A Seed Talks Touring Lecture
The Science
of AuDHD
Autism. ADHD. Both at once. A touring talk on the diagnosis that wasn’t possible until 2013 — and the science, the lived experience and the system that failed to notice.
Get Tickets 🎟A diagnosis the system couldn’t see
Autism and ADHD couldn’t be diagnosed together until 2013. Decades of research excluded one if you had the other. We’re only now catching up.
The paradox
Autism craves routine. ADHD makes routine impossible. Walking contradictions, meet the research that finally takes you seriously.
Context is everything
The child punished for talking too much. The adult paid to talk for a living. Same trait. Different room. Not a superpower — a context.
What the evidence says
Stimulants are the most efficacious medicine in all of psychiatry. They cut suicide risk, cut substance abuse. You know within 20 minutes.
About the Talk
40–60% of autistic people also have ADHD. For most of medical history, you couldn’t have both. One diagnosis excluded the other, and decades of research was built on that split. The picture we’re only starting to see is a lot more interesting.
This touring lecture walks through what the science actually shows: the 8 senses (not 5), why “excessive talking” is the most subjective diagnostic criterion in medicine, how internal distractibility can be worse than external, why girls and women were missed for so long, and what happens when ADHD medication unmasks the autism underneath.
It’s also a lived-experience talk. Four years facing a wall at the back of a classroom. School reports that said “we are going to have to curb this streak of independence.” Teachers who told a child that school was better when he wasn’t in it. And the three teachers — and one mother — who changed everything.
Followed by a Q&A.
What to expect
Content notice: references to childhood bullying, educational trauma and suicidal ideation. Handled with care, but please look after yourself.
From our guests
“So, so good. I wish I had access to this 15/20 years ago — my life could have been so different.”
“James is a brilliant and knowledgeable speaker, explaining lots of complex ideas in an easy to understand way. The Q&A replies were so thoughtful and interesting.”
“Perfect mix of science, intelligence and humour.”
Too much, too loud, too you
The research is finally catching up. Come and hear where it’s got to.
See Tour Dates 🎟