how it changes understanding of yourself.

[00:00:53] Melissa: Ah.

[00:00:54] Brianna: the, like first time you were diagnosed or suspected you had ADHD, [00:01:00] it changed how you viewed yourself. There might have been grief, you might relief, maybe you're like, oh, this finally makes sense. My life doesn't have to be this way.

[00:01:09] Brianna: there is a reason. There is like, yeah, like it makes sense. Like that's that kind of piece. And so if there are still pieces where you're [00:01:20] like, this isn't being managed by my meds or by my therapy, or by my accommodations, and there seems to be something else going on. It could be any number of the comorbidities, but obviously autism is the one that is the most hidden. 

[00:01:35] Melissa: hidden, I feel. Yeah.

[00:01:36] Brianna: when you're ADHD, which is the combination [00:01:40] term, your ADHD traits, hide autism traits, and your autism traits,

[00:01:44] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:01:44] Brianna: DH, ADHD

[00:01:45] Melissa: Absolutely.

[00:01:45] Brianna: you're stuck in this no man's land,

[00:01:49] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:01:49] Brianna: that's why up until 2013 you couldn't be diagnosed with both.

[00:01:56] Melissa: Full disclosure, I was diagnosed with autism on top of my [00:02:00] ADHD in the last six months. I feel like this is a continuous journey for me. That's why I really wanted to cover this topic because I can't be the only person that has a lot of feelings around this. 

[00:02:09] ​

[00:02:11] Melissa: can I have both ADHD and autism?

[00:02:13] Brianna: Yes.

[00:02:13] Melissa: the answer is yes, straight up. You can't have both.

[00:02:15] Brianna: you are legally allowed to have both. Congratulations.

[00:02:18] Melissa: I love that you said [00:02:20] legally allowed to have both. Um.

[00:02:22] Brianna: then you still had both, you just weren't, able to be diagnosed with both because they were exclusion criteria for the other one. But that doesn't prevent you from having had that experience. So

[00:02:33] Melissa: Yeah. there were many times over the years that I considered that I may have autism as well, but there were things that I [00:02:40] felt like, I would read the DSM or the criteria and I'd be like, I don't know if I fit that. like the DSM tells you something and it's not very clear about what this certain trait means.

[00:02:50] Melissa: And then later on you're like, oh, that thing I thought I did and it just made me a, a quirky child, isn't that I was a quirky child, it's that I was a child with autism.

[00:02:59] Brianna: [00:03:00] Yeah. let's briefly talk about the DSM because this is my other big issue, if you went in to get a diagnosis, 'cause you're like, there's something up, I'm different than everyone else and I don't know what's going on. I need some kind of guidance. Typically they'd give you an ADHD diagnosis

[00:03:17] Melissa: Mm-hmm.

[00:03:18] Brianna: with drugs, right?

[00:03:19] Melissa: Ooh. [00:03:20] Drugs. Yes.

[00:03:20] Brianna: Yeah. Uh, like the treatment was more straightforward. there was more understanding around it. There was less discrimination because 

[00:03:28] Brianna: with autism, there tends to be a wider spectrum of yes, you can be functional, that's level one. Or there is like functional with supports,

[00:03:37] Melissa: Mm-hmm.

[00:03:38] Brianna: that you're not functional, it's that you [00:03:40] need more supports, And they're like less willing to accept that.

[00:03:42] Brianna: one of the reasons you weren't diagnosed with autism as a child is because the DSM isn't written for you.

[00:03:49] Melissa: Yeah,

[00:03:49] Brianna: for white male children who fit a very specific archetype, 

[00:03:54] Melissa: I already felt like it was probably already a bit of an anomaly because I tend to mask very well, but I was [00:04:00] very hyper, so that was like the big, like ding, ding, ding, like a red flag. Something was going on. 

[00:04:04] Brianna: picked ADHD.

[00:04:05] Melissa: they picked ADHD, 

[00:04:06] Brianna: Yeah, 

[00:04:06] Melissa: and it even took them a while to figure that out. I masked really hard, like I did the things I was supposed to do to be a good little girl, right?

[00:04:13] Brianna: There's that societal, influence as

[00:04:15] Melissa: Yeah. 

