AD/HD or AS?

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I have been diagnosed as having AD/HD, although I seem to have a lot things in common with AS, such as the special interest/obsession thing. Ever since I was a small child, I have been obsessed with a variety of topics. When I was very small, I was obsessed with babies. My mom made me a book of pictures of other babies and it was my favorite.

In elementary school, I was obsessed with cats, learning every breed of cat and checking the school library every day when it was getting close to the time for the new Cat Fancy magazine to come out. Then I became obsessed with a kids' TV show, then a singer (which continued for 20+ years) and have been obsessed with various other subjects as time went on. Very few things hold my interest after I have learned "enough". Having noticed the pattern of obsession, I have found ways of preventing things from taking too strong a hold on me.

My mother says that as a baby/toddler, I often wanted to sleep, and would cry to get into my crib. I didn't want to interact with her like her other children did. I would turn to face away from her when she would hold me. I would usually play by myself and, as she says, I was "self contained." However when my sister came along I was loved her and did play with her a lot.

My husband has told me that he feels ignored much of the time. I seem to want a lot of alone time, even now.

I feel that very few people really connect with me. I have really poor social timing. It seems like I am always missing things, and I realize it too late. Someone waves, but they are looking away by the time it registers. Someone looks at me and smiles, I look away, then look back, and they are no longer looking at me. Unless someone is pretty chatty, I typically cannot converse for long. I just draw a blank. Only after the conversation am I thinking of things that I would like to ask them.

I do have some friends. A relative (by marriage) is a very close friend, and there is one other friend who we both feel close to.

I am in my late 30s and am just now figuring out that most friends are made slowly over time, and so I am trying to build a few relationships. It seems maddeningly slow. I feel a bit like I am planning too much what I will say to these people, what I will ask them, how long I will talk with them, etc. It doesn't feel very natural.

I am strongly intuitive. Often I know things about people without knowing how I know. I am an INFJ/Counselor according to personality type.

Transitions: I don't do transitions well. As an example, last summer my husband and I went camping and he liked one space in the campground better than the one I had reserved. So he moved the trailer and I was upset by that. I knew that my being upset made no sense, as I had made the reservation based on very little information, and the new space WAS a better spot. We had only unloaded a couple of things, so it was not difficult to move to the new space. Yet, I was upset by this change.

So I am wondering, are all of these things AD/HD things as well as AS things? I have primarily inattentive-type AD/HD symptoms and the AS people I have seen in videos seem to be worse off socially than I am. I read the book Aspergirls, and the people featured seem to have problems that are worse than mine, although similar in some ways.

Does the extent of the problems determine whether you have AD/HD or AS? Or is it the nature of the problems?

You would need to be assessed by a professional to learn for sure, but there are a few things that might be a bit AS. It's difficult to tell sometimes though because the symptoms of ADHD and AS often cross over. I think I've got ADHD but others think it's my AS or my Tourettes giving me the symptoms.

You could still be ADHD. Lots of symptoms overlap but for different reasons. Also, people with ADHD are also able to hyperfocus on certain. It is also possible to have both. If you think you might have AS, and it is a concern to you, you should go get assessed instead of just guessing. The psychs who are qualified to diagnose AS can usually distinguish between ADHD and AS, and they can tell if you have one or the other or both.

"Aspies lack what doctors call "social reciprocity" or Theory of Mind. Theory of Mind is "the capacity to understand that other people have thoughts, feelings, motivations and desires that are different from our own." Children with ADD have a Theory of Mind and understand other people's motives and expectations. They make appropriate eye contact and understand social cues, body language and hidden agendas in social interactions. Aspies can not."


I took that off the following link: http://www.yourlittleprofessor.com/adhd.html

There are other differences as well, but that might be a major one. If you are consistently (some people get things wrong sometimes, but usually) correct in identifying people's emotions by looking at their facial expressions, for example. And if you can tell by someone's body language whether or not they are open to speaking to you. And if you can tell if people are bored with what you are saying. And if you can figure out they might do next. That would mean you probably have the correct diagnosis now. If you truly have difficulties with that, then you could have both or even just AS. Again, if it is bothering you/effecting you, then you should get assessed, IMO.

