Autism and ADHD (AuDHD) assessment for women
Do you think you might be AuDHD?
Are you left thinking "yes, but also no" after reading our page on autism? Autism and ADHD together is a whole different thing!
- Do you love being with other people and yet find socialising awkward and tiring?
- Do you crave excitement but get easily overwhelmed?
- Do you need everything to be the same and predictable but also need change and new things?
- Do you want to do all the things, yet need to do them all perfectly, so feel stuck and end up doing nothing?
- Do you need routine but can't stick to it?
Maybe you're both autistic and ADHD, or as it is often known AuDHD.
It's confusing as your needs and preferences seem to contradict each other. This could be due to the 'push and pull' nature of autism and ADHD combined.
We specialise in assessing AuDHD in women. In fact, we strongly recommend a combined assessment if you're wondering about them both. They often go hand in hand in women who are expert 'maskers'.
What is an AuDHD assessment?
'AuDHD' simply means being both autistic and ADHD. An AuDHD assessment is a combined autism and ADHD assessment carried out together, by the same clinician, in one joined-up process — rather than two separate assessments that each only see half the picture.
We do it this way on purpose. Autism and ADHD overlap enormously, and they also pull against each other in ways that are hard to understand when you look at only one of them. Assessing both together gives a genuinely holistic picture of how your mind works — which is what makes the difference between a report that 'sort of' fits and one that finally makes sense of your life. We find you're more likely to ‘reach diagnosis threshold’ (a yukky but unavoidable term as these are diagnostic assessments, although we aim to make them more meaningful than that) if you are assessed for both together as each diagnosis can be understood in the context of the other.
Why we assess autism and ADHD together
When autism and ADHD occur together, we tend to see a lot of apparent contradictions — a kind of tug-of-war in the brain, where different needs, drives and preferences seem to pull in opposite directions at once.
That might look like:
- Loving routine and structure, while also needing constant novelty and stimulation — so you find it genuinely hard to stay in a routine.
- Being excited about a holiday, packing early and researching it all — then struggling to settle once you're there, and dysregulated again on the way home.
- Keeping one drawer, or one corner, immaculately organised while everything around it is chaos.
- Seeking out sensory stimulation — loud music, a busy night out — and then crashing afterwards, completely overwhelmed.
- Being the life and soul in some situations, and needing a lot of alone time in others.
None of that is inconsistency or "being difficult." It's two neurological systems, with different needs, in one person — and it's exactly what a combined assessment is designed to understand.
The overlap of autism and ADHD in women
Autism and ADHD share a great deal — differences in attention, sensory experience, emotional regulation, and social energy — but the way they combine is unique to each person. Because we have a particular depth of interest and knowledge in this overlap, we don't treat it as an afterthought. It's central to how we assess.
Why AuDHD is so often missed in women
So many women reach adulthood without anyone recognising they're autistic, ADHD, or both — because they mask, they cope, and they don't fit the stereotype most people (and many professionals) were taught to look for. Traits get read as anxiety, as being "highly strung," "difficult," or "too much." A combined, women-centred assessment is designed to see what's really going on underneath the masking.
What happens during your assessment
We keep the process clear and supportive from the very first contact. Although you’re likely to have been thinking and possibly researching AuDHD, there's nothing you need to prepare at the start, and nothing you need to have figured out in advance — that's our job.
Step 1 - Your screening call
The first step is a 30-minute screening call with one of our clinicians. We'll talk through the traits and experiences you recognise in yourself, and check whether there are enough indicators for a full autism and/or ADHD assessment — and whether we're the right service for you. There's no pressure and nothing to prepare; we ask the right questions and guide you through. Book your screening call
Step 2 - The full assessment
If an assessment is the right next step, we carry out an in-depth, combined autism and ADHD assessment. To clarify, if you reach diagnostic threshold for both, you will reach separate diagnoses of autism and ADHD. There is currently no diagnosis of AuDHD.
We go deep and leave no stone unturned — because we want to understand you as a whole person, not just as tick boxes. We're not led by standardised questionnaires: we may use them, but our real focus is learning about your experiences, from you, looking beneath the masking that so many women have spent a lifetime having to use to cope.
You can either be assessed online or in person. Our in-person locations are in Cheshire at our lovely HQ or in Central London. There is more detailed information about our various locations here.
Step 3 - Report and what happens next
You'll receive a clear, strengths-based report written in neuroaffirming language. It's designed to help you understand yourself — not to pathologise you — and to give you the vocabulary and self-understanding to advocate for what you need going forward.
How long does it take?
We typically offer a first appointment within 6-8 weeks of payment for online assessments and 8-12 weeks for in-person assessments, and your finalised report follows around four weeks after your final appointment. Timescales can vary a little where things are more complex — we'll always keep you informed.
Our approach — neuroaffirming and women-centred
Everything we do is compassionate, trauma-informed and neuroaffirming. We don't pathologise, and we don't measure you against a 'neuronormative' standard. We work from a strengths-based approach throughout — including in your report — because understanding your brain from a positive framework is what allows self-compassion, self-acceptance, and the confidence to advocate for yourself.
Assessment for women, by a neurodivergent team
Many of us on the assessing team are autistic and ADHD ourselves. So this comes from lived experience as much as clinical expertise — we understand masking, the push-pull of AuDHD, and the relief of finally having language for it, because we've been there too.
Who carries out your assessment?
Your assessment is carried out by our specialist clinical team, who focus specifically on how autism and ADHD present in women. All of our clinicians are registered with the appropriate professional body (either HCPC or RCN). You can find out about our team on the meet the team page.
Is an AuDHD assessment right for you?
There's no single way to be autistic or AuDHD, and no 'right' reason to seek an assessment. Whether you're just beginning to wonder, or you've suspected for years, understanding yourself can be genuinely life-changing — and it's never too early to start the conversation. If any of this resonates, the best next step is simply a screening call.
Book Your screening call
If this sounds like the right process for you, book your 30-minute screening call today. There's no pressure — just a conversation.
Frequently asked questions