ADHD+Aspergers

Post Reply New Topic

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I feel like asking.

I want to ask my doctor about being tested for ADHD, now as far as i know there are people out there with both AS+ADHD. But according to the DSM-IV you can't have both i believe.
I'm afraid the doc will say no, even though if there is any problem i have in my life that i want fixed it's the ones resembling inattentive ADHD issues.

So my question is can i have both or can't i?

Aspergers can have attention problems to. ADHD is just attention problems with some social issues to, but they can read cuees, use right facial expressions, make friends. so u may just have aspergers

I have both and have a diagnosis of both.

Why that is: they don't treat ADHD for those who have it but only have a diagnosis of an ASD where I live. They do treat (=behavioural stuff) those attention issues, over-activity, bit of impulsivity and motivational deficits that stem from the autism or show in ASD-unfriendly situations.

That didn't help me at all because I have autism and ADHD and they seem to be two separate things that exist independently of each other. They do mix however, add up and make some things harder but also seem to each negate some symptoms of the other disorder.


Alas, in the DSM-V they consider to drop that ASD and ADHD exclude each other. Look here: http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevisions/P ... px?rid=383

There are quite a couple of users here who also have both an ASD and AD(H)D and have a diagnosis of both.


I'm not sure what would help you with your doctor in case he or she will insist that ADHD is always a part of AS. If you feel you want to know whether you have it in order to get specific treatment or another kind of support (that is only available to those with a diagnosis of ADHD), maybe that will convince your doctor to test you?

I'm not sure about the fixing-part working out though. If it turns out you have ADHD then what will you do? What do you hope to change?

I hope that i can get medication and i hope that it'll work so that i can stop feeling like i can't do anything, stop feeling dumb. Knowledge is my greatest desire, i'm not interested in friends or sex or parties, and my problems are keeping me from attaining that desire and thats frustrating and not doing wonders for my self esteem. Compare it to having trouble socializing because of AS, and you want so badly to have friends but can't get any.

The thought that the doctor won't help me, the thought that i won't have ADHD, the thought that medicine won't work scares me, because then what can i do?

I also have dual diagnoses of both AS and ADHD. So it's very possible to have both AS and ADHD. As for using medication to help manage ADHD: they'e effective at temporarily making symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity less of a problem, but you shouldn't expect to be symptom-free 24/7 especially if you end up trying a stimulant.

I think that's what you should tell your doctor. If he or she is interested in your well-being as they should be, then they'll want to know what you expect from knowing you have ADHD.

I don't know what your doctor is like, what they think of AS, what they think of ADHD, what they thinks of stimulants or other meds for ADHD... so from that, I suggest you try a tactical approach.

Tell your doctor (write down first to sort your thoughts out?) about how you feel there is something other than the AS that needs to be addressed. Explain how those issues make you feel, but unless your doctor likes emotional stuff, better keep that short and not too depressive-sounding. What you would want to tell him is how you think those issues impair you.

Do they keep your from being able to do something most people would agree is important?

You said it yourself, it's somewhat comparable to the social deficit in AS because that too can make it real hard to do get along with people and form relationships with them. Lots of kids with ADHD are referred to a diagnostician because their attention issues interfere with their schooling, but obviously, ADHD doesn't end there. Attention deficits can interfere in many things besides schooling such as keeping a job or doing things you need to do in daily life.

If you are impaired in some way by those issues that you really don't think are just your AS that's exactly what you want your doctor to understand.

If you're worried beyond that, you can try and make a list of reasons why you think you have ADHD. Might come in handy, might merely serve to calm you down.

If you look at the list of symptoms (preferably the DSM, but feel free to look into more things too!) how do you think they apply to you? If you are really worried about your doctor saying those symptoms are just your AS, include why you do think this is ADHD and not AS or something else.

Also ask yourself about whether you had these at some point (ask your parents too?) and add notes about whether you learnt to cope or still can't cope well with some of those symptoms. You're not a 5yo anymore, if you have ADHD it won't exactly present as the ADHD of a young child who can hardly direct their behaviour. Some specialists forget about that until you remind them that a psychiatric disorder doesn't present exactly the same for all your life.

I'll copy n paste what i said somewhere else.
*The most difficult part for me is getting started on something. I know that if i want to read about biology i need to read and write notes at the same time. Then remember the notes. But it's like me vs. my brain. I want to, my brain doesn't, and the brain is the most powerful one. I sometimes get so frustrated i want to sit in a corner and pull out my hair because of it.

If i finally get started there are two problems that may arise.

1. I'm easily distracted. My mind is racing here and there and a question might soon arise. So off to google i go and i read and my interest goes from the first question to the other. Then i realize I ought to be doing something else. And this goes on and on, either it's something I'm wondering about or it's a "need" to do something else.

2. My brain doesn't want to be used, it's like it's too much hassle. If I'm working on something difficult it shuts down much quicker. An image in my head is that of a mother with a spoiled child at the grocery store. The kid (brain) is begging for candy, the mother (me) says no. And it goes downwards from there, at the end the mother is so tired she gives in.
The year with my greatest grades was my last, in which i learned that getting up during the night and study when i was tires was the best way for me to stay focused and remember. It was like my brain was sleeping but i was awake. So it left me alone.*

I have actually written a note to my doctor, because another problem i have is talking, especially if i have to convey allot of information. My mind flutters, allot distracts me so i sometimes find it difficult to find the right words, things get messed up. Sort of like me trying to say the numbers 1-5, i say 1 but when I'm to say 2 my mind is at 3 and so i say 3. I'm sometimes scared to partake in a conversation because I'm likely to get stuck.

Sounds like me.

Of course, I'm really lazy with or without ADHD.

I can "hyperfocus" and get an insane amount of work done in a short amount of time, which is why "cramming" has become an art form for me. However, it takes a massive amount of energy and I'm typically loathe to generate it. Also, I'm generally 100% committed to something, or 100% not.

with or without?