What actually happens in an adult autism assessment, and is it worth it? In this deep dive, I sit down with Dr. Jess Hogan, a fellow AuDHD psychologist, to demystify adult autism, ADHD, and AuDHD assessments: where to start, what affirming assessment looks like, and the red flags to watch for.

This conversation is for late-identified and self-identified Autistic, ADHD, and AuDHD adults, and for clinicians who want to assess in a more affirming way.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Why assessments feel so mysterious 

2:04 Should I get assessed? Benefits, identity, and imposter feelings 

6:24 Knowing your why: identity vs. disability services 

8:00 Where to start (and misdiagnosis vs. diagnostic overshadowing) 

12:35 Types of assessments: neuropsych, comprehensive, and ADHD-specific 

14:51 Why everyone's assessment experience is so different 

18:56 Private vs. insurance, and who can diagnose 

26:40 Masking, compensation, and non-stereotypical presentations 

32:36 Measures explained: CAT-Q, MIGDAS-2, DIVA-5 34:54 Questions to ask a potential assessor (and how to prepare) 

39:35 "You're not autistic": second opinions 

42:22 ADHD vs. autism assessments, and screeners vs. diagnostics 

50:02 Childhood history (and when parents can't help) 

55:17 AuDHD: when traits mask each other 

1:03:38 Leaving a bad-fit assessor, and the good enough therapist

In this conversation, we explore:

→ Whether an adult autism or ADHD assessment is worth pursuing

→ Misdiagnosis, missed diagnosis, and diagnostic overshadowing

→ Neuropsych vs. comprehensive vs. affirming assessment models

→ How masking and compensation strategies hide autism and ADHD from assessors

→ The measures used in affirming assessments (MIGDAS-2, DIVA-5, CAT-Q)

→ What to do if a parent can't (or won't) confirm your childhood history

→ How AuDHD traits cancel each other out during assessment

→ How to exit a non-affirming assessment process

About Dr. Megan Anna Neff:

Dr. Megan Anna Neff is an Autistic-ADHD clinical psychologist, founder of Neurodivergent Insights, and author of Self-Care for Autistic People and The Autistic Burnout Workbook. She creates research-grounded, identity-affirming resources for neurodivergent adults and the clinicians who support them.

Check out more at neurodivergentinsights.com

About Dr. Jess Hogan:

Dr. Jessica Hogan (she/her) is a Chickasaw, AuDHD, queer, cisgender, hard-of-hearing, and chronically ill licensed clinical psychologist practicing in Minnesota, California, and PSYPACT states. She is the founder of Neuron & Rose, a neurodiversity-affirming practice where she leads an assessment training program for doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows. She also runs The Divergent Clinician, where she trains clinicians in affirming autism and ADHD assessment. 

Website (Neuron & Rose): https://www.neuronandrose.com

The Divergent Clinician: https://www.thedivergentclinician.com

AuDHD and OCD overlap in ways that make all three hard to see clearly, and most of us don't get language for it until we've been confused by these patterns for years.This video is for AuDHD adults, late-diagnosed Autistic and ADHD people who suspect OCD might be in the mix, and clinicians working at the intersection. We walk through where they overlap, and how to begin teasing apart what is what — including practical questions you can ask yourself in the moment.📩 If you'd like to go deeper, here's the full article on ADHD, autism, and OCD: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/adhd-vs-autism-vs-ocd/In this video, we explore:→ Why OCD often gets missed when ADHD or autism are already in the picture→ How working memory shows up differently in ADHD vs OCD vs AuDHD→ The difference between ADHD compensation and OCD compulsion (and how they can spiral into each other)→ Why autistic people need routines — and how that's different from OCD avoidance→ A predictive-processing explanation of why familiarity matters→ How to tell an autistic ritual from an OCD compulsion (look for the logic)→ What shows up at the three-way intersection — sensory sensitivities, BFRBs, executive function strain→ A starting place for noticing your own patterns with curiosity instead of judgementOCD commonly co-occurs with both autism and ADHD, and clinical observation suggests rates may be higher for AuDHD folks specifically. The overlap with predictive processing, executive functioning, and sensory differences means this work benefits from both neurodivergent-affirming accommodations AND targeted treatment for OCD — not one or the other.

The autism rate in the U.S. has risen from 1 in 150 to 1 in 31 over the past two decades. But the story behind that number is far more nuanced than the headlines suggest. In this conversation, Dr. Megan Anna Neff and Dr. Donna Henderson walk through the history of autism in the DSM, the systemic shifts driving increased recognition, and why "epidemic" framing misses the point.

