Are they confusing HFA with ADD here?

Post Reply New Topic

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperfocus

Someone who insists that they (and I) have ADHD pointed me that way. It seems credible, as far as wiki can be credible. I thought attention deficit disorder was about attention deficit, not simply misdirection of attention? Do ADD people have obsessive interests the same way AS people do? It smacks of misdiagnosis to me: putting HFAs on ADD medication, but perhaps there is some crossover? My friend swears up and down that the stimulants they are given "fix" their productivity problem, what with the not being able to decide what you are going to focus on. Is that not an AS thing as well?

If it works for your friend, more power to 'em!

I recently read a research paper on ADHD. It seemed to be saying that its not an attention thing as much as an impulse issue. EVERYthing is interesting. Its difficult to concentrate on work when EVERYTHING is equally important. Its a lack of control over where your attention goes.

My older son has sever ADHD. His father was recently dx'ed ADHD as well. Niether of them have obessive interest.

I *think* that ADHD is often comorbid with Asperger's though.

BeeBee

It is possible to have both. It's called comorbidity.

Yes, Aspergers and ADHD can often occur together.

http://www.drz.org/asp/conditions/ADD_ADHD_LD.asp

50% of kids with one diagnosis within the ABC [Attention Behavioral Continuum] have at least one other ABC diagnosis, and the majority have more than one [other disorder].


List of ABC Disorders:

-Attention Deficit Disorder (AD/HD Inattentive Type)
-Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (AD/HD Hyperactive or Combined Types)
-Learning Disability
-Nonverbal Learning Disorder
-Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
-Tourette's Syndrome
-Pervasive Development Disorder NOS
-Asperger's Syndrome
-Autistic Disorder
-Sensory Processing Disorder
-Apraxia and Apraxia of Speech
-Central Auditory Processing Disorder

Contrary to the ebbing trend on side
of the professional community, I do
not recommend medications unless
you know all the facts. A misdiagnoses
or overprescription is bad in any
combination.

Learn about what you do? Why you
do it? WHEN YOU DO IT? and what
is the result of...by doing it? Then you
would be a bit smarter about what
you need to do. You are not your
friend and he is not you, KNOW THYSELF,
and let that and it's motivations be
your guide on this.

Hmmmmm? questions from G.H

What do you do? I ask!
When do you do it? I ask!
Why do you do it? I ask!
How does it work? I ask!
Are you HFA? AS? PDD-NOS?

Hmmmmm?
Ghosthunter

Actually, as far as official diagnosis, it is usually not possible to be diagnosed with both AS (or any other ASD) and ADHD. Clause E of an ADHD diagnosis in the DSM IV rules out having ADD/ADHD if you have a PDD:

"E. Does not occur exclusively during the course of a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Schizophrenia, or other Psychotic Disorder, and is not better accounted for by Mood Disorder, Anxiety Disorder, or a Personality Disorder."

The only way a person can generally have both an ADHD diagnosis and a spectrum one is if the person first receives an ADHD diagnosis and then a spectrum one--but not the reverse. Of course this assumes that the diagnostician actually abides by the DSM IV, which the vast majority do. (The DSM IV for those of you who are not familar is the standard diagnostic manual for psychological and psychiatric disorders. For diagnostic purposes, ASDs are considered psychological/pschiatric disorders.)

This is funny to me! It reminded me of something. At 4, I was diagnosed with classic Autism. At 5, they took that away and diagnosed me with ADHD and Hypersensitivity. Later OCD, and then AS. I have a lot of stuff going on in my head. I accelerated in school until High School, then I evantually came to the realization that I probably have an LD or two. I've always had problems focusing on the "right" things. Rather than homework (snore), my mind would wonder and I'd end up thinking about something entirely different. Same with school. Nowadays, my mind always wonders into a repressed/bad memory, so I always have something to distract me with. This is why I 'm afraid of silence, it allows my mind to wonder. This is how I've gotten beyond the fact I have ADD/ADHD, and conquered some issues. Sorry to bore you all with a half-assed success story.

Last edited by Sarcastic_Name on 13 Jun 2005, 1:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Hmmm? Why?




