How does AS impair an individual moreso than ADHD?

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Just confused. I'm more convinced now that I have ADHD, since I found a website that named many negative effects on all aspects of a sufferer's life, most of which I can definitely relate to. I've yet to really find any information on how AS sufferers' day-to-day lives are affected other than social impairment, which is a problem I have as well and share many traits in that respect.

Last edited by nomadic28 on 22 Apr 2008, 6:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.

well, in my experience OH LOOK A DUCK!! :D

he he, okay, seriously, I think you should get an opinion from someone qualified in either or both disorders, and go from there. :)

Diagnosable AS usually includes (oversimplified):

-routines.

These means that a person is inflexible to changes and cannot adjust to spontaneous breaks of routines. The severity of routines can range from rigid (everything must be exactly the same way every day) to mild (flexible, just not spontaneous and able to cope with totally unknown changes).

-special interests.

The special interest are, especially in childhood, usually narrow. The degree can vary between extremely narrow (a child will go on about nothing but dinosaurs and resist learning about else) to mild (obsession, but still in the 'appropriate' range of manageable in time and not as limited.)

Not relevant to diagnosis but often seen/just sometimes a problem:

-motor clumsiness.

Issues with fine and/or gross motor skills.

-sensory issues.

Can't wear certain clothes, cannot eat certain foods, gets sick with certain smells, certain sounds hurt - that kind of thing. Easy to find out about via google.

Now that was the utmost oversimplified version of the most usual issues. I don't think I ever made it this short before...

Look at the diagnosis criteria in the DSM-IV-TR. On paper somebody must meet a few points out of each category to get diagnosed as AS.

These whole issue a bit more complicated if you meet criteria for both AS and AD(H)D.

Motor clumsiness is common amoung people with AD(H)D as well. In fact, 50% of all children with AD(H)D have DCD.

Ok but how can AS cause you, for instance, to lose your job?

Because its fairly obviously how severe ADHD can cause you to basically suck at life (always late, always incompetent, little sustained interest in anything mundane, etc).

It depends what type of job you have. Many people with AS are well-suited to jobs such as computer programming because it requires minimal contact with other people. Jobs such as journalism that require constant change to routine, lots of interaction with strangers and thinking on your feet are often too much for people with AS.

I HAVE both.

ooo, I'm sorry :(

I tend to have the opposite of ADHD; an object or thought can grab my attention, and I shut out other things. I have too much attention. :D

I am afraid thats how I was as a child, of only it was squirrels, or squibbles as I would call them

Which is why its so bizarre that a manager at CNN wrote an article about being diagnosed with AS. I thought, "How does she handle THAT career field?!"

I have both, and then some.
For a long time I just had an ADHD dx, and anything that looked like AS or something similar was assumed to be related to stress and/or other things.

one way or another as long as you are happy in yourself thats all that mattersm

I lost several jobs due to not fitting in because of my AS. Its the little things like not responding quickly enough, not being able to socialize like the others and quite subtle things. The actual work ethic of an aspie is usually good as in reliable, punctual, hardworking, focussed and other good things but the social side can let you down and if the people you are working with decide you are a little bit too different, then they will get you sacked by means fair or foul.

I know a few people at my school with ADHD. Only one other with AS. The two of us with AS seem to do a lot better in school than those with ADHD, but we do far worse socially.

There are two main sets of criteria for AS. The first could be summarized as "social problems". The second includes narrow interests, repetitive behaviors, preoccupation with parts of objects, and strict routines. One must have at least 2 out of 4 criteria in each main category and these things must be causing significant impairment in a major area of life such as work or school.