Book Review: Explaining AuDHD: The Expert-led Guide to Autism and ADHD Co-concurrence, by Khurram Sadiq

Explaining AuDHD is an excellent book, written by Khurram Sadiq, a Consultant Neurodevelopmental Psychiatrist who leads the ADHD services at Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and the South East London Integrated Care System. He specializes in treating both autism and ADHD, and is AuDHD himself. While AuDHD is not an official diagnosis, it is a term used by the neurodivergent community to describe those who qualify for both an autism and ADHD diagnosis. In this book, he reviews the traits of autism, the traits of ADHD, and then gives information, using case examples to illustrate, of what having both diagnoses may look like for individuals. He reviews the latest science on brain research, as well as the latest research showing that these diagnoses co-occur about 50-70% of the time. His recommendation for psychologists is that if they are assessing for one of these diagnoses, the other should be included in the differential as well. He also gives recommendations for mental health treatment, medication treatment, for further research on this topic, and he addresses concerns that AuDHD is ‘just a TikTok diagnosis.’ His use of case examples, along with his own experiences with being AuDHD, helped give context to the research and data shared. I highly recommend this book for mental health clinicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, and anyone who may themselves be AuDHD (or are diagnosed as autistic or ADHD and wonder if they might have the other). My only complaint was that I felt it could have been more in depth, but this is a great start for anyone who would like to know more. This book is available in print, on ebook, or audio.

Image Description: Picture of the front cover of a white book with blue lettering that states from top to bottom: “Explaining AuDHD: The Expert-led Guide to Autism and ADHD Co-concurrence, by Khurram Sadiq.”