Hmmmm? Why? What was
the reason for this switch?



How old were you in the OCD
diagnoses?

Why again was it switched?

How old were you in the AS
diagnoses?

Why again was it switched?



Accelerated in what way? Grades?
Socially? Something I forgot to ask
that you accelerated in?



Like what? How did they become
aware to you? Are they official,
or investigative by you in their
finding?



Right things? negative memories like
what? ect....?



From the way it sounds it may or maynot
be ADD/ADHD. You even implied that the
doctors were confused about what was
wrong with you and seemed to be following
label trends?



BoooreeD! Smoored! Bach! Uch!
you do not bore me, and I think
that applies to this site as well.

You are here, that is a success. Also expressing
freely as possible and that is a success.

What other "silent" successes have you
achieved?

Hmmmmm?
Ghosthunter

Sarcastic, do you not live in the US?

And why did they take away the diagnosis of Autistic Disorder??? If you improved so much, why are you not technically High-Functioning Autistic?

*curious*

Ghosthunter, they added OCD and AS to my list. Nothing was ever switched. Sorry for the confusion.

Sophist, I live in the US. I haven't seen a shrink in years, although my family should probably see a family therapist some time soon. I don't think knowledge of HFA and AS were widespread in 1992-'93, it still isn't very well known now.

I was very quiet as a child. I knew how to talk, I just didn't do it very often. The shrink assumed I was Autistic I guess. I'm not very confident in my knowledge of these statements.


I assume because (according to the Wiki article) you can't have ADD/ADHD diagnosed after a PDD. And probably because it became obvious I don't have LFA.

I don't remember exactly how old I was when I was diagnosed with OCD. Probably 8 or 9. AS when I was 13. They were added to my list, nothing was switched. Again, sorry for the confusion.



I didn't really accelerate. I was just better than everyone else at Math and Science, until High School.



My mom thinks I have an LD because I seem to be uncapable of learning a foreign language. It could be ADD related, or their could be an LD involved. No investigating yet, although I'm going to look into getting tested for my IQ, etc.



When I say "right" things to focus on, I'm refering to what I'm expected to currently be focused on. Such as homework, or the teacher. My memories... I'm sorry, I'd rather not bring it up. There's just so much I'd like to remain repressed or not think about. Unhappy childhood/early adolescent years.



Sorry for the confusion. A common trait of ADD/ADHD is lack of focus, or proper/expected control of it and staring off into space (letting your mind wander). There's some crossover between ADD/ADHD and AS, but ADD/ADHD fits me like a glove, genetically and mentally. Both my parents probably have/had it, and my brother's diagnosed.

To end this long explanation, I'll say one last thing: what was the original topic?




J/K

I dunno about that... Stimulants make me act like i'm possessed, even though seemingly nice doctors and stupid principals are always suggesting it, saying it will help...

Hmmmmm? I have HFA and I have tried
to learn to write only Scottish Gaelic on my
own and since 2000 It hasn't happened yet.

I try occasionally now, but I realize something
about foreign languages seems to have a block.
Hmmmm?

I can understand your mom's concern about
a LD.

Hmmmmm? Just something to think about!




What's bad about this is healing can't
happen unless you address these things
openly, that is why I am SO VOCAL
at WrongPlanet. It allows me to bleed
them out if I have to use that tactic.

I am a adult and forgot and had to get
other views to piece it toghether. Don't
wait that long and this becomes your
tactic to heal yourself. I hope you got this.

Use open expression and allow the healing
process to begin. HFA may be worth noting
in your autistic being as well, but express
the memories and while they still are
fresh learn from them