Other quotes from that website:

"children with Attention Deficit Disorder respond to behavioral modification. With Asperger Syndrome, the syndrome is the behavior"

"Both are social failures but for different reasons.
The child with Attention Deficit Disorder knows what to do but forgets to do it. Aspies do not know what to do. They do not understand that relationships are two-sided. If an Aspies talks on and on in an unmodulated voice about his particular interest, he simply does not understand that he is boring his friend and showing disinterest in his friend's side of the conversation. On the other hand, the child with ADD cannot control himself from dominating the conversation"

"An Aspie child can appear unfocused, forgetful and disorganized like a child with Attention Deficit Disorder, but there is a difference. The ADD child is easily distracted; the Aspie has no "filter." The Aspie sees everything in her environment as equally important. Her teacher's dangling earring is as important as what she writes on the blackboard. The Aspie does not understand that she does not have to memorize the entire textbook for the next test. She does not "get" such rules. Aspies tend to get anxious and stuck about small things and cannot see the "big picture." Children with Attention Deficit Disorder are not detailed-oriented. The ADD child understands the rules but lacks the self-control to follow them. The Aspie does not understand the rules."

Also, here is some information on ADHD and hyperfocus:
http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/612.html

Your obsessions seem to be kind of unique. You said that they do not hold your interest after you have learned all about them. I don't know how common this is with AS; however, that article of ADHD hyperfocus seems to indicate that somewhere. ADHD people can focus intently on what interests them, but it has to give there brain instant stimulation (can't remember the exact words they used, but the subject has to keep the brain going). If the interest fails in doing so, then the person can move on to something else. Perhaps that can account for your explanation about your quick-moving interests. Or perhaps your interests are rooted in AS--the only way to know for sure, is to get it checked out.


Here is another link. This was is about Aspies and obsessions/special interests:
http://www.suite101.com/content/asperge ... ts-a251062

Thank you for your responses. I guess my confusion lies in trying to figure out the differences between AD/HD and AS. I suppose that, with AD/HD being on the Autistic Spectrum, there are going to be areas of overlap with AS and no one person will fit perfectly into one diagnosis. I think that is the case with me. I have a few AS symptoms but the diagnosis wouldn't fit as well as the diagnosis of AD/HD. If I keep finding more things in common with AS, then maybe I will get evaluated. I have always wondered WHY the obsessions. But at least I have found ways of preventing them from taking over.

ADHD is not on the autistic spectrum. It is a separate condition entirely. ADHD runs in my family with my father having it. My brother, niece, and nephew all have it. My brother and niece especially have it severely. None of them are on the autistic spectrum, and none of them would be mistaken for being on the spectrum. Who knows what the future will hold, but as of today (and the next dsm coming out in 2013) ADHD is its own diagnosis, not an ASD.

Yes, there are a few overlaps with similar symptoms. Symptoms of AS and of ADHD that are similar have different reasons behind the symptoms though. Some of those links I posted (and/or a quick google search) will give you the reasons that make the two conditions different. If you have some AS-like symptoms, but do not feel you fit the diagnosis, the case is probably that: you have some similar symptoms but the reasons behind yours likely pertain to ADHD rather than AS.

Having been originally dx'd in the 80s i had adhd on my chart untill i started challenging the diagnosis. Yes i met all of the crit for adhd however there is plenty more that adhd does not explaine.
I would argue that adhd becomes a copout diagnosis. There are plenty of meds to prescribe and so it ensure ongoing buisness. (can u tell i regard most pschiatrists as glorified drug dealers)

Inany case there is no formal differential diagnosis between adhd and asd the best bet is finding a dr who is up on the current research

I've been asking this question of myself since I first learned about ADHD and AS. I'm almost positive about the ADHD, but I lack the hyperactivity symptoms, as you do too, and there are many symptoms of AS that I relate strongly to. I too have a history of obsessions, am very introverted, and I frequently goof up in social situations. I also am extremely sensitive to my environment and am vulnerable to sensory overload. I don't "meltdown" like some people with AS do, but I dissociate from the world the more intense the environment gets. Generally, though, the problems I experience are very similar to yours, by the sound of it. I "know" what I am supposed to do, but I fail to translate that to real action. I've had many cases where someone has waved to me and I don't respond til much later (if I respond at all). Making new friends is extremely difficult and I also have trouble maintaining close friendships due to my introversion and need for alone time. I'd say my social intelligence is below average, but it may not be so impaired as someone with full-blown AS. I do think I have theory of mind, though there are many concepts of social reciprocity that had to be explicitly told to me before I understand. Many things that others take for granted don't come naturally to me. Daily living is something of a chore for me, but I don't think I'm impaired to the same degree as some of the people I've read about.

I've heard that some of the social problems with ADHD are explained as impulse control... but I don't think I'm very impulsive. Inattention might be a better way of saying it, but I think that it may be more of a case of just being too focused on my inner thoughts that I tune the outside world out for a bit.

Oh well, whatever the case, I plan on talking to a doctor about all of this eventually. For now, I'll just keep calling myself ADD, with strong Aspie tendencies. xD