Are there any Aspies who were originally diagnosed with ADD?

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For a while I was pretty sure that my problem was ADD, since that was my diagnosis for a long time and my symptoms seemed to fit (disorganized, forgetful, in my own world etc.). But I recently started getting treatment for it, and I started taking Adderall. What I initially noticed is I could think clearly. But also, I had no urge to engage in my previous addictive behaviors, which had persisted for years and all my efforts to quit had been almost totally ineffective. But this was only on the Adderall, after it faded I would feel those urges again. But the most important thing I've noticed is that in the past month of being on the Adderall, the addiction is seeming to persist now even on the medication, and even though I can think more clearly, I am actually even more off in my own world, thinking about singing and music, or just trying to figure various things out, rather than focusing on my job or listening to others.

So I started to think maybe there was something else, some other underlying problem. I asked my mom about my behavior as a child, as well as searching all the symptoms I knew I had as a child, as I thought maybe there was something that fit better than ADD. My mom mentioned that my grandma thought I may have autism, but my mom never brought it up to my doctors so I eventually got diagnosed with ADD. I started researching the early childhood symptoms of it, and I could identify almost every one in my childhood, and I saw many of the common traits that adults with Asperger's have in my current personality and behavior. Then I took the AQ and the EQ, and got a 46 and a 3, respectively.

I am now almost positive that I have High Functioning Autism, and I am starting to doubt that I even have ADD. Even if I do, I don't believe it is the main cause of all my struggles. I have had a persistent feeling since I was very little that I was not like anyone else, I felt somehow disconnected and I wondered if I was even real sometimes. I was bullied by other kids and many of my teachers singled me out because I was supposedly "misbehaved" and refused to listen, even though I often didn't even know why I was getting in trouble.

So I'm wondering, is there anyone with ASD who was initially diagnosed with ADD as a child who could share their experience? I will definitely be going for a professional evaluation for Asperger's as soon as possible, but I was hoping I could get some insight as to what it has been like for someone who has both if there is anyone. I don't want to continue Adderall if I don't actually have ADD, so I wanted to know if that is common to have both and what it is like.

And also, I can't find any really clear directions on how to go about actually getting a professional evaluation. I can't seem to find any local groups that are reachable so far, and I can't see my primary physician for over a month. I will be seeing my therapist on Wednesday, but I don't know if she can help me or not. If there is any information anyone could give me on this, that would also be helpful.

At first people assumed I might have ADHD but I was never officially diagnosed with it.
I was hyperactive, easily distracted and inattentive and "attention looking" child but there was one behavior that excluded the diagnosis - as I got interested in something (watching a cartoon) I was "disappearing". I could sit in front of TV for hours with my mouth open and they could move my chair, talk to me, try to feed me etc. and I was totally ignoring them, focused on the cartoon.

Anyway. If you feel like you might have HFA you probably have it. ADD can look similar on the outside, (especially to a doctor unexperienced with ASD) but only you know whats going with you inside. You might have both or your HFA might mimic ADD.

As for diagnosis - go for it, don't give up. You will find an opportunity one day. Ask around. I got my AS diagnosis when I already lost hope I will ever wind anybody who can diagnose it. I was always thinking I will have to go to a city far away, wait a long time and pay a lot of money. But one day I decided to visit a Mental health center in my neighbor city that I heard specialists in diagnosing autistic children. As I supposed they were not able to diagnose me but they recommended me another institution, the same city, just another part of it. And they diagnosed me after a few weeks, for free.

I was initially diagnosed with ADHD and Tourette's. I was kicked out of nursery and my first two primary schools. Teachers and doctors said (I saw the reports in my dad's filing cabinet a few years ago) that I was "wild" and had "severe behavioural problems".

Now I no longer fit the criteria for ADHD but I still have borderline Tourette's symptoms.

I am diagnosed Asperger's (severe case apparently) and when I was 12 I started developing schizophrenia.

I received the official schizophrenia diagnosis at 15 and the AS diagnosis at 16 (people assumed I had "ADHD" and "severe behavioural problems" and didn't seem to realise I'm autistic, perhaps because autism was less well recognised in those days).

I can focus on a topic for hours and hours, I get so obsessed about it that it takes extreme olanzapine-induced hunger or a migraine to make me stop. And even then I gulp down a large glass of water and a quick snack, so that I can get back to my obsession ASAP.

The reason they diagnosed me with ADHD, I think, is because if I'm not interested in a topic, or if I find it too easy, I cannot focus at all really. My first two primary schools were p*ss easy and I remember being so bored. Ironically enough when I got put in a gifted school, my "ADHD" reduced and by the time I was in secondary school (one of the top secondary schools in England) I was able to be a top student in the sciences, maths and IT (although I was diabolical at English Literature, History and the Arts).

It all comes down to how interesting I find something. The biochemistry module I have to do in my uni course is so dull and I have to literally read the textbooks out loud to get myself to focus. However neuropharmacology I can cover a whole textbook in a day quite easily.

I have to stop typing now as my vision is going double due to a convergent squint.

I was diagnosed with it at age ten. I was poorly organized even though I kept my room clean and my stuff together. I had a hard time paying attention in class an staying on task. My school suspected it and thought I had attention problems but in 6th grade, a neurologist said it was my mind working too fast so I couldn't process things. I am not sure what else. I also had a hard time focusing on my school work because it was hard and took lot of focus so that may have been mistaken as ADD. They even thought I had ADHD at some point but was never diagnosed. I am not even sure if I have ADD.

Not for long.

Yes.

There are some that believe that ADD/ADHD are at the beginning of the spectrum and that things progress to Autism.

See the link in my signature for my story & what I believe to be the root cause and explanation for this.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

The doctors tried to diagnose me with that first but my parents refused to accept the diagnosis due to the fact that, when dealing with something I was interested in (like a good book) I could remain focused for hours on end.