[00:04:16] Brianna: good news on that front. We finally have [00:04:20] assessments that address that masking component. 

[00:04:23] Brianna: gold standard of autism assessment, which is the A DOS, doesn't always flag, 

[00:04:29] Melissa: yeah.

[00:04:29] Brianna: or high masking individuals or people who have multiple diagnoses.

[00:04:33] Brianna: So if there's trauma or if there actually is bipolar or some other comorbidity is there like an empathy override? [00:04:40] That is allowing you to be social. Is there some kind of high masking that is allowing

[00:04:44] Brianna: you to present as non-autistic?

[00:04:47] Melissa: one of the things that prevented me from Pushing to get a diagnosis was that social thing, because that, I, I thought because I could make eye contact, if I at least kind of know a person, I can make eye [00:05:00] contact with people, I can have a conversation with people.

[00:05:03] Melissa: I'm actually hypersensitive to people's emotions.and those things I felt like excluded me from being part of that club.

[00:05:10] Brianna: and up until recently. All of that was explained by ADHD, 

[00:05:15] Brianna: ADHD also has some social differences. 

[00:05:19] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:05:19] Brianna: all of [00:05:20] that masking all of the, like as we were saying, the A DH ADHD hides the autism. The autism hides the adhd. And so you're just stuck in the, I feel different, I feel broken. Someone help me, and they're like, well, you don't have anything 'cause nothing's coming up.

[00:05:30] Brianna: So I guess it's just anxiety,

[00:05:32] Melissa: 

[00:05:33] Melissa: there's different phases of learning to manage your ADHD. there's the phase for me where I got on medication [00:05:40] and I finally felt like I was on a level playing field and I could breathe a little bit. But then there's like.

[00:05:46] Melissa: Going through coaching, going through therapy, really digging deep and learning who I was and who I am on the spectrum of ADHD and how I function with ADHD. even like through all of this, I kept hitting walls where I'm like, what is [00:06:00] that thing? And there's nothing in the world of ADHD was explaining what I was experiencing. 

[00:06:05] Brianna: that's because the overlap is like if you have autism, it is 50 to 70%, uh, comorbid for ADHD. So if you have autism,

[00:06:14] Brianna: you're like really likely also to have ADHD 

[00:06:18] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:06:18] Brianna: And so that [00:06:20] crossover in social media, in diagnostic criteria, in experience is so hard to find that line for,

[00:06:26] Melissa: through this journey, I didn't realize until recently how much I was masking. 

[00:06:31] Melissa: I kept hitting walls and realizing there were things that I wasn't showing the world I would be exhausted and it's because I was [00:06:40] tolerating things that maybe I didn't need to tolerate or I could shift my perspective on.

[00:06:44] Brianna: once your ADHD is managed in whatever, if that's medication, if that's therapy, if that's, self-growth, great, but once it's managed, that's when the autism or the autism pieces like come forward 

[00:06:57] Melissa: Yep, exactly.

[00:06:58] Brianna: terms of like, [00:07:00] oh, now that I can regulate my emotions and I'm not hyperactive all the time, I actually find myself getting really drained in social situations or actually find myself getting overstimulated by light noise, textures, right?

[00:07:11] Brianna: And so where your ADHD was masking these things, now it's being controlled and monitored and regulated. autism pieces come [00:07:20] forward.

[00:07:20] Melissa: I was in my late twenties when I started on stimulant medication, and when I started taking it, I thought my real personality was emerging. And what was emerging were my autistic traits. 

[00:07:31] Brianna: very certain that's a common experience.

[00:07:34] Melissa: certain things emerge and that's not bad because there are parts of both sides of me, the ADHD side [00:07:40] and the autism side that actually really appreciate. 

[00:07:41] Brianna: were talking about. hiding each other. But actually what's happening is there's a balance, right?

[00:07:47] Melissa: Mm-hmm.

[00:07:47] Brianna: if you have autism and ADHD, there are pieces of your ADHD that are gonna support the autism and pieces of the autism that are gonna support the ADHD. There are also battles, like the

[00:07:59] Melissa: Oh [00:08:00] God,

[00:08:00] Brianna: routine and needing

[00:08:01] Melissa: yes.

