AS/ADHD and differentiating between them(article)

Post Reply New Topic

ARTICLE

The article is at the top of that page.
I am interested in peoples' insights?

Do you think ADHD is often misdiagnosed as AS and vice versa, or do you believe that the two can actually co-exist... bearing in mind how many traits they share in common

I think a lot of people with ASDs get misdiagnosed with ADHD, I know I did. My brother has ADHD, I see some traits of autism in him, very mild though, but their there. Like for example, if he gets realll excited, he has to hit something, or he claps excessively, he also can act like a 8 year old sometimes, knows every movie quote imaginable and has to let everybody know about how he knows them all haha, he also dances around and likes to make crazy noises when hes bored, but besides that point, thats about it. Hes grown up so much though, while I still acting like I'm 3 haha. So I can see the similiarities between ADHD and ASDs. Both also usually have a lot of hyperactivity involved, and can't pay attention good. I know I'm very hyper, and never pay attention, thats why I didn't do so good in school, unless it was a topic that I was obsessed with or interested in haha.

_________________
Being Normal Is Vastly Overrated

I got misdiagnosed with ADD inattentive type. That was in 1984, before AS, when it was still ADD and not ADHD. Now I realize that I didn't have many symptoms of ADD, but my ASD symptoms appeared ADD-like to adults who just observed me instead of asking me what was going on in my head. I think that if they had talked to me about it directly, it would have been clear that I did not have ADD. The problem was that the psychiatrist I saw believed that you had to have some sort of language delay to be diagnosed with HFA. I'm not sure if this was true at the time, but what I've read indicates that it's considered a matter of opinion today. In my case, auditory processing disorder (a possible comorbid of both ASD and ADD) also imitated some of the ADD symptoms. I think it's weird that adults make such serious decisions about who children are and what their lives will be like without bothering to talk to them and find out what's really going on.

So I think that, as the article says, ADHD and AS can overlap. But I also think it is easy to mistake one for the other when relying on superficial evidence.

Thanks for posting the article. It answered my question about the connection between Tourettes and Aspergers! After I've been reading on here (studying to keep my mind off stressful family stuff) I really do believe I am both AS and TS. So what does that make me? An Astie?

Seriously though, great article!

I knew a guy whose initial diagnosis was ADHD, later revised to AS.

Just FYI, I cannot be around people who have the hyperactive ADD without wishing to put a round in their head.

They're like the complete opposite to me. I'm in my shell, they're completely outside of theirs.

My diagnosis was not very thorough...I'd like to get another opinion from a doctor who actually cares....It is hard where I live...to find anyone willing to address Adult ADD issues...The only one really willing to talk to me wanted a whole lot of money for all these tests and would not accept my insurance and was a total a**hole (the doctor at the Adult ADD clinic)...(He gave me these massive questionairres to fill out, andhuge packets for my friends and family to fill out about me.
On the back of my test I wrote him an angry letter, which I never sent.

(a registered nurse stepped in and said that doctors like him existed mainly to milk rich people and whatnot..)

I ended up getting my diagnosis from a general practicioner who took my word for it and who monitored me on gradually increased doses of ritalin and then adderall over the course of some months....(i was also prescribed buspar for anxiety)

but then I stopped taking the medication altogether...one of the side effects was an emotional meltdown...(maybe I shoulda kept up with my buspar)

Anywhoo....

It would be nice to find a doctor willing to listen to me who didn't cost an arm and a leg, but I don't know when that will be possible.

A short note on behavioral differences between ADHD and autism from my experience (my sister has ADHD):

An empty room void of all things that'll affect the senses,

Me: this is cool; it's nice and peaceful, I'll just sit down and think about my interests and not disturb the peace of the environment.
Her: 'I'm bored.' Which will soon turn into torture for her.

Conversely, change everything around and I'll be the one who feels like it's torture, i.e., a room full of people, objects and whatnot that affect all of the senses.

I am very ADDerly, as in...I have to have some form of stimulus that appeals to me.....I hate eating at a resturaunt and not having something to read while i eat...or something related to my interests to fiddle with....When I bartend, I keep my ukulele with me, and if not my uke then my sewing....or drawing/designing/writing...or a book...but it is alot easier for me to focus on things that involve some sort of movement, because my train of thought is constantly shifting and I am invaded by other thoughts while I try to read and I keep having to backtrack...I love reading, but for me it is a verrrry slow process...

I do have a seriously have a short attention span (outside my areas of specal interest)...even when attempting to pay attention to something that I want to be interested in...I can feel my focus shift...it feels almost like a physical thing happening in my brain (if that makes sense)...and after it happens I have to struggle to get it back before it happens again...and in doing so, I lose alot of what is going on...It's a constant struggle to keep up wth movies...meetings etc..etc...etc...always has been...

Add to that extreme social anxiety....where outside my comfort zone it is difficult for me to finish a sentence....and i am in a constant state of inner panic...and particpating in casual chitchat with people i don't know very well is like torture...and i just feel like pacing......escaping.....
Casual interractions cause me way more stress than neccesary....Little things set all my fight or flight senses going...and I can easily sound hostile...when dealing with unexpected questions and whatnot...because my stress mode kicks in so readily.

all this other stuff.....I don't wanna make this too lengthy a post...i have not even read all of the article.

I am likely co-morbid at least to some extent....as I do have AS symptoms....possibly mild AS...severe ADD....not very hyperactive, but HAVE been in the past...I seem to have flip-flopped throughout my life between hyper and non-hyper....whatever it is, it is a pain in the ass and my executive funtioning has always been shot to hell...Can have hyperactive mind but I am easily fatigued...all sorts of fun stuff....

before i was diagnosed with AS i was diagnosed with ADD or ADHD.