Joe90 wrote:
I'm diagnosed with ADHD as well as Asperger's.
A lot of people think that ADHD means a naughty, disruptive child. But that's a stereotype, just like it's a stereotype to say that autism means Rainman.
I was very hyperactive as a child (and as an adult) but I don't think hyperactivity is a common autism trait because everyone else I know who is on the spectrum wasn't hyperactive as children or as adults. Hyperactivity can indicate that the child may have some sort of a disorder (and I'm not talking about ordinary hyperactivity in typical children), and if hyperactivity was a common trait of autism then a lot of autistics would be recognised and diagnosed earlier.
Yes, I know I was diagnosed with Asperger's in childhood but I'm an exception.
I belong to an online support group for adults with ADHD, and you'd be surprised how many people are actually as affected by their ADHD as what Aspies are affected by their autism.
You’re right in that hyperactivity is more of an ADHD stereotype rather than an autism one. It’s been mentioned in some sources that a lot of people with the “inattentive” type aren’t hyperactive at all and may even be HYPO-active. This is just one difference, in addition to others mentioned, that makes this sub type seem more in line with ASD than ADHD.
I’m aware that a person can have the executive functioning issues of ADHD and not be hyperactive, but reading some descriptions of the “inattentive” type as a whole, I would swear I was reading an Aspergers description. Someone else in this thread also mentioned that she has the inattentive type in addition to schizoid personality disorder, another disorder with AS like features.