[00:08:02] Brianna: always gonna cause conflict.

[00:08:03] Melissa: Yes. 

[00:08:04] Brianna: coming together to create a very like hyper smart, intelligent, problem solving type of person,

[00:08:12] Melissa: what I love is being able to combine that. Left brain analyst with the right brain creativity that comes with each of these things, and [00:08:20] then shove them into one brain I get both at once and when everything's in harmony and I'm balancing things out, amazing things happen 

[00:08:27] Melissa: That's what I love most. and when I'm reflecting on it, those are the times I actually feel the most grounded in me. Like the most me I am. 

[00:08:35] Brianna: all parts of your identity leads

[00:08:37] Brianna: to authenticity [00:08:40] and peace with yourself?

[00:08:41] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:08:42] Brianna: Crazy. That

[00:08:43] Melissa: it feels like I'm living in my like my true self. Like I'm actually living in my skin.

[00:08:47] Brianna: Wow. As like very common experience that people come up and say oh, I feel like an alien. I feel like I'm

[00:08:53] Melissa: Mm-hmm.

[00:08:53] Brianna: else's skin, like for the first time. You feel like you,

[00:08:57] Melissa: Yeah. and it's almost sensory, [00:09:00] like, because I know what it's like to be wearing itchy clothes or something that doesn't fit right, and it just keeps pulling the wrong direction, but for the first time, it feels like I don't have the wrong shirt on.

[00:09:11] Brianna: Yeah. I don't know if that hit listeners the same way that it hit me, but like, like that is such a perfect encapsulation of why I believe [00:09:20] so strongly in getting like a formal diagnosis. I do believe that self-diagnosis is valid, but knowing for certain hearing from a professional, having all of the testing, having all of the data to back you up in terms of like, this is real. It's not my imagination. I'm not making it up. And having that kind of reality check

[00:09:39] Melissa: the [00:09:40] official diagnosis is like someone else has given you the stamp,

[00:09:43] Woosh

[00:09:43] 

[00:09:44] Melissa: that in-between space not knowing that it was both. And then transitioning into knowing that it's both, I'd like to hear your perspective on being like, I kind of suspect to, yeah, no, it's real.

[00:09:59] Brianna: I'm claiming this [00:10:00] identity and that in between space.

[00:10:03] Melissa: I'm not gonna lie, I think I'm still on this journey. even after the diagnosis, it took me even months to be like, this is a thing, this is a thing that is part of me.

[00:10:12] Melissa: tell me about that. 

[00:10:13] Melissa: I felt like I was floating in space, because the world had given me a truth, but I [00:10:20] hadn't internalized it yet.

[00:10:21] Brianna: okay.

[00:10:22] Melissa: and that can be a little bit disorienting.

[00:10:25] Brianna: Yeah.

[00:10:26] Melissa: I think also seeing representatives

[00:10:28] Brianna: Mm-hmm.

[00:10:29] Melissa: people in the community that have autism that were like me, like someone who could actually make eye contact. it made me feel less alone. where I am on the spectrum, it made me feel like maybe I wasn't lying to the world [00:10:40] because I can present in a certain way.

[00:10:42] Brianna: that piece of like, am I lying? Am I lying to myself? Am I lying to other people? And like, I think that's the biggest difference. 'cause if you have ADHD and you're diagnosed with autism, you were born with both, like you've been living

[00:10:54] Melissa: Yeah,

[00:10:55] Brianna: the day-to-day doesn't really change.

[00:10:57] Brianna: What changes is your [00:11:00] self-acceptance?

[00:11:00] Melissa: I mentioned before those things that I was tolerating that were depleting me of energy those things I, I was tolerating, were sensory issues. They were things that fall in that purview of autism 

[00:11:11] Melissa: my way of dealing with it before was just to ignore it and mask

[00:11:14] Brianna: we have very low proprioception and very low bodily awareness. So a lot of the times it wasn't even like a [00:11:20] conscious

[00:11:20] Melissa: not at all.

