What kind of percentage of autistic/aspie people have ADHD?

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And as a side question, do you think ADHD is any different to 'ADD' (without the hyperactivity component)? I've been trying to understand whether I might have this for the last few years, but my actual consistent problem is a lack of energy, not hyperactivity!

I don't know percentages, but ADHD is supposed to be a common comorbid with AS. I would agree that 'hyperactive' makes the designation misleading. I am personally not 'hyperactive' in the sense of being constantly in motion and bouncing off the walls. I have the variety known as 'inattentive' ADHD, which manifests itself much more subtly and quietly, in that its entirely internalized. I may look like I'm sitting quietly and paying attention when in fact, my mind is racing from subject to subject in a string of more or less random free association.

I would assume that's one of the reasons people with AS have such trouble focusing on anything that isn't within their sphere of 'obsessive personal interests' - a subject either has to COMMAND my attention, or it will get virtually no attention at all.

Oddly, I find that to be generally true in the realm of emotion as well - I noticed this in creative writing with my own fictional characters - I have no trouble describing EXTREMES of emotion, such as rage, humiliation or despair, but the subtler emotions (with the exception of whimsy) escape me. I've read enough and been around others enough to be aware of gentler gradations of emotion, but when it comes to describing them, they're much harder for me to pinpoint, as though I have not experienced them often enough to have much familiarity with them.

Its probably all tied in with the Executive Function thing, too. It just appears that certain neurological pathways in the AS brain simply stop developing somewhere between adolescence and adulthood, whereas the NT brain continues to mature, developing a more capable set of 'grownup' coping skills.

See what I mean about my mind wandering off in associative circles?

ADD is certainly very common for people with Asperger;s.
I'm not sure just how common ADHD is. I have it myself, but
it seems to me most aspies have the ADD variant.

Both ADD and ADHD are often associated with Asperger's in the
sense that they figure on the same lists and in the same forums, etc..
That leads me to believe they must be very, very common (ADHD
included).

I've read somewhere that it is more than have of people with Aspergers (although I don't know how accurate that statistic is). I am also not sure about people with Autism. I have classic autism and I do not have ADHD.

ADD as a diagnostic term no longer exists. It is now ADHD and one can have ADHD-Inattentive type (formerly known as ADD), or ADHD-hyperactivity type, or ADHD-combined type.

ADD doesn't exist anymore as a variant different from ADHD? I didn't know that.

Thanks for bringing to my attention.

.....

I disagree with the new labels.

Inattentive ADHD exists, obviously, but what about the inattentive type that lacks
the hyper active element? I have a friend who would now be considered having
ADHD-inattentive type. The problem is he doesn't have any H (Hyperactive)
element about his condition.

And ADHD-Hyperactive type is like saying AD-Hyperactive-D Hyperactive type,
since the H in ADHD stands for Hyperactive.

Doesn't seem to make sense. But then, it isn't a first. lol

It's yet different for diagnoses made with use of the ICD-10. AD(H)D is called a Hyperkinetic disorder of which there are

F90.0 Disturbance of activity and attention

That's ADHD, but both inattention and hyperactivity need to be present.

It's sometimes used to include those with ADD/hypoactive ADHD/inattentive ADHD/ADHD without hyperactivity. Whatever people call it.

F90.1 Hyperkinetic conduct disorder

It's often used to mean AD(H)D + oppositional defiant disorder instead. Should be AD(H)D + conduct disorder.

F90.8 Other hyperkinetic disorders

It's not like PDD-NOS, but it's used like that. It's also used to mean the inattentive ADHD/ADD/...

It's used for AD(H)D + ASD sometimes, if a diagnostician feels too uncomfortable to say "this person definitely has AD(H)D despite that the manuals and guidelines say autistic people can't have AD(H)D!"

F90.9 Hyperkinetic disorder, unspecified

Used rarely. ADHD-NOS?

Then there's

F98.8 Other specified behavioural and emotional disorders with onset usually occurring in childhood and adolescence

It is supposed to be used for ADHD without hyperactivity/ADHD in which H is for hypoactivity/inattentive ADHD/...

To make things more confusing, this category is for "attention deficit disorder without hyperactivity" but also for "excessive masturbation, nail-biting, nose-picking and thumb-sucking"!

In reality, most diagnostician just go with something they like or feel comfortable with.

My doc said that the H/hyperactivity tends to change as we grow older. It's still there, but manifests as impulsivity in adults. Also, ADHD is common in people with epilepsy.

This is also in reference to the post just below yours:

As far as I know around here, only the DSM-IV is used, so here, no one get the ADD label. ADHD-inattentive type automatically labels the person as non-hyperactive despite the H in acronym. I guess it can be confusing, but I would say they did it this way maybe to show that they are all different facets of the same disorder...instead of having two distinct labels, they created the subcategories of one label instead?

I've read in an online article that 80% of Aspies also have comorbid
ADHD, and some professionals believe these two conditions cannot
exist with eachother