Is there any research on ASD with ADHD

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Maybe I can interject a question in here and this of academic interest.

Are there differences in the nature or quality of executive dysfunction between AS/autism and ADHD as exhibited in known behavior ?

A few examples of my more severe moments:

Some stuff in my early 20's:
1) not putting car in park and walking away while it is in drive.... crash boom! down the block it went into parked cars.
2) zoning out when driving for hours past the point you should have turned off, in fact you transitioned from daylight into pitch black darkness and not aware of any elapsed time. "Where am I?"

3) Now, recently I blurted the house alarm code to my wife standing at the curb ; I repeated the code back and loudly at that, because it didn't take; and this was in robbery driven neighborhood, so everyone on the block can hear the numbers. This was a relatives house that we had control of at the moment....

Is there a characterization difference between the two forms? It seems ASD is more with trouble changing into something different in a transition i.e. inertia and this other-ADD is attention awareness and dis- inhibitions, though I can have this inertial trouble too.

One thing I've noticed is that I'm better with not doing these things in terms of volume. Age, ironically is working for me.
ASD's not the same with this?

Thoughts anyone?

Here's a thread:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt166483.html

And another:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt168177.html

Thanks V. I was aware of them.

Anecdottaly, there seems to be common enough things such as keeping up with daily routines and organizing or planning "how to do something."

Either way working memory is central in "EF."

I wonder if task shifting is a fundamental difference between the two? I've noticed many posts here about this as being emotionally upsetting 'to meltdowns' when something changes.

The paper suggested verbal working is quite affected in ASD's. And I notice questions on ASD online tests regarding this: "do you learn better by doing things in working them out (or needing a written list) vs. oral/ verbal instructions?"

I guess the sky's the limit with this as T. Granden mentioned she can " verbally" keep up with around 3 things/steps at once. I can do no better.

Other than the posted problems in my earlier post, my 'thing' is discerning in where to start with 'doing something' as in knowing the middle, the end, and the beginning of something. The "steps" are dyslexic to me.

I put myself 'in there' and work the problem out in a disjointed/ disorganized way.

Wow. I could have written this about myself. This thread has been really interesting and informative for me; the possibility of my having both AS and ADHD is something I've been exploring a lot lately. I feel like the addition of the ADHD could explain some ways I felt I was different than just AS. I am in the process of receiving a dx - I went to a neuropsychologist for some tests and have an appointment with another psychologist on 8/1; so I'll soon see where they go with it. Thanks to all for the great posts and links!

And apparently there are different kinds of working memory.



I think there is a tendency - in ADHD it's easy to go from task to task to task to task as one's distractions and whims carry one, but there's a lot of talk about autistic inertia. The combination of the two is an interesting ride, as is just how rigid and unswerving my brain becomes when I medicate the ADHD.



There's a test for verbal working memory on the internet somewhere - when I took it and tried to remember the words, I scored at like the second or fifth percentile for verbal working memory. When I looked at the words and remembered the images they invoked, and pressed the space bar when I saw the images, I scored in the 95th percentile and correctly selected all 15 words.

That's a huge discrepancy, although two of the three people I explained that too completely misunderstood what I was saying I had done, as they tried to suggest this meant I was having a good day vs. a bad day or that I had found a way to improve my verbal memory.

It's really hard and confusing to keep verbal information in my mind. I recall when people give me lists of instructions I get confused and lose track no matter what.



Yeah, I have this problem too.

I just wanted to reply to your post...

I'm exactly like that in terms of my creative projects, too. If I can't finish an art piece in one sitting, it will remain unfinished. Yet I will draw the same subjects time and time again, and do the same things.

There also have been so many projects in class that I have completed the night before. My author project in 10th grade, which was supposed to have been done in an entire year, I started working on two days before the deadline. I got it done and ended up with a B+.

It takes so much time for me to actually get up the effort to do something. And even more so to finish it. I have so many things that I intend to do, but never get around to.

I am very prone to obsessions. But, unlike most of the people here, I have trouble sustaining them over a long period of time. They can be just as intense, but I never get the joy of ever becoming an "expert" on anything because I always move on to find something else that interests me. It's been a long path (7+ years of undergrad classes) to figure out what I want to do with my life.

While I know I have ADD, it's been difficult to convince myself that I have AS too. I know that I share many of the traits, but I don't know if I have the full-blown symptoms. It's certainly had a significant impact on my life.

BTW, in terms of childhood, I was always the quiet kid. I was not your typical ADHD type that couldn't sit still. If anything, I would sit in the same spot for hours doing my thing. I was great at entertaining myself. I still am. There are times that I've wondered if I haven't developed some of my AS symptoms (like rigidity) simply as a way of compensating for the executive dysfunction. But, as the brain probably doesn't work like that, I'm forced to conclude that I'm probably just wired that way and always have been.

One day I'll get all of this labeling stuff sorted out. Until then, I'm just that ADD person that has lots of AS traits.

It's good to know that someone who has a legitimate dx can relate to my experience. My latest attempt to just get evaluated was shot down. The doctor asked me if I got good grades in school. Yes, I did, usually without much effort. I was bored and coasting all the way through college. She determined that I couldn't possibly have ADD because poor grades were a hallmark of it. O_O

I wasn't a 'quiet' kid but I wouldn't say I had the 'hyper-impulsive' part of ADHD. I could easily loose myself in whatever I did as a kid too. And still do. My thoughts still bounce around like a pinball and it's a struggle to concentrate on anything uninteresting. Makes work a b***h to be sure.

Maybe, one day, I'll find out - officially. Until then I'm stuck dealing with all of these - issues - that may or may not be something dx-able.

Well, my ADD was pretty much ignored throughout my schooling precisely because I got good grades. I would do everything last minute and I was always a good student. Sure, I would forget assignments and never remember dates. But I did the work when it came down to it. It only really started becoming a problem in college because my usual method of last minute preparation wasn't working as well. The intelligence wasn't the problem... but the executive and social skills problems were. I would forget to do assignments because I didn't know they were assigned. And I wasn't connected enough to the other students enough to make up for it.

I was originally misdiagnosed as ADD before my AS diagnosis. Looking through the ADD/ADHD DSM criteria I do not believe I have it. I have executive functioning impairments, but I am very organized, never lose anything, and have no problems focusing.

What I think is very interesting is comparing myself to my best friend who has ADD but is not on the autism spectrum. For example, when driving, the biggest problem I have is driving at night due to the brightness of headlights. She has no problems with sensory issues, but her biggest problems is driving in the rain, as she lacks a filter to "tune out" the raindrops from her visual field. Where I can just look "through" the rain and basically ignore its presence, she can't. She also has severe focusing problems, even when it comes to things she loves. I can't focus on things that don't interest me, but I can focus like crazy on something that I like.

I imagine ASD, ADD, OCD, dyslexia, APD, etc, as one huge venn diagram. One can have ASD without ADD, or ADD without ASD, but the two overlap so heavily that it makes me feel they must somehow be related.

YES!! Exact same with me!

Socialising isn't too much of a problem for me though - finding time to do it is! I tend to be in labs all night (since i just wake up at nigh-time) and sleeping during the day - then spending the night-time trying to catch up. I never really have time for people =/...and on top of that forgetting to do assignments, disorganisation and an impossible person to wake...The year didn't go too well =/.

Luckily i'm in scotland and the first and second year do not count towards the degree - so i got my diagnosis in second year, so hopefully third year will go well .