[00:11:21] Brianna: it was like, I'm ignoring this 'cause I don't even perceive that it's happening to me. I'm at a constant level of discomfort and I don't even perceive it, 

[00:11:29] Melissa: the things that are ADHD traits, the things that are autism traits. For a long time I thought they were just the way everybody lived, everybody experienced.

[00:11:36] Melissa: And to find out that's not it at all, I've been struggling [00:11:40] and just trying really hard and somehow just like keeping my head above water and not drowning, just barely when everyone else is like doing a butterfly stroke to the finish line. Um, there was a reason for that, you know.

[00:11:54] Brianna: Yeah, I definitely grew up knowing I was different. for sure. I am also [00:12:00] questioning whether or not there's an AuDHD component for me, because when COVID hit. And just as many of our listeners or many neurodivergent people have experienced, like that took away structure.

[00:12:11] Brianna: That took away routine. I started reflecting on things and unmasking a little bit just 'cause I didn't have to people every day.

[00:12:16] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:12:17] Brianna: I'm like, is there something there?

[00:12:19] Brianna: And so [00:12:20] now I'm going back and looking at my entire childhood and thinking like, and, and I also diagnose, like I, as a therapist, I diagnose autism and DHD and I'm looking at all of these people coming in and I'm seeing all these different, representations of what autism looks like. I'm starting to see things that I never would've considered.

[00:12:38] Brianna: I, I would've fully associated with [00:12:40] ADHD. I thought I had the answer. I thought I

[00:12:41] Melissa: What are those things? I'm really curious.

[00:12:43] Brianna: The stereotypical is like, oh, they line up their trades and that's how they play. They just line up their little blocks and that's what they do. they don't have any friends.

[00:12:50] Brianna: They don't talk to people. And I'm like, that is like one experience. 

[00:12:55] Brianna: So if you are under the radar you're not a problem, you're not getting a [00:13:00] diagnosis.

[00:13:00] Melissa: a lot

[00:13:00] Brianna: of girls with autism have special interests in like makeup or fashion because it helps them blend in and fit in with other girls, 

[00:13:06] Melissa: unless you are having daily meltdowns, or there's something that's causing parental difficulties or difficulties in school, you're gonna get overlooked.

[00:13:14] WOOSH!

[00:13:14] 

[00:13:14] Melissa: there's a lot of things I'm realizing Neurotypicals don't do or experience.

[00:13:18] Brianna: it's such a weird experience going [00:13:20] through life and thinking this is how everyone thinks, this is how everyone functions. Everyone must be struggling like me because you don't have that other perspective.

[00:13:27] Melissa: I think it was ADHD love. they did this great short on what it's like to have audio processing issues. it like started slowly layering sounds over each other until it became a cacophony. I sent that to a family member and they're like, this is [00:13:40] what you experience all of the time.

[00:13:42] Melissa: And I'm like, yeah. 

[00:13:43] Brianna: But this is the feeling I'm talking about. This is the feeling

[00:13:46] Brianna: of I'm different, I'm broken. There's something weird with me. 'cause no one else seems to be struggling the way I'm struggling.

[00:13:51] Melissa: And the amazing thing is that the more I learned about myself I start seeing like the things in life that just like fit into the bucket.

[00:13:58] Melissa: those things that were left [00:14:00] over that I could not explain, just keep fitting into those buckets. 

[00:14:03] Brianna: And then once you see it, you can't unsee it.

[00:14:05] Brianna: Yeah. Which is a blessing and a curse. it's saving you energy, but also at the same time there is no going back. you have to forge a new path forward. There is no, I'd like to like close the curtains on this and go back 'cause it was easier before. No, you're gonna go through a hard time and it's gonna be [00:14:20] better out the other side, 

[00:14:21] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:14:22] Brianna: the process.

[00:14:23] Melissa: 

[00:14:23] Brianna: One of the like, reasons why I was so hesitant to accept that there was possibly an autism aspect for me as well is because of special interest versus hyper fixation because

[00:14:33] Melissa: hard.

[00:14:34] Brianna: Like what it's been with you since childhood. Lifelong deep dive.

[00:14:37] Brianna: the ADHD means that it's gonna switch and I'm gonna hyper [00:14:40] fixate on something for a bit and then it's gonna be novel. you need like that duality piece of, like, it's lasted a little bit longer

[00:14:45] Melissa: Mm-hmm.

