Confused - aspergers, HSP, executive dysfunction??

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Hi people

I am only just learning about this stuff..

But I have found it confusing about whether or not having Asperger's INCLUDES being a Highly Sensitive Person and also having executive function disorder??

Are they all linked, or do some people with asperger's ALSO have executive dysfunction, and/or are a HSP?

I feel as though I have all three, but then, like I said, confused as to whether they are seperate things or all just a part of asperger's

Anyone help clear it up for me?

Thanks
Liz

P.S. If someone could also please explain further what exactly it is like to have executive function disorder, I'd appreciate that. From what I have seen it very much seems like me, but I can't seem to find much information on it at this stage...

My understanding is that executive dysfunction is an intrinsic part of Aspergers - although one that often gets neglected, because people focus so much on the social difficulties. Uta Frith did research on executive function and Aspergers, and discovered from brain studies that people with Aspergers have disruptions in the connections in the brain between top down processing (seeing the big picture) and bottom up processing (seeing the details).

As for being highly sensitive, I think that is to do with not being able to filter out the irrelevant - we see and hear all the details, because the brain isn't filtering. So it's easier to get overwhelmed, and also we get fatigued more quickly.

I'm curious about this too. What's the difference between executive dysfunction associated with AS and with ED associated with AS as a co-morbid?

Maybe it's because executive dysfunction is not exclusive to Aspergers - people have have executive dysfunction and not have Aspergers. But, as far as I'm aware, you can't have Aspergers and not have executive dysfunction. If you have Aspergers, you have executive dysfunction. It is part of Aspergers (and part of other conditions as well).

So, if you have AS you automatically have ED. But if you have AS with a ADD co morbid, does that mean the ED associated with the ADD co morbid is different or maybe just more severe? I'm sorry I didn't mention ADD in my question, which I meant to do.

I think the ED between the two is slightly different, and you get both. Some of the executive dysfunction I have (and the way I reacted to stimulants) didn't make sense to me without also seeing how AS affects ED as well.

I'm being vague because I am deeply uncertain of this.

Stimulants make me sleepy. Is that how you react as well?

Stimulants can make me sleepy, but it feels more like I'm already tired but don't feel it, and then the stimulant slows me down enough I notice. I could be wrong. But yes, I currently use caffeine as a sleep aid on occasion.

The way I reacted to stimulants was that I could more easily choose what to do, but I'd still hyperfocus on it for hours once I was settled in. The absolute difference was that instead of hyperfocusing on whatever got my attention, I would hyperfocus on something I chose to do.

This hyperfocus has been described as inertia (link), and stimulants, despite how much they help me in general, don't seem to have much impact on it.

Ah, I know people with ADD also have executive dysfunction, but I'm not sure how it differs. Maybe the co morbid thing is so that you can get specific diagnoses for all the ways in which Aspergers affects you, so that you can get specific help? For myself, I have an Asperger diagnosis and an Irlen Syndrome diagnosis, for instance - even though Irlen is part of Aspergers, I needed a separate diagnosis to get specific support for it. I could probably get separate diagnoses for all kinds of things which are part of Aspergers (dyspraxia, for instance) but I don't because that wouldn't be of any practical use to me.

I get mental fatigue when I'm overloaded, such as when I'm attempting an organizational chore and I haven't been able to break it down into small tasks but also when I have nothing to focus on. I go from site to site on my job. I can function while I'm doing the job but once I'm in the car on the way to the next job it's all I can do to keep my eyes open (scary). Once I've started the next job I'm alert again. My job is a menial no brainer type btw. Even running a few simple errands will make me need to nap. I've been like this my entire life.

HSP and executive dysfunction are not diagnosable disorders. Personally I don't put much belief in HSP. You can have any disorder and have it sound like HSP. I don't see the need for the word.
You can have all three but AS doesn't sound like full executive dysfunction when you look at the symptoms of ADHD. The attention issues, poor memory and disorganisation is worse in ADHD.

Yeah, I find the HSP thing a bit odd. I read the book years ago, and found the author had a very purist, exclusive attitude, portraying HSP as superior beings, and trying to discount certain types of sensitivity as not qualifying. So if someone was highly sensitive as a result of trauma, she decided that didn't count, because they weren't intrinsically sensitive beings. It's highly likely she would discount autistic people too! It seems to be a term this author came up with, to give herself some special status.

There are certainly no medical assessments for being a highly sensitive person. There are assessment for executive dysfunction, thought, for instance carried out on people with brain injury. As far as I am aware, a person can be diagnosed with executive function disorder, as a functional diagnosis in order to ascertain the extent to which the person can live independently and make decisions. This happens with patients with TBI, for instance.

Reading the site about HSP, it seems nothing more than a combination of introversion and neuroticism (I surely will qualify); for all practical effects, this can be considered a type of personality, and the question "what is the difference between AS and HSP?" will be very similar to many questions in this forum, in the form "what is the difference between AS and [insert personality trait: shyness/introversion/INTP/INTJ/etc.]?"

Thank you for all your replies everyone, I appreciate that.

You have helped clear a couple of things up. I also see that yes, this all seems to be such a new area which is still gaining steam in arriving at a more clear definition.

I definitely can see how parts of the whole executive function disorder would fit into asperger's according to my accumulated understanding of what exactly it could be, and it would seem we are still waiting on experiments to pinpoint exactly WHICH executive functions are more affected than others in Asperger's.

As for the HSP stuff, seems the majority of opinion here is that it is a load of codswallop (is that how you spell it? lol) I can see the points you are all making, that some aspects seem to be introversion, some aspects even seem to be executive function disorder stuff ("I get rattled when I have a lot to do in a short amount of time"), etc. Though there are some things that I wonder about, like "I am easily overwhelmed by strong sensory input", "I tend to be very sensitive to pain", "Being very hungry creates a strong reaction in me,disrupting my concentration or mood", "I notice and enjoy delicate or fine scents, tastes, sounds, works of art" and "I am bothered by intense stimuli, like loud noises or chaotic scenes" that I wonder about. I find that I can get very overwhelmed by too much stimuli - I HATE crowds, especially in noisy places with lots of lights (i.e. night club, etc), I have to wear sunglasses at the beach and when driving or I can barely see, I seem to have a greater reaction to pain than to others, I am ver "in tune" with my body and can pick up on very small things going on (which lead me to think they are bigger problems than they are which makes me come across as a hypercondriac which is embarrassing ), and I have often thought that I get "a lot more" out of food because my experience of taste seems to be a lot richer than most others that I know.
I suppose these things could be attributed to other causes though, who knows.
Is fun to try to discover these things though, I love finding out about what makes people tick

Thanks again

Liz

HSP is not the same thing as Asperger's. It says on the site that HSP's get overwhelmed easily, need downtime and lots of sleep, and are really sensitive to noise and changes in the environment. That may apply to Asperger's too, except HSP's don't have problems with communication, social skills, and other stuff that Aspies struggle with. They also tend to be very intuitive and good at reading people's moods and emotions--a direct contradiction to Asperger's.

Black_tea, I agree with you about that. I wasn't saying that all HSPs are also Aspies. Just wondering if being an HSP meant there is more of a chance you are an Aspie, if ALSO in connection with the other traits like you mentioned, absolutely.

An interesting point, the one about how HSPs are very intuitive about picking up on other's moods and emotions. I heard in an interview with Tony Attwood that he believes - tho he was talking about Female Aspies in particular - that there can be a "sixth sense" that a female aspie has with relation to being able to pick up on others emotions without knowing how.

Liz