This video is for Autistic adults, late-diagnosed people, clinicians, parents, and anyone who has been asked "why is autism on the rise?" and wanted a deeper, more grounded answer to offer.

📩 If you want to go deeper on this topic, we have a visual guide and transcript available alongside this video on our website:https://neurodivergentinsights.com/episodes/why-is-autism-on-the-rise/

Two Autistic burnout authors in conversation for the first time. Dr. Megan Anna Neff sits down with Amelia Nagoski, co-author of Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, to talk about what it means to complete the stress cycle when you're Autistic, alexithymic, and your body doesn't always tell you when it's stressed.

They cover the science of the stress cycle, why removing the stressor doesn't remove the stress, alexithymia and interoception, sensory-based ways to find safety, Autistic persistence as strength and risk, the link between autism and long COVID, and why collective care (not self-care) is the real path out of burnout.

When autism is identified first, ADHD can hide in plain sight, tucked behind the structure, the routines, and the focused intensity that autistic neurology creates. If you've been told your focus looks "fine" while you're quietly drowning in cognitive noise, half-finished tasks, and a nervous system that won't settle, this video explores what might be going on underneath.

This video is for AuDHD adults, late-identified Autistic people exploring whether ADHD is also part of their experience, and clinicians working with neurodivergent clients.

If you want to go deeper, I wrote a companion article that maps out all six patterns in detail:

https://neurodivergentinsights.com/adhd-hides-autism/

• How autistic routines and structure can compensate for and hide ADHD distractibility

• Why shutdowns and meltdowns get attributed to autism alone, missing the ADHD cognitive overwhelm

• The difference between autistic inertia and ADHD task paralysis, and how both can operate at once

• How special interests can mask ADHD novelty seeking (the "special interest solar system")

• Why quiet, inattentive ADHD is especially vulnerable to being missed when autism is already known

• How monotropism can look like excellent focus while ADHD fragments attention outside that channel

• Defensive monotropic mode: when deep focus becomes an escape from ADHD overwhelm

• Diagnostic overshadowing from co-occurring mental health conditions

If you’ve been told “it’s just ADHD,” there may be autistic traits hiding in plain sight under AuDHD. In this episode, I walk through six 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, we explore how diagnostic overshadowing shows up in real life 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 and resources:
https://neurodivergentinsights.com/adhd-hides-autism

In this episode, 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

This episode is for education only. It is not medical advice and is not therapy.

More from Neurodivergent Insights:

• Weekly newsletter and resource vault: https://newsletter.neurodivergentinsights.com/resource-vault

• Self-Care for Autistic People: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/self-care-for-autistic-people/

• The Autistic Burnout Workbook: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/autistic-burnout-workbook/

• Workbooks and tools: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/workbook/

• Trainings: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/trainings/

• Website: https://neurodivergentinsights.com

#AuDHD, ADHD, autism, diagnostic overshadowing, adult neurodivergence

AuDHD is a community-created identity term for people who are both autistic and ADHD. In this episode, Dr. Megan Anna Neff—ADHD and Autistic clinical psychologist, founder of Neurodivergent Insights, and author of Self Care for Autistic People and The Autistic Burnout Workbook—explains what AuDHD means, why it isn’t a formal DSM diagnosis, and why so many people describe discovering the term as a “lightbulb moment.”

You’ll learn why AuDHD isn’t simply “ADHD + autism,” but a dynamic interplay that can create a familiar “push–pull”: structure vs novelty, quiet solitude vs loud impulsivity, deep focus vs overwhelm with “pingy thoughts,” and more. Dr. Neff also shares why language matters—how naming our experience can reduce shame and increase self-compassion—and what’s coming next in future Neurodivergent Insights episodes on diagnosis, burnout, energy, and daily life.

Follow/subscribe to Neurodivergent Insights for more conversations on AuDHD, autism, ADHD, and neurodivergent education and resources.

Note: This episode is educational and not medical advice.

Have you ever been so overwhelmed you know you need self-care… but choosing what to do feels impossible?
In this episode, Dr. Megan Anna Neff (Autistic-ADHD clinical psychologist) and Brett from Neurodivergent Insights talk about why autistic self-care is different—especially for late-discovered autistic adults—and how to build support that works in the moment, not just in theory.

We also dig into Dr. Neff’s newest release, Self-Care Activities for Autistic People, a card deck of 100 step-by-step exercises designed to reduce decision fatigue and executive function load—so you can reach for something supportive right now.

