ADHD-Inattentive or Asperger's?

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I want to ask something, and I'm going to phrase it as a hypothetical situation, because that helps me to write it. If you would, please read this, and say what you would do, or what you think. I'll put my hypothetical situation in a quote box so it looks neat and tidy:

Okay, given all of that "hypothetical" information, and assuming that you are, say, a middle aged woman-- which do you think you might be more likely to have? AS? ADHD-I? Both?

I'm asking that on this board, because I'm hoping to avoid the, "You'd know you have AS or not, because your teachers would have caught it" answers. No one would have caught anything. I'm pretty intelligent, a good writer, and well-behaved (until I'm pushed to a certain limit). I sailed through school, academically, until high school when I gave up because I couldn't begin to manage all that. No one seemed to notice or care that my grades went from A's to D's.

I tried hard to keep this simple and concise, so I apologize that it's long and verbose anyway.

I really don't have any good answers right now, as I'm not very focus.
However, I thought I would like to drop an answer to this, anyway.

To me it sounds very likely that you could have both.
Aspergers and Autism often goes hand-in-hand with other diagnoses, many of the times ADHD.
Only way to really know for sure, is to keep searching for an answer, and when you're ready to do so, go for diagnoses.

Good Luck!

I can relate to this very much. My two main areas of difficulty are executive dysfunction and social confusion. I have special interests and routines but they are more on the level of quirks than disabilities.

Yeah, I've noticed that a lot of your posts make me go, "Wow, me too!"

If I wanted an answer to the question, I'd ask a psychiatrist. I figure, it's their diagnostic system, their labels, therefore, their place to say, not mine.

The question I'd ask myself is, which of these labels can best help me to understand myself. For me, so far, the answer has been autism. And I know I wouldn't qualify for an autism diagnosis based on the present (as opposed to reviewing childhood). But reading about autism has really helped me understand myself, past and present. And the resources that have most helped me have had the autism label, not Asperger's.

I think, very possibly, that you have both. Talking with a good psychiatrist that deals with people on the spectrum would be a good idea -- and what you are describing sounds VERY MUCH like my son.

We should form a gang...

I have certain things about me that may or may not be more severe...I have not been really able to emerge from an emotional childhood...I can be very irrational, and when having meltdowns can draw conclusions that are very illogical and childlike...and I keep doing it over and over again...unable to "deprogram" myself...as Flakey says..

I think that possibly my ADD symptoms may overshadow my AS symptoms, but I have AS symptoms...social difficulties...obsessions...(that I can control talking about unless i get started)

I don't know how rigid a routine must be in order to count as rigid..I have something that could be interpreted as rigid routines...but there is a lot about me that is disorderly and chaotic....and a handfull of other things about me which might seem somehow un-ASish...

I remember that one of you..I forget which...scored low on Systematizing AND Empathy...and so did I..

I have a hyperactive mind that slows me down physically,,,,I have multiple layers of ideas that i tend to fixate on all the time...so having all these ideas makes me really constantly want to multitask..even though I really cant very well...and it is always a struggle knowing WHAT to focus on...(when forced away from doing the things I can focus on effortlessly)

I have to have music or some background noise on in order to focus on work...It takes me a really long time to accomplish simple chores...

I have been this way since I was a child..

I was called to the principal's office in Jr. High because it was obvious that I was not using my locker...that I was carrying all my books to every class and my book bag was so heavy, that I would balance it on top of my head.....

Um howyousay....ah..lost my train of thought...

I would guess I have both AS and inattentive ADD..

for what it is worth, my mom is very ASish and my dad has a lot of ADD traits...and is of extremely high intelligence....there are AS symptoms in his family..but he has really excellent social skills, which are part of his job selling high-end pianos...

It is my belief that ADD/HD/whathaveyou is related to the spectrum...

I still meet ADDers who tend to be a good deal more social than I am...

I think it sounds more like AS than ADHD because of the social aspects. The ADHD people I know are often hypersocial, having hundreds of friends and being able to BS with them all day long, constantly on their cell phones, etc.

Likewise with the ADDers I have met,,,for the most part.

But I think that one may tend to be less social with inattentive ADD..

My goodness!! !!

I am being tested for AS and ADHD(inattentive type) in March with reporting going through my trusty shrinks........

How profound that I should find your post! And yes my psychiatrist said that it is quite possible to have both....

I am interested in the answers.

Mics

My thinking is for people who fit the diagnostic criteria for ADHD (except possibly the "symptoms do not happen only during the course of a Pervasive Developmental Disorder"), for some of them, it's either part of an autism spectrum disorder, or related even if it doesn't fit the diagnostic criteria; and for others, ADHD is something distinct from the autistic spectrum. So, it can be two different things co-existing, but it can also be two different labels for the same thing.

I also think if ADHD treatment is helpful, then the label is useful to have, whether it's really something separate or not.

Wouldn't surprise me if you 'deserve' both the ADHD-I and AS 'labels' from the perspective of a skillful therapist/psychiatrist. But it seems like the important thing is to continue the work of understanding your own behavior and getting good advice (from books, forums, or therapists) about how to help yourself in any of the most troublesome behaviors. I self-diagnosed with AS about 8 years ago, am now over 60, and until the last few years never found any good books or other resources for adults but they are somewhat easier to find now and I am starting to find it rewarding to learn more about AS.

Won't surprise me if 30 to 50 years from now the researchers have a pretty different model of how to diagnose people, from what they have now.

At the suggestion of a mutual friend, I had a house guest for a while last year who had just returned from a long expatriate stay overseas. Within a very short period of time after meeting him, it was plain that he had AS...and probably something else, too. A therapist friend who then met him socially felt the other thing was likely to be ADHD-I. Don't know how common it is to see this combination, but after I did a little reading, it sure made sense in this case.

The way I would tend to answer your question might be pretty close to how you respond to a central nervous system stimulant - alerting agent. If you respond to a medicine like coffee, caffeine compounds, Ritalin, Dexedrine, Adderall and so on (none are cures) and tend to feel temporarily normal in some ways, I would tend to lean toward ADHD-Inattentive. If a stimulant-alerting agent (not a cure) does nothing for you, I might tend to lean toward Asperger's.

That makes sense. It doesn't preclude having both though.

Incidentally, the problems I've had have been with me as long as I can remember. I hoped that anti depressants would fix it and they really helped but they didn't fix the core problem. I hoped that ADD meds would help and they also did to a degree but I still have the same basic difficulties. I'm going to have a little meds readjustment to see if that helps. All that is totally besides the social problems. Life exhausts me. Naps rule.

I knew about AS for over a year before i found out that i could have ADD (ADHD-P) too.

And sure, when i look back at it, i could have used ritalin or whatever is suitable for people with ADHD when i went through school. I never did any homework and i had a hard time focusing on anything, i spent most of my days dreaming, looking out the window and all i could think about was to go home to my computer.

As a grownup i have come to terms with my shortcommings of the ADHD symptoms, i.e. i can have a job, i can focus on one thing more than a couple of hours, but i really have to care about the job and like what i am doing, or i'll get bored and it will end again and again and again and again and...

That's why it is important to find something you like and strive towards working with it, even if you have to go through alot of other jobs to survive. Tip of the day for others in the same situation.