Autism and ADD/ADHD?

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I'm curious to find out how many of you who are diagnosed with either Autism or Aspergers have been diagnosed with co-morbid ADD or ADHD? The reason I ask is that I wonder whether the sensory issues (light, sounds) can sometimes make a person who is the autism spectrum appear to struggle with ADD or ADHD (versus actually having the condition)

good question.

Because of the way my autism effects
me, I have all the symptoms of adhd
as well as dyslexia......however,
I have been evaluated by all the
top people in London who have informed
me I just have HFA.

I think all my difficulties that
mimic the above are due to executive
funcion.

For a while I thought I had bi-polar
too,but again, I now feel that my autism
includiing my sensory issues contribute
to the world being a very unp and down
place to be in.

Re comorbids, I do have OCD anxiety &
depression.......but hey......is that
not too just part of the package of
being on the spectrum?

Yes, I think you're right. Sensory distractions resulting in monotropic derailments might make one seem to be ADDish.

Additionally, I have central auditory processing issues with similiar sounding consonants. If I'm trying to decode one sentence, I'm likely to miss much of the next

I've also noticed that because my mind automatically translates language into literal and therefore, often inaccurate or, at any rate, irrelevant visual images, it acts as an obstacle in the conversational stream, that I have to decide to ignore. .

However, for me the real ADD look alike is caused by my lousy auditory working memory. I suspect, that mine is largely the result of both less long-range neural wiring, and the CAPD. And yet, I don't have monkey mind.

Thank you, both, for your replies. It confirms what I suspected, but was not sure about. I think it can make for a lot of stress in one day. How do you handle the stress?

How do you handle the stress?.......great question indeed.

I find life really difficult, and at times I get depressed. I am a quaker, and the silence and beauty of my time in quaker meetings offers me great strength.

I also go to 12 step meetings whichIfind very inspiring.

Walking in Nature is where I find deepest rest.

Lovely question.

How about you, what helps for you?

I have diagnosed ADHD and OCD and my last therapist said I have autistic traits but wouldn't give me a diagnosis because I'm married. Huh, I guess 'married aspie' is an oxymoron.

I've sort of given up on a diagnosis now.

I have wondered if it's all AS and maybe it's not ADHD, but the differences are so subtle. I don't know.

Happymusic:
Sounds like your therapist might be a moron, possibly in need of ocytocin...
Ok.. now that I've made a pun...

That's about as relevant as "can't be Autistic because you are able to make eye contact".
I say make up your own mind. Decide based on logical criteria and by your mindset. But I don't have to tell you that, do I?

I'm fully convinced that ADHD and Autism are often mixed up by less than perfect (and aren't we all less than perfect when interpreting someone else?) shrinks who notice the symptoms and signs that present similarly, or have similar effects between the two conditions, without considering the reasons or drives or causes behind & beyond the presentation / signs... Which really DOES matter, since if you want to solve the symptoms, you have to know the REAL cause or origin....

I shut up now.
Cheers.

Yeah, plenty of autistic people are married. My parents both were. (And they didn't get divorced; it ended because my dad died, which was a long time ago so you don't have to feel sorry for me or anything. But the point is: Both autistic, both happily married. Both undiagnosed, but plain as the nose on your face to anyone who's looking. Talked to my grandma about my mom when she was little--she talks about my mom's classic meltdowns and change-aversion; routines, sensory overload to the point that Mom couldn't go to church because people wore perfume there, not to mention lecturing, which my mom still does just like I do, total social clumsiness, lack of imagination as well as lack of imaginative play--oddly, my mom does have that rather rare autistic trait--and my grandma hadn't got any idea what autism was before I got diagnosed so it's not like she's seeing things just because she's been told she sees them. I may not be a professional, but I know obvious autism when I see it. As for my dad: Classic absent-minded professor type, all-encompassing fascination with computers, very introverted, very opinionated, found an outlet for his lecturing in preaching, didn't speak until the age of four, had to have my mom take care of him because he couldn't do stuff for himself when they married, like cleaning or cooking... Oh, and a certified genius with a PhD. So yeah, they may be from the wrong generation for a diagnosis, but nothing could be plainer to me...)

Suggest you find yourself a doctor who actually knows something about autism as opposed to going by stereotypes. Just being married doesn't disqualify you; it's like the doctors think nobody could love an Aspie or something, when the opposite seems to be true--eccentric as we are, many of us will form very close friendships that are very few in number because while we're horrible at socializing, we tend to be very loyal to the people we love (there's that change-aversion again, plus the tendency to live by the principles of fairness). Not that there aren't dysfunctional relationships with autistics in them, but since that's true for NTs, too, I don't think it matters.

