AS or ADHD?? Confused!! !

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Hi, just wanting some input really!! !! Basically my daughter is 9yr and for most of her life she has been quite 'difficult' in various aspects but things have really come to a head and quite unbearable in the past 6-12mths. After doing some internet research I thought she 'fitted' into the AS category but after talking to a friend recently, she suggested ADHD. I think I understand that generally AS folk have problems in understanding anyone else's perspective etc, (which she most certainly does!!) but, I read somewhere that AS kids don't usually display their emotions in public (whereas ADHD kids will & do). My daughter will display her emotions anywhere without any care & loudly!! !! I just wondered whether there was any one factor which really shouted one or the other???? She does have lots of energy and can be quite impulsive but she will also sit at the computer and record herself singing for an hour or so or read a book in a night-so she appears to be able to sit and concentrate etc. Her teacher says she 'goes off task' at times, but is quite easy to bring back to task and her grades are all high average to above average. Thanks in advance……..just felt the need to ask!! !! !! (we are seeing a specialist in a couple of weeks time).[i]

first the answer is not so simple, and the diagnosis is not made for either one by whether or not a person displays emotion in public.
second, a high percentage of people with autism spectrum disorders, (including Aspergers) also have ADHD

Of course no one here can give a diagnosis based on a written description of your child, but maybe some more information could help people give you better information.

As for what the issue is, maybe you would do better seeking an official diagnosis from someone who specializes in ASD's

My son has both. Well, technically, he has ADHD and NVLD, but NVLD is close to AS, especially in him. I sometimes cannot tell where one stops and the other begins.

The thing you describe with being able to sing for an hour or read a book in a night is called hyperfocus and unfortunately for you, both people with ADHD and AS can and do experience hyperfocus. But hyperfocus is not the same thing as being able to select what needs to be paid attention to and then continue to focus on it, despite distractions.

If you live in the US, ask your school district to have her evaluated. As she gets older, she may need academic supports to continue to succeed. My son has above average intelligence and needs help now that he is in middle school due to his executive functioning impairments. It gets worse as they get older so getting a jump on it now--whether it is ADHD or AS--will likely help your daughter in the future.

Lastly, girls with autism and girls with ADHD do not always fit the diagnostic mold that was largely created for boys. If you could have your daughter evaluated by someone who has experience with girls, you would probably be one step ahead in the game.

Good luck.

My son has ASD and also has signs of ADHD. We only have a diagnosis for one. I am not quite sure myself as to how a dual diagnosis would help, and I am not sure he would qualify. I would guess if you are medicating that it might give a better insight as to what med and what dosage to start off with, but I do not know.

I did not attempt to nudge the school that way, and was satisfied with the ASD diagnosis b/c we would not have gotten any additional or better help with the school, and I felt like that there is more of a stigma, in a way to ADHD. For some reason, unfairly, schools seem to associate ADHD with bad behavior and are more tolerant of ASD. At least that is what I observed. Adding ADHD would have just transferred more blame to my son, than was already there. They did not suggest it, so we let it be.

There may benefits though, so I would see what other posters might know about that.

Edited to add: Sometimes my reading comprehension is not so great. You are talking about an "or" diagnosis not an "and." Both ASD and ADD/ADHD include executive function issues like impulse control, difficulty organizing things, etc. ASDs have a social/language/communication component. it is harder to diagnosis in girls b/c it is not what they expect. They should really do it on a gender normed basis, but I don't think they do. A girl who issocially in the weeds with other girls might look relatively functional compared to an ASD boy.

Last edited by ASDMommyASDKid on 28 Jul 2013, 7:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I was diagnosed with AS and ADHD but it is important to remember that just because someone displays certain traits it doesn't mean they have to have a condition. Only a specialist would be able to help you. Good luck. Sorry I can't be of any help to you.

Thanks for the replies. Obviously I was not after an online 'diagnosis' and as I said we are seeing a specialist next week for assessment, we do have lots more issues with her other than the couple I mentioned. As a parent who is struggling with her childs behavior and awaiting the assessment process and having it currently taking over my every waking minute, I thought I would attempt to start a discussion on the forum with possible like-minded folk who may have been in a similar situation. Its not easy to discuss it over coffee with friends who have NT kids and they quickly get bored As some of you will be more than aware its a very stressful time and being in limbo and the unknown can be difficult. I've just been going round in circles in my own mind and then when it became apparent how some of the characteristic of ADHD are very similar to AS, well…….it confused me!! !

I think a lot of people prefer ADHD to ASD, it is less scary, but I personally think that misdiagnosing ADHD when it really is ASD is a bigger issue, simply because the protocol for ADHD seems to be medication, and that will not help an ASD child, while many of the protocols for ASD kids actually do help ADHD kids.

Main thing to note, ASD kids can be emotional in public. On that criteria, your friend is very wrong.

