A free, evidence-informed UK resource

Neurodiversity and Substance Use

Understand the function. Reduce the harm. Build support that works.

Explore how ADHD, autism, sensory processing, learning, memory, trauma and everyday pressures can shape alcohol and drug use—and how support can become safer, more practical and less shaming.

Explore the guidance I need help with a specific situation

Choose what brought you here

Start with your situation, not a label.

You do not need a diagnosis to use this resource. Choose the route that feels closest to what is happening now.

01I want to understand my own substance use 02I am worried about someone else 03ADHD may be part of the pattern 04Autism or sensory overload may be involved 05Memory or communication difficulties are creating problems 06I need harm-reduction information 07Services or appointments are not working 08I am a practitioner supporting someone

Function explorer

What might the substance be doing in the short term?

Understanding a function is not the same as approving of harm. It gives you somewhere practical to start.

Why it can feel useful

A substance can feel like it cuts through mental noise or makes starting a task possible.

Possible longer-term costs

The short-term lift can be followed by sleep loss, a crash, dependence, debt or less reliable concentration.

Question to consider

What part of starting is hardest: remembering, choosing, beginning or staying with it?

Safer next step

Make the first step smaller, add a prompt or body-double, and seek professional support if stimulant use is becoming hard to control.

Explore the connection

Different patterns need different explanations.

ADHD

Reward, boredom, impulsivity, sleep, stimulant use and practical adjustments.

Autism & sensory overload

Masking, burnout, interoception, sensory load and safer service environments.

Learning, memory & communication

Learning disability, FASD, brain injury, teach-back and accessible information.

Families & loved ones

Conversation, boundaries, safeguarding, support without rejection and family wellbeing.

Immediate safety

Know when to get urgent help.

Call 999 if someone cannot be woken, is not breathing normally, has blue or grey lips, chest pain, a seizure, collapse, severe confusion, a suspected overdose, immediate suicidal intent or another immediate threat to life.

Use NHS 111 for urgent health advice when the situation is not immediately life-threatening. Sudden withdrawal from dependent alcohol, benzodiazepine or GHB/GBL use can be dangerous and requires clinical advice.

Urgent help & safety

Practical, not diagnostic

Tools you can use today.

Map substance function, prepare for an appointment, check sensory load, plan a family conversation or repair a lapse. Your answers remain in this browser and are not sent or stored.

Open the practical tools

Selected free tools

Substance function mapper
Sensory-load check
Ten-minute ADHD pause plan
Reasonable-adjustment request builder
Family conversation planner
Lapse-repair checklist

Latest educational guides

Read by topic.

Autism

When sensory overload sits underneath substance use

Look beyond the visible behaviour to load, recovery and environmental friction.

Cognitive access

FASD: understanding versus applying information

Why a plan can make sense in the room and still disappear when context changes.

Services

Reasonable adjustments in drug and alcohol support

Make access, appointments, communication and groups easier to use.

The 2026 publication

A structured companion to this free resource.

The website offers substantial guidance in its own right. Neurodiversity and Substance Use: The Practical Guide brings the material together in greater depth with the complete collection of exercises, worksheets and support-planning tools.

Explore the publication

About TD Consultancy

Evidence-informed practice, made usable.

Tony D’Agostino is Director of TD Consultancy and has extensive experience in drug and alcohol training, workforce development and evidence-informed practice.

Visit TD Consultancy