You can learn more about the new card deck here: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/self-care-for-autistic-people-card-deck/?srsltid=AfmBOoqYaJIefAKDIK4oo3Og5YaFMNzwX56mX5FIcVcRAOd0R6QXveAJ

n this episode, we cover:

• Why self-care can feel impossible when you’re overwhelmed
• What autistic self-care really means (and why generic advice often fails)
• How to use a step-by-step approach to reduce decision fatigue
• Ways to build a small “go-to” stack for burnout, anxiety, and overstimulation
• Relearning how to trust your body’s signals—on your terms

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.Each video offers practical tools, grounded explanations, and honest conversations about sensory health, burnout, masking, identity, and everyday neurodivergent life, living with ADHD and Autism.

Learn more and sign up for our newsletter at: https://neurodivergentinsights.com/

If mindfulness has ever made you feel foggy, sleepy, restless, or more activated, this episode is for you.

In Part 2 of our conversation on Mindfulness and being Neurodivergent, Brett and Dr. Megan Anna Neff (creator of Neurodivergent Insights) explain why mindfulness can be uniquely challenging for neurodivergent people—especially ADHD—and how it often comes down to arousal dysregulation.

For many ADHDers, being still can nudge the nervous system toward hypoarousal (foggy, checked out, shut down), and the body compensates by fidgeting, tapping, or seeking stimulation just to get back online.

Then we get practical with Mindfulness on the Go—ways to build mindfulness that work with your nervous system: movement, music, walking, and tactile options, without pressure to do it perfectly.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why stillness can backfire for ADHD and neurodivergent nervous systems
• What hypoarousal can look like in everyday life
• Why fidgeting can be regulation (not failure)
• “Mindfulness on the Go”: active approaches that actually work
• A simple tool for distance from thoughts: “I’m noticing I’m having the thought…”

Want the foundation first? Part 1 is linked in the show notes.

Links & resources: Add in your show notes (Part 1 link, website, newsletter, recommended resources):

Things Might Go Terribly, Horribly Wrong: A Guide to Life Liberated From Anxiety: https://amzn.to/4qYJxffACT Made Simple: An Easy-to-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: https://amzn.to/3NUTBYrPart 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZhVKn78ADENeurodivergentInsights.comNewsletter: https://newsletter.neurodivergentinsi...Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1LCaz1g...This video is not medical advice and is not to be considered therapy. 📩 Resources + weekly newsletter: https://newsletter.neurodivergentinsi... • 📚 Dr. Neff’s books: Self-Care for Autistic People: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1507221932?... • 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...

Spotify Q&A: When you try mindfulness, what happens most—calmer, foggier/sleepier, more restless, or more anxious?

If mindfulness has ever made you feel more anxious, itchy, overwhelmed—or like you’re “doing it wrong”—you’re not alone.

In Part 1, Brett and Dr. Megan Anna Neff (autistic + ADHD clinical psychologist and creator of Neurodivergent Insights) talk about why the most common definition of mindfulness—“empty your mind” or “sit still and force calm”—can be especially distressing for neurodivergent nervous systems.

Together, we reframe mindfulness into something more accessible: shifting from an evaluative mind (judging, fixing, debating) to an observing mind (noticing with curiosity). We also share practical language you can use to create distance from sticky thoughts—without arguing with them.
In this episode, we cover:

• Why we're not “empty our mind” (and why it backfires for many ADHDers)
• Observing mind vs. evaluative mind
• The “fix-it/force-it” trap and how to soften it
• A simple phrase that helps: “I’m noticing I’m having the thought…”

Next up: Part 2 drops next week, where we connect mindfulness to ADHD arousal dysregulation and Mindfulness on the Go.

Links & resources:

📌 Resources + links:Things Might Go Terribly, Horribly Wrong: A Guide to Life Liberated From Anxiety: https://amzn.to/4qYJxffACT Made Simple: An Easy-to-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: https://amzn.to/3NUTBYrPart 2:    • Mindfulness on the Go: Why Stillness Backf...  NeurodivergentInsights.comNewsletter: https://newsletter.neurodivergentinsi...Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1LCaz1g...This video is not medical advice and is not to be considered therapy. 📩 Resources + weekly newsletter: https://newsletter.neurodivergentinsi... • 📚 Dr. Neff’s books: Self-Care for Autistic People: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1507221932?... • 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...

Spotify Q&A: What part of mindfulness feels hardest for you—stillness, racing thoughts, body sensations, or self-judgment?