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WTF is AuDHD?
E28 | Dr Khurram Sadiq: Explaining AuDHD
Dr Khurram Sadiq - renowned psychiatrist and AuDHDer - joins us to help explain AuDHD. In this powerful first half of our conversation, we unpack his own diagnostic journey, what it means to live between ADHD and autism, and why this combination deserves more recognition. We explore how gender, culture, and systemic pressures influence diagnosis, and why many of us are missed or misunderstood for decades. Dr Sadiq also shares his perspective on whether ADHD and autism exist on a shared spectrum - and how we can begin to differentiate between similar traits. Part two of our chat is out next week!
Dr Khurram Sadiq's new book - Explaining AuDHD!
Key moments:
4:39 – Dr Sadiq shares his upbringing and the early signs of neurodivergence he experienced, including the emotional toll of trying to conform in a neurotypical world
15:04 – The unexpected journey that led him into mental health
17:20 – How Dr Sadiq came to be diagnosed as AuDHD himself
23:15 – What he now recognises in hindsight from his childhood and adolescence
26:13 – Why he chose to specialise in autism + ADHD - and what he's learned from that path
27:15 – How he believes neurodivergence should be diagnosed - and what’s missing in the current system
30:21 – Dr Sadiq breaks down how he defines ADHD, autism, and how they overlap
34:19 – A compelling story of a woman who denied her diagnosis - and what that says about stigma
36:35 – What really “causes” neurodivergent conditions? Dr Sadiq explains what the research tells us (and what it doesn’t)
37:45 – A fascinating hypothesis about genetics and brain development
41:35 – How gender, culture, and hormones all impact how neurodevelopmental conditions manifest - and why women and AFAB people are often missed
44:41 – How societal expectations around women’s roles can delay diagnosis and support
46:07 – How systemic pressure (not just individual traits) influences how autism and ADHD show up
48:45 – Are autism and ADHD truly separate conditions - or part of a shared spectrum?
50:58 – How to tell the difference between autistic “indifference” and ADHD “inattention"
52:58 – Distraction or sensory overload? Understanding how they can look the same but feel different
55:15 – Why some ADHDers speak without a filter, while autistic people often struggle with social nuance
58:30 – Is it over-talking, or talking with passion?
59:56 – The paradoxes of living with AuDHD - where traits seem to contradict themselves.
1:01:30 – Understanding the spectrum of autism: what's the difference between profound autism and levels 1–3?
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81. E81 | How Māori define ADHD and autism & trusting your gut after diagnosis - with Kate Manihera
41:55||Season 2, Ep. 81In this episode, we continue our conversation with Kate Manihera (aka DJ "Sexy Kate") - a late-diagnosed autistic/ADHD content creator, model, and DJ based in Aotearoa, New Zealand. After years of high-masking and high-achieving - from beauty influencing to a corporate career in Māori cultural strategy and organisational development - Kate's diagnoses in her late 20s sparked a full life reset: leaving her job, working through burnout, and rebuilding her career around what actually lights her up. Kate talks about navigating previous romantic relationships and what she's learnt about herself since. She also discusses the Māori concepts of aroreretini (ADHD) and takiwātanga (autism), which reframe neurodivergence as difference rather than deficit. Follow her at @katemanihera on Instagram, or check out her DJ sets on SoundCloud.The pre-order window is still open to purchase one of our WTF Journals as well! https://wtfjournals.com
80. E80 | The gifted kid who burned out every year - Kate Manihera on her late AuDHD diagnosis
45:45||Season 2, Ep. 80On today's episode, Ellie and Paige speak with Kate Manihera - a New Zealand-based content creator, DJ, model, and former makeup artist/beauty YouTuber who was diagnosed with ADHD at 26 and autism at 27.Since her late diagnosis, she's brought awareness and education around late-diagnosed ADHD and autism through content creation, alongside her modelling and an emerging DJ career! Kate chats about how she came to diagnosis, misdiagnoses she received, socially struggling (but appearing capable), masking and bullying, and Kate also shares helpful insight into her medication journey.Kate is Māori (an indigenous person of Aotearoa/New Zealand), and therefore brings a perspective the podcast hasn't featured before. We chat about masking, burnout, being "too much" and misunderstood, and learning to unmask and trust her authentic self. Next week, Kate joins us again to chat about relationships, managing her life and career and gives more insight into the Māori definitions of Autism and ADHD.We're so grateful for Kate's time and kōrero (conversation) - if you want to follow Kate, follow her HERE.Also, WTF Journals are now live! Well, the pre-order window anyway. Order now from wtfjournals.com - the pre-order window is open for three weeks.
