AuDHD in Love: From Adversaries to Co-Imaginaries
Presented by
B. Lourenco, LMHCUsing a multidisciplinary approach, this workshop is taught by three clinicians with a variety of expertise and experience and will explore how Autism and ADHD affect intra and interpersonal relationships, from platonic to romantic/sexual and everything in-between.
Overview
6 Health Equity, Cultural Competence, or Professional Roles and Boundaries CEs Recorded: April, 2026
As people learn more about Autism and ADHD through lived experience and the Neurodiversity-Affirming movement, we see the layered influence on sexual and romantic relationships. Masking has a profound impact on the development of the “self” and the understanding of relationships, often leading to misunderstandings and confusion in all relational settings. Add in the nuances of differing sensory needs and ways of attending to stimuli, plus experiences of rejection sensitivity and demand avoidance, and the challenges pile up quickly. And we haven’t even talked about relational trauma yet!
Whether people share the same neurotype or not, the impact of neurodivergence is complex and layered. Using a multidisciplinary approach, this workshop is taught by three clinicians with a variety of expertise and experience and will explore how Autism and ADHD affect intra and interpersonal relationships, from platonic to romantic/sexual and everything in-between.
Key objectives
After this course, attendees will be able to:
Define at least three ways the medical model of Autism and ADHD differ from the neurodiversity-affirming model Describe at least two ways that both ADHD and Autism can impact romantic/sexual relationships Explain the relational effects of the Double Empathy Problem and Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria Identify/understand common polarities in neurodivergent couples that impact connection Describe how differing sensory profiles can impact all types of relationships where people share space Identify at least two ways to help support healthy, neurodivergent-affirming relationships
Other topics covered: Attention and Focus Monotropism Differing Sensory Profiles Communication Challenges Differences in Emotional Expression Masking in relationships Masking in sexual encounters
About the Presenter
B Lourenco is a licensed mental health counselor, educator, advocate, and activist. B has been working in community support for 15 years and is committed to social change on all system levels. Seeing mental health as a way to serve the community, she earned a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Psychology, with a Systems Emphasis, in 2015 and began her private practice in 2017. B has also worked in the public school system, providing support to students with behavioral issues that made attending school challenging for them. Highly trained in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), B became a district-wide expert in supporting neurodivergent students. It was during this work that she began to be critical of the current models of support for neurodivergence, including ABA. Making the shift from the medical to the affirming model has allowed her to finally identify her own neurodivergence, including Autism and ADHD. Combining her lived experience of neurodivergence, along with years of anti-oppression work, B is passionate about helping others untangle themselves from harmful practices and align themselves with those that instead support marginalized communities. In addition to her work in neurodiversity, B is also a sex and relationship therapist, specializing in ethical non-monogamy and kink exploration. She has been a speaker on panels and podcasts, as well as facilitating therapeutic workshops in her area of Washington State.