Question for those with both ASD & ADHD on special inter

Post Reply New Topic

if you have ADHD-inattentive type and can't focus on stuff then how does that affect ASD special interests if they are supposed to be characterised by intense focus? like how does that work for you? do you still have them or is the way you experience them different? sorry if this question is shoddily worded. i didn't really know how to phrase it.

For me it means I get interested in something and I hyper-focus on it and (more often than not) spend loads of money on it buying books, equipment, even travel to events about it only to lose interest in it as quickly as I gained interest in it. Most of my special interests only last a few months now... some even less than that.

I read on here how some have had their special interests for years and I'm jealous... I wish I could stay interested in the same thing for longer than a year! (I probably wouldn't be in so much debt then from all my short term special interests!).

It's hard to explain. Both disorders have hyperfocus as a possible part of their makeup (but not necessary for a Dx), so neither has no ability to focus. It's having the ability to direct your focus where you need it to be that is the problem in both disorders. ADHD people have minds that "skip", while ASD people focus on things that are not useful. If you have ever dealt with a person with severe ADHD then you know how hard it is for them to focus on so much as a sentence, let alone a coherent thought. Yet, give them something they are acutely interested in and they can usually focus on it. I actually work with someone who has severe ADHD and really feel sorry for him. He's probably more socially handicapped than the other borderline aspie/ADHD person I work with and far more difficult to talk to. He also has problems with relationships, but for different reasons than I do. Both are from communication style problems, but I feel he comes off too confusing to listen to and so girls do not give him a chance. I just tend to be a pedantic data dumper who can't read social signals.

Well I have ADHD-C but I get some moments of inattentive symptoms. It's hard. Most of my interests involve a lot of reading and comprehension of difficult concepts. Of course meds, supplements, healthy eating and exercise help.
Hyper focus does sometimes happen and when it does I can be going for hours. My interests change constantly throughout the day though. Sometimes I can choose to focus on one thing that is a special interest, other times my mind just jumps from one thing to another, gets bored and ends up on something without me even knowing how I got there.

I don't agree that people with ASD focus on things that are not useful. It's useful to them and can be made to be more useful. My interests are all practical. It's all research.

I agree with you here, but I think my meaning was lost in translation. By useful I meant useful in the context of the moment. Being able to focus on the instructor in a class you are taking is more useful than thinking about something you want to do after school. For example: If I was talking a physics class, it would be better for me to be able to focus on what the teacher was saying rather than thinking about tuning the carburator for the engine on my old car. While tuning the carburator is indeed useful, it's not the best use of mental energy at that moment.

Last edited by outofplace on 06 Oct 2012, 2:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Oh I see now. I've just heard of them being non-functional before. I was taking IT classes and all I could think about was band photography. Indeed, I would be able to focus in a physics class although I wouldn't trust my brain to be able to take everything in without medication.

I have both ASD and inattentive ADHD due to a genetic accident.

I can hyperfocus on a single topic for years, but I'm also, for example, easily distracted by noise, but only some of the time. My brain doesn't make any sense.

^this, exactly!^

ADHD-C requires as many inattentive symptoms as ADHD-PI, so just about anyone with an ADHD diagnosis is going to experience inattention problems.

How it works out for me is that my ability to pursue that interest is disorganized and I find it more difficult to construct and implement much long-term planning in terms of my interests. Sometimes my ability to focus on and learn about them is haphazard. This doesn't reduce the intensity of my focus, but it makes it harder to do many of the interest-related things I want to do (such as write novels).

I don't know if I experience them differently, but I do know when I am medicated my interests can be even more focused and I can accomplish far more.

My interests go through peaks and valleys.

I always have general areas of interest, but I will hyperfocus on one aspect of them for awhile before they go poof into the ether and I jump the track to something else. In the meantime, it's a lot of impulse buying and screwing around with my interests when I should be doing something else. They also tend to be extremely haphazard and disorganized. For example, I'll get out of bed to build with Legos in the middle of the night if the urge strikes me.

Since starting on meds, my interests have risen to an intensity I haven't experienced since I was a kid.

Are you on Adderall or Concerta by any chance? I was on Ritalin as a kid, my interests then were usually ended by my parents tossing the stuff but the common theme would be to prioritize the interests over homework and chores. Currently on XR20 since 2010, it 'brought me back alive' for about a year, then meltdowns started re-occurring and executive function is out the window. I'm one of those that have long-term interests and the current one has been spiralling me down financially and emotionally for about 3 years, I'm at the point of having had enough valleys that I'm considering seriously abandoning the interest

Actually, I'm currently on 40mg of Prozac a day. I was on Zoloft, but it was causing akathisia.

I've been oddly impulsive lately, so I'm wondering if that might be contributing to my sudden need to get everything relating to my special interest RIGHT NOW.

My psychiatrist is contemplating putting me on Adderal and/or Concerta since my total DX is "Aspergers with ADHD features." Thanks for the info.

I remember feeling 'peaky' on 20mg Prozac, but just as scattered as ever. 50mg Seroquel Rxed by same doc at same time nearly destroyed my ability to read, let alone maintain interest. Re: my current Adderall Rx I did get bumped up to 30, I still have 2 or 3 days before I can fill it, we'll see how that goes