Paradoxical AuDHD: A Poem About Contradictions, Overwhelm, and Self-Understanding

On the Empower Students Now podcast, host Amanda Werner shares that she pursued an autism diagnosis at 43 after years of researching autism following her child’s 2021 diagnosis. During this time she was also diagnosed with ADHD, identifying as AuDHD. She describes feeling overwhelmed trying to organize her ideas into traditional formats and turns to poetry as a way to express the “messy” chaos of her mind. Amanda discusses stigma and misconceptions about ADHD and autism, including a “bandwagon effect” narrative, and argues that more diagnoses reflect increased information while autism may still be overlooked, especially when ADHD is diagnosed. She emphasizes the importance of teachers understanding neurodivergence and encourages exploring this co-occurance further. She then reads a poem listing AuDHD paradoxes and concludes that learning about neurodiversity has improved her self-acceptance.00:00 Late Autism Diagnosis01:04 Overwhelm and Chaos02:37 Why Poetry Helps03:50 Teachers and Undiagnosed Kids04:59 Stigma and Bandwagon Talk06:06 ADHD Parent Dismissal Story08:24 Why She Wrote This10:09 Poem Paradoxical AuDHD Poem13:22 Closing Reflections