Bottom-Up Processing
Building understanding from sensory details upward rather than concept-down. AuDHD brains often notice everything before the big picture.
See age-by-age examples →AuDHD
A toolkit for the contradictions of AuDHD — where autism's need for predictability meets ADHD's hunger for novelty.
11 of 11 terms
Building understanding from sensory details upward rather than concept-down. AuDHD brains often notice everything before the big picture.
See age-by-age examples →Pursuing novelty, intensity or interest to feel engaged. The ADHD half of the brain demands stimulation; the autistic half wants predictability.
See age-by-age examples →Stuck between activities — can't start, can't stop. Not laziness; the brain is genuinely struggling to switch state.
See age-by-age examples →Engages with what's interesting, novel or urgent rather than important. AuDHD attention isn't broken — it's wired differently.
See age-by-age examples →Hiding autistic traits AND ADHD traits in different ways across the day. Doubly exhausting; doubly invisible.
See age-by-age examples →Crashing after intense hyperfocus on a special interest, with no spare bandwidth for daily demands.
See age-by-age examples →An anxiety-driven, autonomy-protective response to any perceived demand. Common in AuDHD profiles.
See age-by-age examples →Ventral (safe), sympathetic (fight/flight) and dorsal (freeze/shutdown). AuDHD nervous systems flip between these faster and harder.
See age-by-age examples →Intense emotional pain from real or perceived rejection, criticism or failure. Common in ADHD and often amplified in AuDHD.
See age-by-age examples →Seeking some inputs (loud music, spinning) while avoiding others (clothing tags, certain smells) — sometimes within the same minute.
See age-by-age examples →A way to talk about limited daily energy. AuDHD kids start with fewer spoons and burn them faster than peers.
See age-by-age examples →