ADHD and Autism

Post Reply New Topic

At the moment I have selfdiagnosed myself with ADD with no physical hyperactive part. Also have extreme hyperfocus which means I am able to really focus on things that interest me, this also seems to be a trait of AS.

Do people with AS also have ADHD as well?

Are they related disorders?

Are they completely different?

It is my understanding that they frequently can happen co-morbidly or you can have one without the other.
They are somewhat related, but are not the same thing....People with AS and ADD have alot of similar issues though...(i know this from having been on ADD message boards for years)
I might have both.
I have known some ADDers who did not have AS symptoms. They tended to be very socially outgoing and uninhibited and able to "assimilate"...but maybe the fact that they had been on meds for years contributed to that.

I am a first self-dXed ADD, who finally got a diagnosis, though I have alot of AS symptoms for which I am not diagnosed (i know I sound redundant, as I frequently repeat this in my posts)...
It could be that my ADD traits counteract certain AS traits that I lack, but would have if I did not have ADD....For example...I do not have rigid routines...I wish I could have rigid routines...and I constantly make lists of all the thing I feel I need to do, but I am extremely disorganised and all over the place...but I do have the sensory and social issues often associated with AS, as well as the obsessions to a certain degree.
I came across this chart today...lets see if I can find it....

http://theemergencesite.com/Tech/TechIs ... rs-ADD.htm

Last edited by poopylungstuffing on 17 Mar 2008, 3:32 am, edited 1 time in total.

Tar

What AS symptons do you have? I'm sensitive to bright lights and when a touch frozen things I really screw my mouth up.

Socially I have trouble with attention and my mind goes else where. But they are related to ADD.

I do have obsessions to but that can be hyperfocus from ADD.

I've self-diagnosed myself with ADHD for years now, but when I found out about Asperger's, I sort of questioned it because ADHD didn't explain my social problems, and Asperger's explained everything about me except that I do have trouble staying focused even on tasks that interest me sometimes. The problem is that there are so many things that can cause concentration problems, even aside from ADHD and Asperger's.

What kind of social problems do you have?

I have read that ADHD and aspergers can go hand in hand.

To date,am diagnosed with ADHD and Autism [classical autism] and have very recently had an unofficial label added from a autism specialist of explosive autism.
Am would say to be careful of diagnosing self with ADHD and/or an ASD when are not sure about either because ASD can actually cause many of the things that ADHD does to,eg,attention problems can turn out to be caused by sensory input,spacing out is also an ASD thing.
Am often wonder whether am really ever was/is ADHD because Autism explains a lot,but history shows it definitely pre medication anyway.
ADHD is very common with Autism or AS,or some people who are more ADHD or more ASD have a mix of the other to.
this is something that only a specialist will really be able to work out,although easier said than done.

That's "Explosive Aggressive Autism", right?

Taken from here:

I was just reading about ADHD and AS.

These quotes are from Deirdre Lovecky's book, Different Minds(Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2004) and are about children:

"...the association of AS and AD/HD is quite high...

Children with AS show severe impairments of social reciprocity, while those with AD/HD have more difficulty with consistent application of social skills. Children with AD/HD know what to do but forget to do it, while those with AS have difficulty seeing that relationships are two-sided.

Both groups have difficulty with anxiety and depression but those with AS have more anxiety related to small changes.

Children with AS have musch more trouble seeing the big picture...Those with AD/HD tend to be more big-picture thinkers, have more mental flexibility, and can group or categorize different facts according to different aspects. They can also think of alternate plans and solve novel problems with novel solutions."

At one other point in the book, she wrote about some research that seems to suggest that AS and AD/HD affect different hemispheres of the brain (can't remember which applies to which), and that may explain the similarities and the differences between the two.

I don't know how much of the kid-stuff applies to adults.

I wasn't tested and not diagnosed with AD(H)D, but I suspect that I have it or at least traits of it that may warrant for a full diagnosis. I dislike psychiatrists and psychologists and unless I ever consider (regular) medication because of my attention deficit caused by hyperactivity or mind fog, I doubt I'll go and see one again just for the sake of an AD(H)D diagnosis. And boy, I doubt I can find a specialist in GE that isn't all for kids and still is a specialist in autism and AD(H)D.

I know some about the basic supposed differences between AS mainly and AD(H)D. (Refers to stronger/stereotypical AS and AD(H)D!)

1. The term hyperfocus in AD(H)D can be misleading as the same happens in people with autism in reference to their special interests. The difference in both is said to be that when the hyperfocus is interrupted, the person with AD(H)D will just jump at the interruption, while the person with AS will get confused and cannot change to the new topic (all that easily).

2. The more sensory input to a person AS (who has sensory issues), the less this person can function, overloads or even meltdowns occur. The person with AD(H)D only will not shut down, but gets even more jumpy and hyperactive or, if it is a person without hyperactivity, they may not outwardly show hyperactivity, but instead get just as fidgeting and hyperactive (unable to control themselves and think) on the inside. (The hyperactivity just doesn't show on the outside, but anyway pure ADD or ADHD types are rare!)

3. People with AS usually begin one thing and complete one thing after a time, no multitasking, but orderly and linear - the person with AD(H)D will start everything, try everything at once and not complete anything.

4. People with AS usually have their interests they keep to, are not fancied by new ideas and things. When they decide something, they stick to it (unless they have e.g. a mood disorder!)
A person with ADHD usually are easily wowed about something new and have immense trouble to stick to something they find interesting, although they may really try hard to not get distracted.

That's all I can think of right now. This is mostly experience based form what I know of people with diagnosed ADD and ADHD, children and adults. So it's a big mix of all kinds of things.