79. E79 | WTF is going on with Channel 4's upcoming ADHD documentary?
53:39||Season 2, Ep. 79In this week's episode, Ellie and Paige answer a listener question about medication and their experience with Fluoxetine, we discuss an upcoming ADHD documentary and Paige highlights one of her fave journal inserts coming out next week.Some more context on the upcoming documentary - a couple of weeks ago Channel 4 announced a new ADHD documentary is in production and our first instincts solely based on the title were... uncomfortable? It's called The Great ADHD Myth?' and we thought it was important to have a nuanced discussion about this, based on what we know so far.The Great ADHD Myth? asks whether ADHD is actually a neurodevelopmental condition - or whether modern life is creating the behaviours we call ADHD. We chat about the questions the NHS Psychiatrist will be investigating in the documentary, whether we think, these will be helpful or harmful and discuss missed opportunities we think the content might be issing.Full disclosure; the documentary isn't out yet, so we're only able to base our chats on what we know from the above article, but we feel that even the article is purposely inflammatory and could be harmful, which is frustrating when we've spent years trying to remove so much stigma.Also, we're one week out from launching our journals - sign up before Tuesday 18th to become a Founding Member if you choose to purchase! https://wtfjournals.com/signupJoin our Reddit community to get involved in our conversations.
78. E78 | An infodump on the history of ADHD
41:20||Season 2, Ep. 78Ellie loves an infodump and today she's gone on a deep dive about the history of ADHD. Ever wondered when it was first mentioned in literature? Or why it became a 'disorder' in modern day society? Did ADHD always exist, or has it just become a 'thing' in the last 100 years?ADHD might feel like a modern diagnosis, but the traits we associate with it have been described for centuries - from early descriptions of attention and hyperactivity, to the diagnosis entering the DSM, and the question of what ADHD might have looked like before modern society. We explore theories that some ADHD traits may have been advantageous in certain environments, and discuss that perhaps the manifestation of ADHD is heavily influenced by a mismatch between brains and the world we're living in.Check out Dr. Russell Barkley's YouTube ChannelCitation #1: Dan TA Eisenberg, Benjamin Campbell, Peter B Gray, Michael D Sorenson - An exploration of nutrition indices among nomadic and recently settled Ariaal men of northern KenyaCitation #2: David L. Barack et. al - Attention deficits linked with proclivity to explore while foragingSign up to become a Founding Member for WTF JournalsLINKTREE
77. E77 | Why can't I just organise my life?!
52:15||Season 2, Ep. 77Why is it that we can be incredibly capable, creative and motivated, but somehow struggle to organise our own lives? We've spent our whole lives trying to create routines, stick to planners, build systems and pretty much everytime, we abandon them, forget about them, or decide we've failed the moment we miss a day. This has led to years of shame, low self esteem, burnout - you name it!In this episode, we talk about our experiences with executive dysfunction, and reveal why sometimes we're just lacking the flint to our fire - once the fire is going, we can find momentum, but the systems in today's world aren't kind to our brains. We unpack why traditional systems can be so difficult for AuDHD brains - and why sometimes, we don't need more discipline - w just need the right flint to get the fire started.After years of struggling, we've created our own customisable journal system and we're hoping it helps you too!Sign up to become a WTF Journal Founding Member - (includes $10 off your first order)
76. E76 | Learning how to listen to physical manifestations of stress
51:06||Season 2, Ep. 76Stress affects everyone, but sometimes we don't always become aware of it until it's too late. In this episode, Ellie and Paige talk about their experiences with stress and how they've learnt to look for physical signs early. The body and mind are super connected, but Westernised medicine generally doesn't approach this holistic ideology, leading to a disconnect between your thoughts and feelings, and what your body is trying to say. After Ellie's body recently burnt out, she's trying to learn how to identify it earlier and encourage others to listen to their bodies too. We ask our listeners how stress manifests physically in them, and there are a lot of clear themes that come up. Hopefully this episode will help you identify early signs of stress, be kinder to yourself and not always feel you have to "push through".Join the conversation by joining our Reddit!
75. E75 | Disclosing your diagnosis to employers and healthcare professionals
53:51||Season 2, Ep. 75This week, we've swapped places and now Paige has been sick! So in the spirit of accommodating ourselves, but still providing you with some fun, we're continuing to answer your questions. We chat about light-hearted subjects like our star signs, to giving our opinions on disclosing your diagnosis to healthcare professionals and potential employers. We discuss how we balance our lives to avoid burnout (spoiler alert: we're still workjing on it) we finally reveal "the hill we will die on".Thanks for your patience as we both get back to full health - we'll be back with a proper episode next week!Sign up to h ear more about our journals wtfjournals.com/signup
74. E74 | Ellie and Paige answer your questions
42:35||Season 2, Ep. 74Full disclosure - Ellie is super sick this week and because we self-produce this, we needed an accessible, low-effort topic, that would still be interesting to you - so we opened up your questions!Did we used to fight as kids? What are we watching at the moment? Our go-to meals? What is our fave part of being AuDHD? And more! Join our Reddit to participate in future conversations with us.
73. E73 | The sensory struggles of clothing and societal expectations
44:22||Season 2, Ep. 73We have both struggled with clothing for our entire life - it's a double-prong of sensory icks and societal expectations that really drive us up the wall. For many neurodivergent people, clothes can be a daily sensory battle, so in this episode, we chat about our favourite "safe clothes", why certain fabrics make us want to crawl out of our skin, the emotional side of getting dressed, the societal expectations of gender-based dressing and general social decorum, and why comfort should always win over fashion!SOCIAL @wtfisaudhdpodcast