I am confused about the ASD / ADHD connection.

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First "new topic" post for me. A bit scary, but here goes . . .

I often hear these two disorders mentioned together but I do not understand the connection. How are they related? Are they often comorbid, or considered to overlap or even be on the same spectrum? I was diagnosed with an ASD but have no signs of ADHD and know very little about it. I've Googled it but only managed to confuse myself further with the information I found so I decided to come back here and ask the experts.

That's the end of my first "new topic" post. Whew. Glad that's over. What do I do now, just hit "submit?"

Thanks for posting a very interesting topic. I'm equally confused as you because I don't see how someone can have both ASD and ADHD. I'm sure one of the experts here will explain it.

I don't really know if I have ADHD or not. I was diagnosed with it as a child and have been on stimulants since the second grade. I don't really understand the connection of it myself. ADHD and Autism have almost the same symptoms with each other. I know I'm autistic because if you know me, you can tell by the way I act at times. I've been questioning whether not I do have ADHD with my autism.

My parents seem to think I have both though, and there is no convincing them otherwise. ._.

ADHD is commonly comorbid (a word I don't like because it sounds deadly, but just means they occur together...) with ASD. There is also a lot of the overlap tends to be related to executive functioning and sensory processing.

The commonality with ASD for executive functioning has to do with the ability to properly initiate and follow procedural tasks. The high level of distractability that goes along with ADHD makes it difficult to start a task and to follow steps. We often see kids skipping steps in a rush to complete the task leading to many errors. We see this in ASD for non-preferred activities. People with both ASD and ADHD diagnoses can hyper focus. On preferred activities, though. The ones with JUST ADHD will have more variety to these preferred activities.

For sensory stimulus, both people with ASD and ADHD can have difficulty filtering out background information (cars driving by, people in the hallway, the air moving through a vent, etc.). The difference would be that people with ADHD would typically be just distracted or irritated by this whereas someone with ASD might be more aversive to these types of stimulation or experience the sensation at heightened levels (although distractability is also common).

There's a little more to it, but this is the gist of it.

My first post, so apologies if something goes wrong.

ADHD does not occur in all children with autism. I would say it happens only with 50% of them.

According to the discussion in my book (Eikona Bridge: LIVE Communication with the Autistic Species), autism comes in two flavors: pro-video and pro-picture. Attention deficit disorder or hyperactivity only happens with the pro-video children. Anyways, these labels are true misnomers. Children with autism can focus very well in doing things that they like. It is a big turn-off that the instinct of so many caregivers is Ritalin. My view is that, once you understand these children and learn to communicate in the language of these children, these children can learn and very well.

regards,

Jason

Wow. Thanks, Jason. I followed the link you provided to your book. It is very interesting, especially your views about ADHD and the pro-video type of autism, but it did raise many more questions. I am 'scratching my head' ' (if I may borrow your phrase) at some of your responses in the FAQ section.

First of all, I believe that learning begins as soon as we leave the womb, and that the foundation of learning to speak is laid by being spoken to as infants. That said, are you suggesting that parents should show infants pictures instead of talking to them when you say, "Please teach your children to read before teaching them to talk, and communicate with them through pictures?" Then in answer to the next question about the types of autism you said of the pro-video type that they "often cannot focus on pictures during their early childhood." Then how could they possibly benefit from communication through pictures?

I'm clearly misunderstanding your message, perhaps because I take things too literally. Please help me understand. Thanks.

You are making all too many assumptions without reading the book. To understand autism (even if you are autistic), you will need to spend more time and effort, This book is written by an autistic person, and of course it would appear odd and unconventional. I understand my book could be perceived as controversial, but that is well expected.

This book is to help parents communicate with their children with autism. As mentioned, there are two types of children with autism: pro-video and pro-picture. For pro-picture children, you can start to draw pictures for them since young age (I drew pictures for my daughter since around 18 months of age, may be even earlier). For pro-video children, you make video clips for them, and build the first bridge that way. Pro-video children are unable to focus on static pictures, initially. But please read the book and find out the technique used to introduce to these children pro-picture skills. After pro-video children learn to focus on static pictures, then you can teach them by drawing pictures, instead of making video clips. Both of my children learned to read before they learned to talk. Why do I emphasize so much the reading part? Children with autism are visual. They have their own development path that is different from the development path of neurotypical children. If you force a pro-video child to learn to speak first (which they will have trouble doing), what happens is that you will be delaying the development of their natural visual talents, and by the time they get into school and start to learn to read, guess what? Now they are faced with double burden as compared to neurotypical kids: they need to learn the visual shapes of letters, and at the same time try to absorb the incomprehensible aural signals. What happens next is that they will slur. And with that, they will suffer self-esteem problems. What for? What do parents gain by delaying their children's visual-manual talents? I read "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" together with my daughter when she was 4 years old, which is a book meant for 10 year-olds. She had significant speech delay, but her reading skills were way ahead of her neurotypical peers. She is now fully verbal, with highest self-esteem, very social, and with many friends.

The message of the book is that the children with autism are fine. They belong to a different species and have a different path of development. Learn to speak their language: the visual language, and you will be able to communicate with them and develop their talents. Forcing them to adapt to the neurotypical paradigm is not the way to go. Please don't turn the lives of these children upside down, just because they don't follow the development path of neurotypical children. By attempting to make them "normal," you will end up harming these children. Different children have different ways of growing up. Learn to accept their differences. For children on the spectrum, develop their visual-manual skills first, and they will talk much sooner and socialize much better.

Similarly, please do not apply the techniques of the book to neurotypical children. This book is for developing children with autism. Learn to treat each child according to their talents. Neurotypical children have their own ways of developing, too.

regards,

Jason

Executive Functioning Issues are common to both groups

I think that they have similar outward symptoms, but the internal reasons for them are different. For example, with ASD, it might be hard for the individual to focus on something because they would rather be doing or thinking about something related to their interest and it is hard for them to shift to something else, while someone with ADHD would find it hard to focus because their mind just wanders and they are distracted by random thoughts and things in the environment.

I think the biggest difference is that ADHD usually can be treated very effectively, often simply through changes in diet and learning better organization skills, and through medication as well, since it is probably mostly due to a neurochemical imbalance. But with ASD, while these things can still possibly help, they won't be quite so effective in most cases. This is because ASD is probably entirely genetic, and is an issue with brain development rather than a neurochemical imbalance.