For those of you with ADHD as well...

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Do you ever have a sense of which is more dominant... or do you have days when you feel really aspie, and not so ADHD, or the other way? Could you say which is the most annoying or problematic or disabling?

Mine are kinda intertwined. I will be all ooh-shiny than start thinking it's too bright or try to start a conversation about how shiny the object is. Or I'll go off on tangents that make no sense to anyone else while talking at a really fast pace. Other times, I'll not want to talk at all or even look at people. It just kinda varies, I guess.

It varies. The inattentive symptoms can really slow me down. I barely have the energy or any motivation and I just can't focus or think clearly. I just feel sleepy. Then the hyperactivity kicks in, from I don't know, let's say I eat an apple, and then I can't focus on anything, I'm bored and just want to be moving. Then suddenly change happens. I stand still and confused like a cat that notices a new piece of furniture in the house then comes the swearing and kicking.
I have less ADHD issues when around people and more sensory and not relating to people or having any interest in them at all. I feel uncomfortable so I begin to stim and live in my mind. Not because I can't pay attention but because I need to relieve the stress.

My autistic symptoms are more disabling. My meltdowns over any change and my shutdowns over exposure to stressful environments makes it hard for me to do anything. I think the ADHD just makes things even worse, especially when the inattentive symptoms kick in. Fortunately the meds balance that out for me. Adjusting from change is still very difficult, even when it's my own choice.

It depends on the situation. ADHD is probably dominant in day to day activities, work, university, etc, due to the procrastination, lateness, brain fog, etc.

But AS is more dominant in group situations where I have no idea what to say to people, feel like an oddball, etc.

I think I did before I was diagnosed with either, if that makes any sense. I could never figure out why I kept zoning out in class, (I don't have the hyperactivity component) or why I could never pick up on social cues, or make friends, or get my act together when it came to things like self-directed projects. Both contributed (and contribute) to a sense of isolation, but now that I sort of know what's going on inside my head I know its all me, more unitary whole than anything else.



Difficult to say. Tentatively I've concluded ADHD has hurt me more in the short-term and Asperger's more in the long-term. By that I mean I've always had tremendous difficulty meeting deadlines, and to that issue I ascribe the ADHD.

However, since I find it just about impossible to form any relationship these days above the level of nodding acquaintance, the way people form and work through informal networks is a closed book to me. I'm utterly mystified when I hear how so and so got a job through his connection to X who knows Y who recommended X to Z, who then promptly hired X.

But then there's the stuff where I don't seem able to draw a "bright-line" distinction, which is why I said "tentative." As in, not being able to follow a group conversation, which condition do I pin that one on? Or which condition really trumps the other in pure "Executive Function?" Traditionally, I know that one is associated with ADHD, but I can't help but think that at least some of that is somehow Asperger's related, especially as relates to me going off on sidetracks...sometimes of transcontinental length.

Finally, I've got issues with "face blindness" (prosopagnosia). Apparently this condition is more common among those on the ASD than in the general population, and if there's any correlation with it and ADHD I've not read of it. But it is technically a separate condition, so is it fair to include it with my Asperger's issues, or not? Dunno.

Probably Aspergers has hurt me more, but like I said there's a reasonable case I can make for ADHD as well.

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As a complete aside, I'm going to step up on my soap box and denounce the nonsense pushed by author Thom Hartmann and his "hunter" vs. "farmer" theory on ADHD. It is simply wrong, for better or worse. And no matter how hard he tries to jam square pegs into round holes, he sells his books and gives his seminars only by ignoring a large body of empirical evidence.

Though I don't believe he is personally mentioned by name, his pet theory is ground to dust in ADHD in Adults: What the Science Says, a book written by a real scientist with real credentials who did a great deal of research. And what he found was NOT pretty, on every topic from drug abuse to battering spouses to spending time in prison. The upside to ADHD claimed by Hartmann seems to sell a lot more books than a depressing tome like the one I just cited, I must grant him that. Pity he's wrong, and the other guy (Barkley) is right. But I guess we can also figure who is telling a lot of people what they'd rather hear vs. what they'd rather not. Just human nature, I suppose.

Okay, stepping off the ol' soap box.

I can relate to this a lot. I think definitely some off my AS symptoms 9like need for sameness) cause me the most difficulty as they cause me to be in constant conflict with my family and have meltdowns......... or to have panic attacks (because of sensory overload) over things like having to take a crowded bus to school. However they are intertwined for me too. My inattentive symptoms cause me to daydream at inappropriate times and thus not get what I intended to accomplish accomplished or get it accomplished but stay up until 4 in the morning. Since my daydreaming is related to my preoccupations or obsessions does it count as an AS symptom or an ADHD symptom?