OddFiction and Callista, I couldn't agree with you more! I couldn't believe it when she said that to me. I felt like I'd wasted all that money. She also said all kinds of things in the final written report that implied that I made up things like the phrase "special interest". It did not instill confidence in me.

I know how I am and while it'd be nice to be able to see a specialist ($$) and get help I'll just have to wait. It sucks because I really could use some serious help.

Anyway, at least I have you guys.

Hello I wanted to contribute here because the problem was the reverse I had ADHD but mistakenly thought it was AS
I was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 5 and recently re-diagnosed however because my parents nor did society believe in it neither did I. I was never treated or medicated for it and as a result I went through my entire life wondering what was wrong with me and why I was so lazy/unfocused/socially inept.
I was never 100 percent certain because I did not fit the DMV criteria yet I had socialization problems and special interests and some sensory problems. However the interests were mostly attributed to the ADHD mind to seek out tons of information out of some inner instinct to "hunt" down problems and solve them. I was never obsessed with any one interest yet had very many. Also my sensory problems were limited in comparison to AS yet I was left confused because I had never heard of another sensory issues on anything but the spectrum. However I learned that mostly ADHD types are sensitive to loud/high pitched sounds(I go absolutely crazy) and the feel of certain tactile surfaces(like chalk boards).

ADHD individuals have difficulty interacting with others due to multiple reasons; one unlike NT's when growing up I did not always learn social skills incidentally: The social cues, social conventions and correct ways to be friendly because the ADHD mind is so easily distracted; you won't learn social cues and thus have the same issue with missing cues/misunderstanding. Also when engaging in conversations my mind is constantly filtering out information and again being distracted so I'll be talking to someone and often be confused what we're discussing because I missed parts of the conversation without knowing. Also adhd individuals can be impulsive and impatient so we can come off as rude and instead of taking the time to construct our thoughts properly we just spit them out. Due to these social problems I would be picked on, misunderstood and sometimes seen as rude thus why I believe I became a non-confirmst, felt different, et cetra. Also innately our minds are different and we tend to be augmentative so that doesn't help. We also too dislike small talk because we need something constantly new/interesting and so it tends to be very boring for us.

Another AS symptom I thought I had was "face-blindness" and forgetting phone-numbers/other trivial information however now I realize it is because of short-term memory issues; I would always remember their face but not their name.lol. Forgive me for my rant, but I would like to keep going because I think it will be helpful to some members on the site.
Another AS issue as you know is being a highly sensitive person and whenever I took the test I met the criteria yet it did not feel as if the reasons for being so sensitive were the same as AS> Now I understand why; our precortex region is damaged, that part of our brains that can distinguish seeming attacks from real threats. (To make analogy- A normal brain watches a scary movie and the person is scared yet does not feel as if they are going to be attacked, an adhd brain might think they are actually being attacked) SO I often thought people were attacking me and purposefully being mean/spiteful when they weren't and this only caused more social problems.

Also Finally the ADHD brain will often engage in stressful issues such as "rule-based thinking"- We tend to over-apply rules/guidelines we learned to one situation to others. "Black/white Thinking" self-explanatory and something I hate "circular thinking" or ruminating. Which is basically thinking about the same thoughts or worries over and over and over again and being unable to stop it. Also those with ADHD may have sleeping problems due to their NEVER ending supply of energy. We also have our gifts like AS but I thought I would share this with you guys because I fear some of you may have been in the same situation as me and although I am not a psychologist this may explain why some people are diagnosed with AS and ADHD despite being completely different in how it effects the brain. Perhaps the doctor notices the adhd and then some AS like social problems yet does not link the latter to the former.
I hope this helps!

---

Am a little more ADHD Inattentive including central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) than Asperger - Autism I believe. At the same time, I am very aware that most of my life I tended to live in the left hemisphere of my brain (logical) vs the right hemisphere of my brain (artistic). For some reason, I responded well to a central nervous system stimulant - alerting agent which allowed me to temporarily access the right hemisphere of my brain a little more so I literally began to see a forest (the whole) vs just trees (the parts) (not a cure).

For some reason, light for me was ok but sounds as in the Morse Code were somewhat piecemeal. The medicine for me for my ADHD Inattentive allowed me to temporarily hear about 2% (two percent) more words clearly (not a cure).

http://www.ericdigests.org/2003-5/auditory.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateraliza ... n_function

Thank you for your very insightful and detailed responses! I'm going to go back over these and read them a lot more carefully for my own learning. I really appreciate it!