A Case Of Missed Diagnosis?

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A month ago this man was delighted to find a label for things like executive dysfunction and other things which aspies will immediately recognise. The label was ADHD, and I can understand that he feels so much better knowing his issues are due to "a condition" rather than his self.

And of course as no doubt someone will say, we can't diagnose someone who features on the internet. But we can wonder. We can consider. We can make an imaginative leap. We can remind ourselves that AS is often misdiagnosed as other conditions, the diagnosistic professional seeing only a co-morbid and thinking that the tree of co-morbidity represents the forest of AS. We know that happens. We wish we knew how often it happens.

I've drawn my own conclusion, you are welcome to draw yours. I would welcome a discussion on this and know there are many other members here who have had the tree of comorbidity (detestable word) mistaken for the only condition. And it set most of us back for years in our search for the truth, professional ignorance is costly to the self.

For this man I hope the magic lasts. I am not inclined to think it will last very long however, once the thrill is gone and AS issues reassert their effects.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/com ... te-magical

That would be a red flag against ADHD and for autism. Of course one may have both conditions and MAYBE ADHD is the dominant condition in his case?

^^ Hyperfocus is an aspect of ADHD. I laughed when it was originally said to me that I had ADHD. I can sit around for hours reading or working on something. The physical hyperactive part doesn’t seem to kick in enough!

I don't know, all of the traits he listed seem much more geared towards ADHD than autism. He made no mention of social struggles beyond those caused by his distracted chronic lateness and unfulfilled promises. No mention of any sensory issues or significant anxiety, nothing about a need for rigid routine and a discomfort with change, or about specific all-encompassing interests. I think the ADHD diagnosis is accurate, without underlying ASD. Autism and ADHD can often be comorbid, but they aren't always, or indeed most of the time. My sister has ADHD with no autism, and I have autism with no ADHD.

Hyperfocus is common in AS too, there is a lot of overlap.

Years ago I said that the boundaries for autism would become fuzzier over time.

My son has been diagnosed with ADHD plus sensory processing disorder. We are still waiting for his autism results, but I seriously doubt he is autistic. There are many, many overlapping behavior criteria.

Being on both sides of this now-as a researcher and then a parent- I am flabbergasted at how subjective all of these non-biological conditions are. A person could and does get diagnosed with several different things for the same symptoms depending on who is making the diagnosis and how the person is performing that day. It’s madness.

I truly believe that the only way to be identified in any non-disease category is to find the identification yourself. If this person in the article is happy with the ADHD category, I say that is definitive. But indeed, if he had been presented with an autism diagnosis first, what would he have thought?

For me ADHD becomes a problem when it comes to things that I am not hyperfocused on. And even when I am hyperfocused I am still pretty animated. But what of that is a result of hyperactivity and what is a result of stimming?

For me I was predominantly autistic before I exhibited other issues like ADHD. That along with my coordination disorder etc became apparent as I grew. But the autistic lack of normal interaction is what first caused my parents to say 'there is something wrong with our child'.

The article begins with the words below, so often used by late diagnosed AS people, though I haven't heard an ADHD adult articulate them in the same circumstance. Not impossible, though it added to my suspicion that this might be a case of missed adult diagnosis.

It begins with:

"Much of what I had fondly considered to be my personality could be understood as a set of elaborate compensations"