sincerely, and CONCERNED ABOUT YOU!
Ghosthunter

[Hi,
I am rather new to all of this, but here is my response.
I think you can have ADHD and ASD as well.
I have been diagnosed with both, the ADHD a year before HFA.
I have been going to a support group for adults with ADHD and find them to be a lovely bunch of people. I started going before I knew I had HFA.
I knew something was amiss when these meetings would come to an end and everyone would spend ten minutes or so just having a casual chat. It was totally foreign territory for me. I felt more comfortable standing facing the wall.
I certainly have the impulsivity and the distractability but, sadly, not much of the creativity that ADHDers seem to enjoy.
When I was diagnosed with ADHD, I was placed on the stimulant medication straight away. I still take it today. I soon learnt that it doesn't take away the ADHD or fix all the problems associated with it. There can be a lifetime's worth of bad habits to fix!
While not knowing I was autistic, the stimulants made my anxiety state (which I thought was normal and everyone felt that way) even worse, and I continually thought something bad was going to happen.
I told my doctor about this and he sent me off for a SPECT scan (SPECT: Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography). This revealed at concentration, an underactive frontal lobe (a classic sign of ADHD because this area needs to[i] activate when concentrating), an overactive anterior cingulate gyrus (the area that helps you decide what to worry about and what not to, and also helps you to change from one task to another - if overactive, you tend to get locked onto things and can't be torn away), and an underactive right temporal lobe,which let the left side take charge of everything. This can have a drastic effect on mood levels and as well, in my case, I was hearing radio static and seeing flashes of light in my peripheral vision. This can also be a symptom of temporal lobe epilepsy.
These results meant more medication....So now I take an anti-depressant to calm down the cingulate gyrus and valproic acid for the temporal lobe anomolies. All three of these medications seem to work well together for me, although they are in pretty high doses.
The doctor said if my anxiety levels remain too high, that he would recommend a neuroleptic.
I am not fond of that idea as I took those for a short while before and didn't like the mind-numbing effect they had on me.
I can understand why some find it so frustrating. The diagnostic process can take such a long time, and some doctors believe that if you fit one diagnosis, you will never fit another, even though it can be staring them in the face. I have even been told by one doctor, to not look at the DSM IV, like it was a secret book!
I got lucky in the end, now I'm seeing an awesome doctor.
So to others, If the diagnosis or medication doesn't seem right, complain loudly!
Keep fighting! You will get there in the end.
renaeden.

Stimulants don't do a thing for me except make me unable to sleep.

I was officially dx'd (1969/1st grade) as "gifted" with some kind of "nervous disorder" and put on Atarax to control my "nervous habits" (stims, tics). After about 4 years of battling with me to take my meds, I guess my mom just gave up, because I don't remember being on anything after about age 10.

Everyone was happy (I suppose) that my embarrassing "nervous habits" were "outgrown" -- in actuality, willfully submerged when I wasn't alone, though they "slipped out" occasionally in public. Everything else "odd" (hyperfocused interests, social challenges, academic brilliance) was simply chalked up to being "gifted." I guess I was the only person who was confused as to why I didn't fit in with the other "gifted" students in my school. Oh well, at least I was no longer being medicated!

I certainly was never classified as ADD/ADHD. (BTW, anybody know when that become the catch-all classification? My younger brother got an ADHD dx in 1977/1st grade.)

Chalk up a couple more similarities between us . The Montessori preschool I went to had me down as "gifted", but there wasn't a lot of funding for extra programs and I still ended up going to a regular public school. Used to dream of getting put into some kind of special program, beat up on myself for not being quite smart enough for people to take notice and arrange it, and blamed the social problems on the apparent intelligence difference between myself and other kids. Then in the last year of high school I finally got close enough to some other "good students" to realize that they had no social problems whatsoever...

A lot of the sensory issues didn't show till I was 9 or 10, but ended up the same way, "outgrown" but really willfully submerged at cost to health and sanity. My total oblivion to popular culture got chalked up to the fact my family had never owned a TV, and I learned really early not to talk about my interests except with a select few.

1.
Psychiatrists often follow, implicitly, the DSM. Psychologists, who are also capable of rendering a diagnosis, many times do not since they are often more people-oriented and many times judge on the functionality of a diagnosis and not necessarily the absolute accuracy.

2.

Granted, Attwood works out of Australia and thus does not much use the DSM I imagine. But my only point being in writing this is that despite the DSM's criterion E in AD/HD, many professionals in the United States who are familiar and even work with individuals along the Autism Spectrum, are proponents of many things Attwood says since he is one of the "big" experts on the subject of Asperger's Syndrome, in addition to those professionals who are simply "up" on European research as well.