Asperger's and ADHD

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I still don't understand how someone can have both Asperger's and ADHD. I've met one person with hyperactive ADHD who has also been diagnosed with Asperger's, and he himself denies that he has it. I've met another person with both diagnoses, where I clearly see that he has Asperger's, but then I ask him how his ADHD manifests itself and he says that he cannot concentrate on things. However, I then clearly saw him focus on a book that was of intense interest to him. To me, that is a pure Asperger's trait. I've worked with ADHD kids before, who, even with medication, had difficulty concentrating on anything.

The central reason for my asking is because I've always seen Asperger's to stem from a very monotrack mind, having difficulty paying attention to more than one thing at once. ADHD, on the other hand, is usually portrayed as having an extremely multitrack mind, when there are so many channels in your mind that you have difficulty singling out an individual one.

So how can the two co-exist? How does this combination manifest itself in the thought process of the affected individual?

I am wondering if your friend who can hyperfocus on things which interest him has the inattentive or mixed type of ADHD. I don't have Aspergers, but I have been diagnosed with the mixed type of ADHD, which includes traits of the both the hyperactive and inattentive forms.

It's quite possible for me to focus really intently on something I am very interested in; actually reading about one of my favorite subjects is like brain candy. But doing something like filling out a form (ARRGHHHH) can take me forever and there will be a million mistakes.

Link describing hyperfocus in ADHDers.

I have both. I have the inattentive form of ADHD (i.e. I am quiet, not loud, and, instead of being hyper, I typically have the energy of a stoned wombat).

And there's a characteristic of ADHD called hyperfocus, which can be a lot like an Aspie focusing on an obsessive interest. I even read a story once about a woman with ADHD whose house burned down around her, and she didn't even notice because she was so hyperfocused on something!

As for me: I know that I have ADHD, because, until I went on medication, I could not focus on homework for more than ten minutes at a time, and I could not focus in class or on conversations for more than about 30 seconds at a time. Yet, I know that I have AS and the hyperfocusing trait of ADHD, because I can research something I'm really interested in for hours, and talk about it like an encyclopedia (I do have a wider variety and shorter duration of obsessive interests than someone with just plain AS). I know that I have AS because I actually had to teach myself how to speak more informally and more like my peers - when I was in elementary school, my speech was so stilted and formal, I sounded like someone in a period piece from colonial times (minus the British accent). I know that I have AS, because I NEED to have a routine that I follow every day - but ADHD makes it incredibly hard to stick to a routine, or, at least, makes my routines take all day.

AS and ADHD do actually have quite a bit in common - like a previous poster said, there is executive dysfunction. People with both disorders also have sensory issues, although they are usually more severe in people with AS than they are in people with just ADHD. And, even though it is supposed to be diagnostically impossible for someone to be diagnosed with both, something like 70% of people with AS have enough inattentive and/or hyperactivity symptoms to warrant an additional diagnosis of ADHD!

Hmm. I've always thought that you can denote the inattentive form by "ADD" and the hyperactive form by "ADHD"., so I did mean the hyperactive form in my post. It makes sense how the inattentive ADHD can manifest itself with AS. The only problem I have with it is that its symptoms are so similar to AS, as the poster above me (Azolet) noted. I wonder how the psychiatrist can possibly separate the ADHD-PI symptoms from the AS symptoms. It seems to me to be very easily misdiagnosable.

To other people, thanks for your feedback. I still see way too many similarities between the two, if AS and inattentive ADHD are co-existent. I have AS and have been told that I don't have ADHD in any form, but it's still difficult for me to control my focus sometimes. If, say, I'm doing my homework and there is something that reminds me of one of my interests, I will focus on that instead and then think about my interest. Or I'll rather keep thinking about something that is stuck in my head instead of listening to the professor.

I have Asperger's and ADHD. Not officially diagnosed, but: Asperger's was unofficially diagnosed by multiple professionals, and was treated for ADHD as a kid, and recognized to still show symptoms of it. It's complicated, but I have both, in some form.

They seem to contradict, as you described them. That's exactly me - a walking contradiction. The way I see it, the AS and the ADHD are basically like two different forces. Sometimes one manifests itself more, sometimes the other does. Sometimes I'm hyperactive, inattentive, etc... sometimes I'm hyper-focused onto my "Special Interest" and maintain social awkward-ness. Overall as a result there are symptoms from both, but with both I don't have all of the symptoms. (I'm pretty tolerant and patient considering ADHD, and... there are a few AS things missing)

There are symptoms that overlap, as said, and I find those overlapping ones apply to me.

I don't know if I'm the best representative either, because I also have depression and with those three (as well as possible anxiety issues and obsessive-compulse issues), it's all a complicated mess, lol.

I have both Asperger's and ADD. It runs in the family, because my half-brother has ADHD, and I'm pretty sure my little sister has it too.

I know aspies that perseverate. (To repeat something insistently or redundantly). That may in some instances be confused with ADHD because they both deal with attention. However, anything is possible. A person could be an aspie and have ADHD.

MathGirl posted: I still don't understand how someone can have both Asperger's and ADHD. I've met one person with hyperactive ADHD who has also been diagnosed with Asperger's, and he himself denies that he has it. I've met another person with both diagnoses, where I clearly see that he has Asperger's, but then I ask him how his ADHD manifests itself and he says that he cannot concentrate on things. However, I then clearly saw him focus on a book that was of intense interest to him. To me, that is a pure Asperger's trait. I've worked with ADHD kids before, who, even with medication, had difficulty concentrating on anything. The central reason for my asking is because I've always seen Asperger's to stem from a very monotrack mind, having difficulty paying attention to more than one thing at once. ADHD, on the other hand, is usually portrayed as having an extremely multitrack mind, when there are so many channels in your mind that you have difficulty singling out an individual one. So how can the two co-exist? How does this combination manifest itself in the thought process of the affected individual?
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In the year 2010, there are 4 ADHDs (four types of ADHD, not just one type of ADHD - 2010). Then there is Asperger (2010) and Autism (2010). Asperger is scheduled to be renamed Autism in the year 2013. You might take a look at the term Venn diagram (pies - overlapping pies) which is often used to show overlapping items. Bottomline (my view), ADHD can be quite different than Asperger's since there are a few cases where the right medicine for ADHD (historically a central nervous system stimulant - alerting agent - like caffeine, Ritalin, Dexedrine, Adderall and so on) can temporarily reduce ADHD symptoms a little (not a cure) and temporarily increase the ability to pay attention including attention span a little (not a cure). This is quite different than Asperger/Autism where there really are no medicines which work (simplified answer). By the way, the term ADHD is interesting in how it has changed over the decades: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). ADHD is the current term for the lifelong neurological challenge which previously has been known as ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder), Hyperactivity, Hyperkinesis, Organic Brain Syndrome, Minimal Brain Dysfunction, and Minimal Brain Damage. (Source: ADHD BB)

^^This thing about the medications interests me because I am at the maximum dose of meds for ADHD ( I am diagnosed with Inattentive type) and while it helps some my core problems still exist. It does not help me with my distractibility or my lack of will or my tendency to overload when given too much to prioritize. It just seems to take the edge off a bit.

I was reading recently about how ADHD can lead to problems reading social cues as well, so I'm beginning to wonder where one ends and the other begins. Anyway you look at it, I don't function well. I work hard just to achieve the basics it takes to get by and it exhausts me.