[00:14:46] Brianna: a hyper fixation would've, but it's not a total special interest because you need novelty all the time.

[00:14:50] Brianna: And so there's all these pieces where it's like, well, I can't have this. And that's just leftover stigma and like leftover

[00:14:55] Melissa: Yeah. have you ever realized that things that you may consider, like an [00:15:00] ADHD hyper fixation may be like special interest adjacent, so it's really just like an extension of a special interest you've had for a very long time.

[00:15:08] Brianna: Yeah. Have considered this a lot and I would really like the DSM criteria to be written by a neurodivergent person

[00:15:17] WOOSH!

[00:15:17] Melissa: in my brain, I didn't need an autism diagnosis. [00:15:20] 'cause I already knew so much about it, so much about A-D-H-D-I was already had a diagnosis and medication and was accommodating

[00:15:27] Melissa: Mm-hmm.

[00:15:27] Brianna: And so what does that actually change

[00:15:29] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:15:29] Brianna: because it changes the language, it changes the

[00:15:31] Melissa: it changes the, the lens. it's like putting bifocals on when you need reading glasses, but you only have, glasses that let you see at a distance. 

[00:15:38] Brianna: exactly.

[00:15:39] 

[00:15:40] Brianna: now that you've realized that there's both what communication looks like now, 

[00:15:47] Brianna: Has that changed from ADHD to ADHD.

[00:15:50] Melissa: I think so. and also being aware what could trigger me.

[00:15:53] Brianna: Okay, so more self-awareness

[00:15:55] Melissa: Mm-hmm.

[00:15:55] Brianna: as that communication

[00:15:56] Melissa: Yeah. there was a change in some family meeting 

[00:15:59] Melissa: I expected the [00:16:00] meeting was happening. We were like helping family move furniture, but I didn't know there was gonna be a meal afterwards. 

[00:16:05] Melissa: I'm like, there's so much going on. do you mind if I take my own car so I can run away? it wasn't like I don't care, like I'm showing up because I care. But what if I. Don't wanna deplete all my spoons for the day.

[00:16:16] Melissa: What if I still have something else I need to do later? And,

[00:16:19] Brianna: [00:16:20] For yourself.

[00:16:21] Melissa: it's being aware. like thinking about it, I started to have anxiety 

[00:16:25] Melissa: now that there's the understanding, you're like, Hey, I actually need to be super aware of how I'm feeling in my body and not just ignore the discomfort.

[00:16:31] Melissa: Yeah, because the discomfort can overwhelm my nervous system and, both ADHD and autism can cover this, but there can be a big lack [00:16:40] of awareness of my emotions.

[00:16:41] Brianna: Yeah,

[00:16:42] Melissa: when I'm noticing that my chest is tight and I am breathing shallowly, that is probably not the first sign.

[00:16:48] Brianna: probably

[00:16:49] Melissa: Yeah, yeah.

[00:16:52] Brianna: something you said made me just wanna say this, like, there is a huge difference between meltdowns and shutdowns and what

[00:16:58] Melissa: Yep.

[00:16:59] Brianna: in [00:17:00] stereotype versus what that looks like in

[00:17:02] Melissa: In real life.

[00:17:03] Brianna: Yeah. 

[00:17:04] Melissa: can you expand on that a little bit? Because I feel like, the shutdown meltdown thing, there's also a spread from there.

[00:17:09] Brianna: So

[00:17:10] Melissa: I.

[00:17:10] Brianna: thing. think that like all. People on the spectrum are valid, right? Like the level ones all the way to the level threes and like whatever level of functioning you're [00:17:20] at. I don't wanna get too much into the oh, it should look like this, or it doesn't always have to look like that.

[00:17:24] Brianna: Realistically, sometimes it looks like exactly what you'd expect, like a five-year-old boy melting down in a store.

[00:17:29] Melissa: from my own, my own experience as someone who's level one. I can tell you even at that level, I've had toddler level meltdowns.

[00:17:38] Brianna: Yeah. But [00:17:40] that's not always the case. 

[00:17:40] Melissa: It's not always the case. Nope. Not at all.

