A student who needs the same plan every single week, and who is bored with that plan by the third worksheet. A child who is thrown when the session runs late, yet can't sit still long enough to finish one page. If you have tutored that student, you may have already met AuDHD.
This guide explains what the term means, why you may meet it before anyone names it, and how to plan a session that gives a student both a steady routine and room to move.
Sources: Statistics Canada, 2026; American Psychiatric Association, 2025
What is AuDHD?
AuDHD is an informal, community-made word for someone who is both autistic and has ADHD. It is not a separate diagnosis. A student may have both diagnoses, one diagnosis with traits of the other, or no diagnosis on paper yet.
The two often travel together. A meta-analysis of more than 50 studies, summarized by the American Psychiatric Association, found that 39 percent of autistic people also had ADHD (American Psychiatric Association, 2025). In Canada, the share of children with a diagnosed attention deficit disorder rose from 6.7 percent to 9.6 percent between 2019 and 2024, and the share with autism from 2.0 to 3.8 percent (Statistics Canada, 2026). More of the students on your list will carry one of these labels, and some will carry both.
Why the two can pull in opposite directions
Autism and ADHD share some traits, such as difficulty with attention, focus and executive functioning. They also pull against each other: autism is often linked to routines and difficulty with change, while ADHD is linked to boredom and a need for novelty (American Psychiatric Association, 2025).
In a tutoring hour, that tension can look like this:
- The student wants to know exactly what is coming, then loses interest in it halfway through.
- Noise or a busy screen is overwhelming, yet slowing down to settle feels impossible.
- A favorite topic holds them for twenty minutes, and a task they find dull never gets started.
- They solve the hard question in their head, then forget to write the answer down.
Strategies written for one condition can backfire with the other. A strict, identical routine can feel airless to the ADHD side, and constant surprise can overwhelm the autistic side. Your job is to find the balance for this one student.
Why you may meet AuDHD before anyone names it
Many students with both conditions have not been diagnosed with both. In one study the APA describes, only 16 percent of children with autism and ADHD had previously been diagnosed with both (American Psychiatric Association, 2025). A Canadian study of a nationally representative sample found that autistic children and youth diagnosed after age 6 tended to have more coexisting conditions (Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2026).
So a family may tell you their child has ADHD but the usual tips don't work, or that the autism strategies help some days and not others. Take that seriously, and stay in your lane: you teach reading, writing and math. You don't assess or suggest a diagnosis. Describe what you see in the session and let the family take it from there.
How do you tutor a child with both autism and ADHD?
Keep the frame fixed and the middle flexible. The opening, the order of the blocks and the closing stay the same every week, so the student always knows where they are. Inside each block, change the material, the format or the pace so there is something new to hold attention.
Make movement part of the plan
Don't wait for restlessness to become a problem. Put a two or three minute movement break on the schedule, the same way you would put a reading block on it. Working standing up at a whiteboard, sorting cards across a table or a short walk to fetch a book all count. Because the break is planned, it adds predictability instead of breaking it.
Shrink the start
Starting a dull task is often the hardest moment of the hour. Make the first step tiny and concrete: "write the date and the first number", not "do the page". A short checklist the student ticks off, or a sand timer for a 10-minute block, shows where the task ends as well as where it begins.
Use interests as fuel, with an exit plan
A favorite topic can carry a word problem or a reading passage a long way. Agree in advance how you will move on ("two more minutes on volcanoes, then the timer decides"), so deep focus doesn't turn into a standoff at the transition.
Watch the sensory load
Both conditions can make noise, light and visual clutter harder to manage. Keep the page or screen clean, show one task at a time, and agree on a signal the student can use when they need a pause.
| In the session | What you might see | What tends to help |
|---|---|---|
| The start | Asks what is happening today, then stalls on the first task | Show the plan first, then make the first step tiny and concrete |
| Mid-block | Drifts off after a few minutes of the same format | Keep the skill, change the format: cards, a whiteboard, a short game |
| A favorite topic | Deep focus that is hard to leave | Agree on the exit in advance and let a timer call it |
| Restlessness | Fidgeting, getting up, talking faster | A movement break that is already on the plan |
| Overload | Covers ears, goes quiet or gets louder | Lower the demand and use the break signal you agreed on |
| The end | Upset when the session runs late | Finish on time, every time, with a preview of next week |
A guide to adapt with the family. Every student is different.
Start Tutoring on Your Terms →Working with the IEP and the family
If the student has an Individual Education Plan, ask the family whether they are willing to share it. In Ontario, an IEP outlines the accommodations, modifications, alternative programming and support services a student receives, and students with an IEP must also have a transition plan (Government of Ontario, 2026). The accommodations section is the quickest way to learn which supports already help in class, such as extra time or breaks, so your sessions can use the same ones.
Other provinces use their own names and forms, so ask for whatever plan the school uses. You are not part of the school team unless the family invites you, so share what you notice through the parent. For the questions to ask an autistic student's family before the first session, see our guide on how to tutor students with autism.
Lessons can run online, at the student's home or at a public library, whichever suits you and the family. Some AuDHD students focus better in a quiet library room; others do best at home, with fewer changes to manage. Our comparison of online and in-person tutoring goes through the trade-offs.
Tutoring with Connect Education
Every tutor on Connect Education is a licensed teacher in good standing. When a family mentions ADHD, autism or an IEP, we look for a tutor with experience supporting similar students, so it pays to show that experience clearly on your profile. Read why families look for tutors with special education experience, and check what certified teachers charge by province before you set your rate.
You choose the students you take and where you teach. Learn how to become a tutor, see how tutoring with us works, or create your tutor profile and list your work with ADHD and autism so the right families can find you.
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