Why We're Building This Platform
Being an autistic and/or ADHD adult is tough. We believe it doesn't have to be. We believe we could make a significant difference to the quality of life of autistic and ADHD adults if they had more, better support and ways in which they could help educate those around them more easily. Society would benefit too as autistic and ADHD minds have a lot of strengths despite their overly focused-on difficulties.
Autistic and ADHD people deserve more support. Society needs divergent thinking.
Despite a recent rise in slightly more positive rhetoric about autism and ADHD, we are wasting the potential of a great number of people because of a lack of understanding, accommodations and kindness.
Research is also lacking, especially based on adults and from the perspective of neurodivergent people rather than how neurodivergent people inconvenience or deviate from neurotypical people.
CONTENT WARNING: VARIOUS TOPICS LIKELY TO TRIGGER
Below are some statistics illustrating to how hard things can be for autistic and ADHD adults. We want to help shift some of these numbers towards more positive outcomes for ADHD and autistic people.
Treated as Insignificant & Misunderstood
But it's thought that at least double this percentage could actually be autistic or ADHD (and not all will be identified or know it themselves).
10%-15%
diagnosis rates increasing to and estimated to be in countries where there is more awareness and access to diagnosis.
And this isn't even accounting for people who don't seek a diagnosis but are autistic or ADHD.
There are big discrepancies in diagnosis across the world and based on gender, generation, age, ethnicity, cultural norms, and personal/family wealth. Research and ways of measuring prevalence also gets complex.
2.5M
autistic and ADHD people (estimated) undiagnosed in the UK (7.8% of the population).
However, the general trend is that more people are being diagnosed and/or are realising that they are autistic and/or ADHD thanks to greater awareness and more inclusive improvements in diagnostic criteria and practices.
31%
of autistics diagnosed during childhood are also considered intellectually impaired.
25%
of autistics diagnosed during childhood are also considered borderline intellectually impaired.
44%
of autistic children becoming adults with no intellectual impairments.
2%
of all autistic people are considered gifted. Sometimes referred to as Twice Exceptional. This is double the general population.
In particular, autism used to be linked with intellectual impairment (low IQ), but this often is diagnosed during childhood and so many high IQ adults were missed. This coupled with the number of adults never diagnosed makes a significant proportion of intellectually typical or gifted autistics. Although this analysis is flawed as IQ tests are based on standardised testing and many neurotypical standards.
8.8%
of ADHDers are also considered gifted, but the occurrence of intellectual disabilities doesn't seem as clear.
30%
of individuals aged 6 to 21 years with an intellectual disability also have ADHD, compared to 5-7% in the general population.
Knowledge and information is constantly developing and there are some dubious sources for information out there. Part of the difficulty is that although there are many shared experiences, everyone's profile is different and it takes a lot of ardent research and self-reflection to really get to grips with neurodivergence as a an adult. Especially if you've been navigating the world never quite fitting it but not sure why.
But the problem doesn't just stop at diagnosis (self or medical).
The world just isn't built for many autistic or ADHD minds.
There is also a negative bias towards news coverage of ASD and ADHD ().
And this is despite many of the world's greatest thinkers being neurodivergent and neurodivergent thinking being seen as essential for innovation, creativity and problem solving.
Unemployment Crisis
70%
of autistic people in the UK are unemployed.
And it's not because they are uneducated. In fact, this percentage is similar for autistic university graduates. Social norms, biases, and prejudices as well as a lack of understanding and support are often cited as the reason for such high unemployment rates.
Mental Health Crisis
60%
of autistic people have considered suicide. Over 3x greater than the general UK population (19%).
30%
of autistic people have attempted suicide. 5x greater than the general UK population (6%).
25x
more likely to make a suicide attempt if autistic.
1 in 4
female ADHDers in the UK has attempted suicide.
70-80%
of all autistic and/or ADHD people will have mental health problems e.g. depression, anxiety, phobias etc.
5x
more likely than the general population to attempt suicide if ADHD.
58%
of inpatients in mental health hospitals in the UK are autistic. Their average stay is around 5 years.
Misdiagnoses, Waiting Lists, & Medicalisation
Although considered by many as a natural variation of a human brain, autism and ADHD are considered medical conditions and medical disabilities.
Medication is available for some ADHDers but isn't suitable for all. There is no treatment for autism.
Up to 75%
of adults with autism and/or ADHD are misdiagnosed with another condition first. NB. How imprecise this stat and available research methodologies are!
2013
was when autism and ADHD could both be diagnosed in the same person
8 years+
to wait for an adult ADHD diagnosis in half of the UK in 2023
10 months
average wait for an adult autism diagnosis in half of the UK in 2023
5x
more people are seeking ADHD or autism diagnoses since 2019
Other Health Conditions
There are co-morbidities for autism and ADHD, many linked with chronic stress, emotional and sensory sensitivities:
- type 2 diabetes
- heart disease
- sleep problems including sleep apnoea, insomnia and restless leg syndrome
- autoimmune conditions
- POTS
- obesity or metabolic conditions
- chronic pain conditions
- GI issues
- hypermobility
- epilepsy
- headaches and migraines
- learning disorders
Social & Financial Hardships
12%
of houseless people are autistic.
79%
of autistic adults report feeling socially isolated, with many having no close friends.
Poverty is a problem for autistic adults although there is limited direct research.
People with ADHD are more likely to have debt, lower savings, and impulse spending issues. There is also a high prevalence of ADHDers in the houseless population.
Up to 8.1x
times more likely to be LGBTQIA+ (another minortised social group) than the general population if autistic.
ADHD people are more likely to be LGBTQIA+ (another minortised social group) than the general population, although exact statistics are lacking.