I get the impression that my AD(H)D and ASD influence each other in some aspects. On the other hand, my actions can contradict each other immensely depending on whether the cause is AD(H)D or the ASD.

These two things are visible to all other people (they complain, comment on it, get confused) so I just tell these two again.
E.g.: I need a steady input in order to concentrate at all, and too much causes hyperactivity. NTs can't work with that much input around them, but I have to have it. But at other times, I have an overload or meltdown because of too much sensory input!
Or: I have routines (I doubted that before, but my therapist showed me) that I need to keep to and when someone else tries to interfere with them, either the whole day is screwed Unlike, when I feel like it, I just screw the routines and do something entirely spontaneous. I jump back and forth between these two extremes. An inability to keep to rules I know and the need to strictly keep to them as to not get lost.

I was diagnosed with ADD when I was 19, and at the time it seemed like the best way to identify what made me different. A few years later I began digging a little deeper and found out about aspergers. I never went back for another diagnosis, so I'm a self diagnosed aspie but I definitely believe that the two share a lot of common ground.

I've been diagnosed with both AS and ADHD(later ADD) but I'm beginning to question the ADD diagnoses. When i was taking adderal it did help but i have been okay since i stopped taking it as well. I was recently diagnosed with a functioning memory disability and i believe the memory disability along with the AS were the sources of my AD(H)D like symptoms. Constantly forgetting to do tasks,not memorizing school work,stimming,walking in circles,looking around the room as if extremely bored but merely trying to avoid eye contact, etc. Also doing really well in the areas you are interested in and doing poorly in the ones that you are not interested in gives the appearance that you are simply bored by them or unable to pay attention. The adderal thing can be explained by the fact that just about anyone will do better in school if you give them amphetamines.

Then again, i really should be studying or cleaning out my anole's cage but instead I'm trying desperately to find an excuse to stay here. The doctors could be correct.

Mr. Bogan.....

Here's an important bit of information amid all the speculation.

ADD can be treated with medication.

While I am too old to use Concerta (a strong stimulant and probably the best option) my younger brother has used it and found it to be a great help.

I have used a light dose (200 mg per day) of Wellbutrin (non-stimulant) and it seems to be of some help.

Since I also have NLD (which is almost identical to Asperger and can't be treated with medication) I can't expect a huge change......but any little bit can be a help.

Is there some reason why you can't get a formal dx and thus have the option of exploring the possibilities of medication?

Diagnosis/treatment for ADDand AS can be very expensive and hard to come by if you are an adult who does not have very much money or health insurance....also many doctors are reluctant to treat adults...(at least where I live)

It is all very confusing.

I find that I am helped to a certain extent by ADD meds (i have taken ADDerall)...It seems to help me with my executive functions.....i see the trash..I put it in the trash can..
but I still have difficulty sequencing things. I cannot just stick to one activity and do it (unless I am in front of a computer)...my mind is constantly urging me in all these different directions....(including back to the computer where I can lose track of all time and stay hyperfocused for hours)
That is the way in which my ADD symtoms manifest the most.
I am not very good at multi-tasking, but my mind keeps wanting me to. I am constantly overwhealmed by all the things around me that need to be done....unmedicated, my overload leads to inertia, whereas medicated, I make attempts to do something about it.

While on ADD meds, my AS symptoms are still present...though I am able to make slightly more of an effort. Instead of zoneing out in a scenario that to me, is normally extremely uncomfortable...(sitting at a table in a restauraunt and conversing with people I hardly know..for example)...I am able to be slightly more involved...though what comes out of my mouth might still sound like gibberish...and I will have to excuse myself after a while.
i still have avoidance issues and can definitely go into sensory overload....as when I was on ADD meds regularly, i had some pretty serious meltdowns.

I'm AS because I don't get enmeshed in "social" groups or go out of my way to "gather friends." I ain't shy, but socializing isn't important to me. I like talking about my interests or hearing other people talk about what's on their mind: I'm cool with that. I just never got the trick to social banter. The only person I've ever come close to doing it with is my boyfriend.

I'm ADHD because I have trouble paying attention when people are talking. It's not that I lack the ability to focus on what they say, though: I just get so caught up with PARTICULAR things that they say that I miss other stuff. I can't just "write to memory" everything that a person is saying to me. I have to think about it and play around with it. I just can't turn the "contemplative" part of my mind off long enough to digest what someone is trying to tell me.

I have not been diagnosed with either, though, and I don't intend to be. My psychiatrist and I are just trying to work out what medication is going to work best for me, and we're not even going to bother with the diagnostic label thing. It is what it is, and I just want to get my mind to do what I tell it to do.

I was diagnosed with ADD about 3 or 4 years ago. I was diagnosed with the primarily innatentive type, as I don't run around like a chicken with her head cut off like most folks with ADHD (far from it). But some things in the ADD criteria still didn't seem to fit me. It didn't really explain my extreme social difficulties. They say kids with hyperactive ADHD can have a lot of acquaintances (because they talk so much) but very few close friends (because they talk TOO much). Kids with primarily innatentive ADD may have social difficulties because other kids just dismiss them as "space cases" and don't bother being friendly with them. Why this may have explained some of my problems, it doesn't explain why I seemed so inept at even TRYING to be friendly with other kids. I just plain didn't know how to approach anyone. I didn't know what to say. I had this idea that people would just "be my friend", and that I wasn't supposed to do anything in order to make that happen. I still feel this way to a certain extent today (and I am 29 years old now).

ADD also doesn't explain the stimming and the sensory issues. They say some kids with AD/HD can experience this to some degree, but it is mostly associated with autistic children. In AD/HD children, it is explain away as distraction anyway, not an actual physiological problem. I am not distracted by loud noises, bright lights, and uncomfortable clothes - I am immensely bothered by them physically.