My son is ASD and my daughter is suspected ADD (no H, and we have no desire to get a formal diagnosis). Some key differences are:

1. My daughter CAN read social ques. She has a certain level of accurate social instinct. My ASD son had about zero, and had to be very specifically taught what to look for and how to interpret those signals. He was always drawn to be social while she was more shy, but he'd engage poorly and not know it. She sits back, reads the situation, and then engages effectively and confidently; no one had to teach her that, she just knows.

2. There is very little my daughter does that involves a straight course. She'll go to brush her teeth, a few feet from where she is sitting, and is likely to be distracted by a dozen things on her way. Even with the toothbrush in her mouth she can't stay in the bathroom and focused on task for the 3 minutes it takes to do a good job; instead she'll wander and multi-task for 20 minutes getting it done. My BIL likes to tease my probably ADD sister by asking her to fetch her something from another room, and then ask everyone to observe how many stops she makes on the way.

3. My daughter has learned to stay on task for school work and homework, but she had to really work on teaching herself strategies to do that. All kids have to learn how to sit down and do homework, but my daughter and my son's issues with it were clearly different. His issues were in the nature of feeling overwhelmed or frustrated, or not having a desire to do it at the amount because his interests were elsewhere. Her issues were with staying on task and remembering what she was doing. We call it jumpy brain - her thoughts are always all over the map, no matter what she is doing.

Since she isn't diagnosed I can't be sure I've called it right, but all these observations are consistent with what I hear from other people, and with my son's observations of kids at school he knows are ADHD. ADHD is kids who literally bounce off the walls; ADD is kids who bounce off the walls only inside their own heads. My son really doesn't do that. If he's acting hyper it is because he is overstimulated; if he is failing to focus he is tired or uninterested. And so on. Some people suggested ADHD when he was little, but I knew that wasn't it, since I have a sister and friends who really are probably ADD or ADHD.

Deleted for reasons of self preservation.

Last edited by babybird on 30 Jul 2013, 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

Can't believe everything you read. AS kids are more prone to public displays of emotion than neurotypical kids, not less. Although some don't seem to show emotion in any context, they tend to have a lot of trouble with the idea of public versus private. Some AS adults are very private people, but this tends to take a long time to develop.



Well, look for AS traits that can't be explained by short attention span, poor impulse control or high activity level.

Does she insist on certain routines or rituals, and get upset if these are violated?

Does she have a strong interest in a particular subject? Is the subject something most kids would not be interested in? If other kids are interested in that subject, is her interest noticeably more intense than theirs?

Does she have a long attention span, or difficulty shifting attention (even when she wants to)? Sometimes a long attention span can make a kid look inattentive, because they're still focusing on X when you've moved on to Y. Note that many kids have trouble shifting attention away from video games or TV, even if they're neurotypical (not affected by any neurodevelopmental condition). But if she also has trouble shifting away from non-electronic activities, that's more unusual.

Does she have trouble playing pretend, and not simply due to not focusing long enough? For example, does she seem to have trouble with the idea of acting as if something is true when it isn't, or does she rigidly act out a story she saw on TV or something, with no allowance for variation? An ADHD kid might not play pretend if they can't play with one thing long enough for any storyline to emerge, but if they are playing long enough with one thing but can't seem to play pretend, that suggests AS instead.

If she does something that upset someone, when you talk to her about it later, does she seem genuinely surprised that it upset someone? ADHD kids often act impulsively, but in retrospect, they can tell what they did was hurtful. AS kids often can't predict how others will feel if they do something, so they'll act with good intentions and get an unexpected result.

Does she ever not look up when someone new enters the room? Both ADHD and neurotypical kids usually notice someone new entering the room - ADHD kids often more so than neurotypicals because they're more distractible. But some AS kids don't seem to notice, either due to a long attention span or because social stimuli doesn't catch their attention as readily. In particular, if a kid is more easily distracted by a non-social stimulus than by a social one, this is a strong cue that they may be on the autistic spectrum.

Does she ever lie? Some AS kids are incapable of lying, because they don't understand the concept of deception.

Does she have unusual mannerisms, such as handflapping? Hyperactive kids will fidget, but it's usually the same sort of fidgeting that most kids do, only more frequent or intense. AS kids, in contrast, often have motor mannerisms that you don't tend to see neurotypical kids engaging in at all.

It's important to keep in mind that about 50% of AS kids also have ADHD, and can benefit from the same treatment as non-AS ADHD kids. If an AS kid is very distractible, hyperactive, and impulsive, they should be diagnosed as AS/ADHD and given treatment as such. However, AS has a more pervasive impact than ADHD on social skills and behavior.

Some things you're more likely to see in an AS kid (note not every kid with AS has these)

Motor issues: may have difficulty learning to print, or overall general clumsiness

Communication issues: being overally literal, not noticing when the other person is bored, lack of or impaired two-way conversation

Social: has to be the boss or direct others' play

reading comorehension: able to decode words, but misses the meaning; having trouble understanding the motivations of characters; getting so lost in the details they don't get the main point of a passage