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Xaisede
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04 Aug 2011, 2:11 pm

Yes, I KNOW ADHD has nothing to do with autism, but can kids with ADHD have interests they are OBSESSED with for a few months?
My little brother does this with TV shows... He is 7 and has unmedicated ADHD.
(He can't take ADHD meds because they really mess with his emotions. They make him scared, angry, sad, etc...)


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littlelily613
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04 Aug 2011, 2:19 pm

I don't know if they have special interests in the way Aspies do. But all kids generally have something they are into, and then it passes and they find something else. Many people don't know that people with ADHD also have the ability to hyper-focus on something they are doing (which COULD be an interest or just whatever they are finding interesting/entertaining at that particular time).


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Ettina
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04 Aug 2011, 6:53 pm

Quote:
Yes, I KNOW ADHD has nothing to do with autism, but can kids with ADHD have interests they are OBSESSED with for a few months?


Actually, many people think ADHD and autism are closely related. Both involve difficulties with executive function, it's just that they have slightly different 'flavours' of executive dysfunction and autism is more pervasive.

I read somewhere that many ADHD kids have subclinical autistic traits. I suspect obsessive interests would fall under that. (Autistics also have a higher rate of ADHD traits, to the point where many are diagnosed with both conditions.)



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04 Aug 2011, 6:58 pm

I know my therapist keeps trying to convince me that my special interests could be caused by ADHD.



Callista
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04 Aug 2011, 7:01 pm

People with ADHD can hyperfocus. That's when you focus on one thing and just don't process anything else. That, plus a favorite hobby, could mimic a special interest. Unless you had other autistic traits, though, just special interests in an ADHD person wouldn't make me think autism.


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littlelily613
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04 Aug 2011, 10:17 pm

Ettina wrote:
I read somewhere that many ADHD kids have subclinical autistic traits.


This would likely be the kids with AS who have comorbid ADHD (whether currently diagnosed with AS or not). I know many ADHD kids and adults of various severities who have no AS traits.


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