Aspergers and ADHD?

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Our 14 y/o son was diagnosed with ADHD in 2003. He was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2006. He took Strattera x 3 years (taking 100 mg/ day) and we never really saw any improvement in symptoms. We then tried Adderall (30 mg/day) and have stopped that as well for the same reason.

We are scheduled to have him tested for AS next month. I believe that the ADHD traits are a symptom of a bigger problem (the Asperger's), and that once we address the Asperger's, then the ADHD behaviors (not severe, just difficulty following directions, fiddling) will start to improve. I may be naive, but we're hopeful. The ADHD was most likely mis-diagnosed back in 2003. He can sit for hours reading and be completely absorbed in his book or meticulously play with his Lego's for half a day. That doesn't strike me as ADHD, does it to you?

I'm undiagnosed Aspie who is currently meeting a psychologist concerning an attention deficit, most likely a mixed type.

I have to say that the ADHD label scares me a little bit. Our son has Aspergers, but his school is suggesting ADHD too. Where we live people generally think ADHD - your kid is a little sod - steer clear. That's kinda why I don't want to go down the route of him being diagnosed. It's just me being protective. I also think that lots of his ADHD type behaviours are usually a reaction to sensory overload, and that brings it all back to Aspergers. If you take away the sensory problems there aren't really any ADHD behaviours.

Befor my son was diagnosed with ADHD, I thought ADHD kids were little sods!
ADHD kids "HYPERFOCUS" i.e. they become overfocussed on things they are interested in, and you can't get their attention. This is "normal" for ADHD.
I don't think my son has two or three different conditions, I think he had one, and that psychiatry/neurology labels different aspects of his behaviour with different diagnoses. At the end of the line, it just makes it easier to choose the right tools to help your kid. Teaching methods are much the same for ADHD and ASD: predictability, visualization ect. Central stimulants sure helped the ADHD part of my son, but I now there a lots of other kids who have absolutely no benefit from drugs.

Better to say "it falls under AS" and no thank you. What's the difference, really? Besides a little prescribed stimulant and an additional diagnosis? One diagnosis is fine. Also, once you tack on the ADHD the AS will be trumped because ADHD is easier to deal with and more familiar. Everything will fall under this category.

AS kids are internally distracted and can't attend to task. ADHD kids are externally distracted and can't focus. This is how I see the two are different. If an AS kid sees something he wants/or is interested in he goes for it and blocks out everything else. ADHD kids might be distracted by lots of external stimuli and jump from thing to thing. It becomes tricky because a child with AS can appear scattered, but this is when they are experiencing anxiety.

equinn

I prefer to think that OCD, depression, ADHD and those are SYMPTOMS of AS, not seperate disorders. But I am not the medical establishment.

Do you mean "no thanks" to drugs? Then your kid probably doesn't have ADHD! The level of impulsiveness in my son without drugs and with ADHD is phenomenal. The ADHD symptoms totally overruled his autism for a while, and were quite unmanageable, so I take offense when people poo poo drugs. Sometimes they are the only option:
Where I live, laws are very restrictive to prevent over prescription of ritalin. You must have an ADHD diagnosis to get the drug. No parent wants a second diagnosis for their kid, and certainly not such a stigmatizing and misunderstood diagnosis.
As to internal and external distractions: some kids have both.

My son was dx with PDD-NOS. They said they would have called it Asperger's if his speech was better. On the report they sent me they said to have him re-evaluated in a few years and to have him evaluated for ADHD if he started acting out and it was interfering with his daily life. They put it differently than that, but the paperwork is filed and I'm too lazy to dig it out, lol.

So, yes, I see a coralation (sp?) between the two. I have read too, like a pp mentioned, that alot of aspies are dx with adhd first and THEN usually after a few years drs. change it to AS.

Hope this maes sense!
I agree impulsiveness and attention dificulties appear in some autistic kids, but there are so many kids with autism without these symptoms.
I was frustrated when my son received his second diagnosis (ADHD) and it made me insecure, because I knew a lot about autism, and nothing about ADHD.
However, it can be very important from an educational point of view to know which additional diagnosis a child has, for example ASD + ADHD you have to have a lot of activity changes, ASD + epilepsy you have to have a lot of repeating activities. So the additional diagnosis does has a direct influence on strategy or approach to the child. It is also descriptive for professionals who can create a more accurate picture of the child.
Behaviour problems are often greater in the more complex kids, ie those with more than one diagnosis.
I see the "autism" diagnosis as being arbituary, a good way of describing some problems and choosing the correct tools. But I don't believe "autism" is caused by the same biological/genetic problem n different people, I think "autism" is a cluster of syndromes with the same observable behavioral characteristics. So the "autism" diagnosis is good, because it describes some common problems, that can be addressed in certain ways (structure, visualisation, predictability ect.) but also rather unprecise.

Well I was first dxed with ADHD at 3 and 1/2 then later dxed with Asperger's in middle school.

My parents did have hard time raising and still do some times but they learn from it on everyday basis from what I do and have achieved.