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🎙️ Episode 9: Understanding AuDHD: Late Diagnosis and Diagnostic Levels

Episode Summary

In this episode of The AuDHD Psych Podcast, Aaron Howearth explores one of the most common and emotionally loaded experiences in the neurodivergent community: late diagnosis. Why are so many autistic and ADHD individuals missed in childhood? Why do diagnoses often come after years, or even decades, of anxiety, depression, or misdiagnosis?

Drawing from both clinical psychology and lived experience, Aaron explains how traditional diagnostic frameworks were historically built around externalising presentations, often observed in young boys. This has left many neurodivergent individuals, particularly internalisers, high-masking people, and those with higher-than-average intellect, unseen by clinicians.

Aaron also discusses diagnostic severity and support levels, challenging the idea that these labels describe fixed traits. Instead, impairment and severity are reframed as dynamic, context-dependent experiences shaped by environment, stress, confidence, and internal states.

This episode offers clarity, validation, and a compassionate perspective on how neurodivergent traits are understood and misunderstood within clinical systems.

Key Themes & Takeaways

• Late Diagnosis Explained - How historical diagnostic criteria centred on visible, external behaviours contributed to generations of missed neurodivergent individuals.
• Externalising vs Internalising Presentations - Why many autistic and ADHD traits remain unnoticed when distress is internalised, behaviours are masked, or difficulties are cognitively compensated for.
• Misdiagnosis Pathways - Exploring overlaps with anxiety disorders, OCD, and borderline personality disorder, and how neurodivergent traits can be misinterpreted.
• The Role of Intellect & Compensation - How higher cognitive ability can obscure challenges, delaying recognition and diagnosis.
• Mood & Cognitive Functioning - Understanding how anxiety, depression, stress, and overwhelm can amplify or conceal ADHD and autistic characteristics.
• Rejection Sensitivity & Minority Stress - How social exclusion and misunderstanding influence emotional experiences across neurodivergent lives.
• Diagnostic Severity & Support Levels - Why ADHD severity and autism support levels are not static identities but reflections of contextual demand.
• Contextual Impairment - How environment, expectations, stress, and confidence influence functioning and perceived difficulty.
• Reframing “Impairment” - Moving away from fixed deficit thinking toward a dynamic, neurodiversity-affirming understanding of challenges.

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Keywords: AuDHD podcast, late diagnosis, autism diagnosis, ADHD diagnosis, neurodiversity affirming psychology, diagnostic levels, ADHD severity, internalising presentation, masking autism, neurodivergent mental health, misdiagnosis, OCD vs autism, borderline personality and ADHD, anxiety and ADHD, Howearth Psychology

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Keywords: AuDHD podcast, autism and ADHD, neurodivergent psychologist, neurodiversity affirming, Howearth Psychology, queer psychologist, autism diagnosis, ADHD awareness, lived experience, neurodivergent mental health, clinical psychology podcast

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Keywords: AuDHD podcast, autism and ADHD, neurodivergent psychologist, neurodiversity affirming, Howearth Psychology, queer psychologist, autism diagnosis, ADHD awareness, lived experience, neurodivergent mental health, clinical psychology podcast

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The 7th Circle Audio Version of Ep 9 - If Audio quality is frustrating for you, please ignore this, and listen to the re-corded version Ep 9: Understanding AuDHD: Late Diagnosis and Diagnostic Levels

Due to an equipment fault, this recording has extremely poor sound. We apologise to those who have sensory sensitivity to sound. We have identified the lapel mic in question and kindly retired it from service with full honours.

We are leaving this version published in case there is a information or a framing of some of the ideas that is helpful to anyone that might not have been included in the re-recording.

Thanks for your support!

The AuDHD Psych Podcast.

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Keywords: AuDHD podcast, autism and ADHD, neurodivergent psychologist, neurodiversity affirming, Howearth Psychology, queer psychologist, autism diagnosis, ADHD awareness, lived experience, neurodivergent mental health, clinical psychology podcast

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“If the rule doesn’t make sense, it has no value to me.”

🎙️ Ep 8: Labels, their Utility & Lack Thereof

Episode Summary

In this episode of the AuDHD Psych Podcast, Aaron and Uma explore the intersection between gender diversity and neurodiversity, unpacking how autistic and neurodivergent ways of thinking can shape experiences of gender, identity, and self-understanding.

Aaron reflects on his own gender experience and how autistic logic, detail orientation, and a rejection of arbitrary social rules influenced his relationship with gender — including why he does not experience gender dysphoria in the same way many gender-diverse people do. The conversation expands into the lived realities of gender dysphoria for neurodivergent people, particularly how sensory differences can amplify discomfort and distress.

The episode also dives into what genuinely affirming gender care looks like, highlighting the importance of listening, accessibility, and avoiding harmful assumptions — such as the idea that gender diversity in autistic people is “just a special interest.” Finally, Aaron and Uma reflect on the power of community, advocacy, and shared support, especially for people navigating multiple marginalized identities.

Key Themes & Takeaways

• Gender and biological sex are not the same, and both exist on spectrums
• Autistic cognition often questions and rejects illogical social rules, including rigid gender binaries
• Gender dysphoria can be intensified by sensory sensitivities in neurodivergent people
• Gender-affirming care goes beyond pronouns to include sensory, environmental, and communication needs
• Viewing autistic gender diversity as a “special interest” is invalidating and harmful
• Advocacy requires energy — and it’s okay to need others to advocate with or for you
• Community is a powerful protective factor, especially at the intersection of neurodivergence and gender diversity
• Online spaces can be lifelines for connection, visibility, and belonging

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If you enjoyed this episode, please like, follow, subscribe, or share the podcast.
You can also support the show by engaging with us on social media or leaving a review — it really helps more people find these conversations.

Keywords: Autism, ADHD, AuDHD, neurodiversity, gender diversity, gender dysphoria, sensory processing, gender-affirming care, advocacy, community, neuroqueering, LGBTQIA+, intersectionality

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Keywords: AuDHD podcast, autism and ADHD, neurodivergent psychologist, neurodiversity affirming, Howearth Psychology, queer psychologist, autism diagnosis, ADHD awareness, lived experience, neurodivergent mental health, clinical psychology podcast