[00:17:42] Brianna:  sometimes it is a meltdown that's internalized,

[00:17:46] Melissa: And there's been times for me where I've masked through.

[00:17:49] Brianna: Masking through. 

[00:17:49] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:17:50] Brianna: an unsafe situation and so you still have that masking aspect

[00:17:53] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:17:54] Brianna: where you are not letting anyone else around, you know what's going

[00:17:58] Melissa: Mm-hmm.

[00:17:58] Brianna: you finally run to [00:18:00] the bathroom And now you're like, can't breathe and you're crying and

[00:18:02] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:18:03] Brianna: Right. And then there's the shutdown piece, which can look nonverbal. It can look like a reduced ability to make eye contact, right? Like that's the spectrum. It's like, oh, shaking hands. you're just kinda looking at their nose instead of their eyes. That could be the first sign of a

[00:18:17] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:18:17] Brianna: but it could also be like a [00:18:20] complete nonverbal, 

[00:18:21] Melissa: Mm-hmm.

[00:18:22] Brianna: It looks like you're numb and apathetic and you're just kind of curled up in a ball, not really processing anything that's happening.

[00:18:27] Melissa: When I'm in really loud situations and I can't hear anything, and I'm trying really hard, I get to a point where I feel like. Like it just hopeless. I don't talk anymore.

[00:18:38] Brianna: [00:18:40] Yeah. 

[00:18:40] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:18:41] Brianna: like having a phone where you can text people,

[00:18:43] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:18:44] Brianna: Like sometimes I just don't wanna speak. in the same way that when you have a sore throat, you can't speak so you just text and show them the text or

[00:18:51] Melissa: way,

[00:18:51] Brianna: it

[00:18:51] Melissa: There's technology. 

[00:18:52] Melissa: I am learning to honor that depletion of energy so I don't completely run on e.

[00:18:59] Brianna: I think that's the [00:19:00] biggest difference in knowing is no longer running on empty. that is the piece that I hope everyone who is neurodivergent eventually reaches where they can at least run on half full.

[00:19:12] Melissa: if you keep trying to drive on empty, you're gonna break down.

[00:19:16] Brianna: Yeah.

[00:19:16] Melissa: Yeah.

[00:19:17] Brianna: the check engine light doesn't matter that it's [00:19:20] always blinking. It's just a fun little light, right?

[00:19:22] Melissa: Just put some tape over it, it'll be fine.

[00:19:25] Brianna: You do that with your own life though. You start to get other conditions, like your kidney

[00:19:31] Melissa: Exactly.

[00:19:32] Brianna: You'll get heart

[00:19:32] Melissa: I,

[00:19:33] Brianna: that's why there are remember the statistic about our lives are significantly

[00:19:36] Melissa: yeah, exactly.

[00:19:37] Brianna: we're rolling on empty, we're constantly [00:19:40] stressed, and when you're constantly stressed, the cortisol and your body starts to break things down a lot faster. that's why we have a decreased lifespan. 

[00:19:45] Melissa: Yeah. So stop running on E.

[00:19:48] Brianna: accommodate yourself.

[00:19:50] Melissa: And show some care and kindness to you and communicate with those around you. 'cause that also shows care and kindness.

[00:19:57] Brianna: Yeah.

[00:19:58] Melissa: and understanding. 

[00:19:59] Brianna: We need [00:20:00] t-shirts. Understanding and acceptance.

[00:20:02] Brianna: ​

[00:20:03] Brianna: the comorbidity between ADHD and autism is huge.

[00:20:06] Melissa: Yeah,

[00:20:07] Brianna: between 30 and 70% crossover, depending on what direction you're looking in, and awareness of both. Awareness of all of the aspects of the things that you are dealing with, all of the aspects of your identity is going [00:20:20] to help you function and live a life that is authentic and doesn't make you feel out.

[00:20:28] Melissa: no burnout. No one wants burnout. Hell no, we won't burnout. Um, okay if you're in need of further a DH ADHD support, you can find me@likemindcoaching.com.

[00:20:39] Brianna: [00:20:40] You can find me@understandingadhd.ca.

[00:20:43] Melissa: And until next time, bye.