ADHD and Autism?

[Jewelrymom]

just interested in thoughts about anyone who has their child diagnosed with adhd but also exhibits behaviors that look like ASD. Was he misdiagnosed? There seem to be a lot of cross overs.

[MomofADHDBoy6]

I’m curious about this as well. I agree on the crossovers.

[Jewelrymom in reply to MomofADHDBoy6]

Going to consult with both pedia and therapist.

[Momma_86]

I have to agree they still know so little. ADHD, ASD, even some aspects of dyslexia crossover. My daughter ASD and ADHD and my son ADHD. Very different yet so many ticks and similarities. My son not diagnosed with ASD yet I’m sure he has it. He has more out burst then my daughter. Yet he has no issues at school. I’ve found that my daughters issues at school is mainly social I don’t know if I would have had her diagnosed if I know what I know now. That being said she is on the high end of the spectrum and the help our school has given her with social groups have helped her ton’s. All that said sometimes it’s a combo of the 2 if you read the description on both diagnosis there they even overlap.

[Mamamichl in reply to Momma_86]

I agree that they have a lot in common, and could even be the same condition, as some research is starting to suggest. I worked in aba as a behavior tech, and then my kids school “diagnosed” him autistic, I insisted on a medical test, which showed adhd with dmdd. Also, with all due respect, the autism community is refraining from saying high/low functioning (or as you say high end of the spectrum). It does make it harder to describe since we are used to it, but this is what is becoming common way of thinking… childresidentialtreatment.c...

[Momma_86 in reply to Mamamichl]

Thank you for the information . Daughter was diagnosed 5 years ago with that in here diagnoses. As you said it is ever changing. 😁

[Mamamichl in reply to Momma_86]

There is never anything wrong with a second opinion, especially with someone more qualified than the previous 😊

[Treadingwater13]

I’m interested in this exact thing. I pursued an adhd diagnosis but now being told asd…

[El-Eektrified]

I was diagnosed with asd last year. I already had an adhd diagnosis - the reason… I still struggled with many things.

My psychiatrist told me, he mostly treats 3 things…. ADHD, Anxiety and sensory issues.

I’m treated with stimulants, antidepressants and antipsychotics…

So… What’s in a name?! 🫣

[LL_Mom]

When my child was 12, they were diagnosed with ADHD. Shortly after, the anxiety and depression diagnoses were added. My child’s mental health spiraled out of control and they began self-harming. They were the worst days of our lives. My child also developed a sleep disorder (or it became apparent that it was a disorder). We began homeschooling to relieve some of the stress, exhaustion and suffering. We saw doctor after doctor. Before throwing pharmaceutical interventions at the situation, I wanted a confirmation of the diagnosis. Anxiety looks like ADHD and vice versa, and sleep disorders can make those conditions worse. Another mom suggested ASD. When I read about that condition in females, the puzzle pieces fell into place. We saw two different neuropsychologists and the ASD level 1 diagnosis was made when my child was 14—weeks before entering 9th grade at the local high school. Just before that diagnosis, my child began taking medication for the anxiety/depression, and we began treating ADHD too. The medications didn’t really help. As a junior in high school my child was finally seen my a psychiatrist who properly treated the anxiety/depression. That helped tremendously and my child’s functioning improved. We also moved to a more inclusive school district, which further helped my child’s mental health and academic performance.

My child is now a college freshman studying chemistry and living away from home. They held an A average, which was icing on the cake. Seeing my child thrive at college after what they experienced in middle and high school is a blessing. My child was diagnosed with ideopathic hypersomnia (IH) a rare neurological condition and sleep disorder and receives the only FDA prescribed medication for the condition. I have helped but my child still has symptoms. With medication, self-care, and advocacy, the are making it work. The disability services at college have been amazing, and the college professors are supportive of my child’s neurodiversity.

This summer, my child plans to wean off propranolol (can help with tactical sensitivity) and guanfacine (non-stimulant ADHD med) because they are not sure if it helps). They will continue the sertraline for depression/anxiety because things were very bad before they began taking it. They must also continue taking the main medication used to control the sleep disorder.

My child has a part-time job at a retail store that they word during breaks from college. They were hired as a high school senior and they want to work part-time on campus. My child verbally participates in classes (beginning junior year of high school), and they are slowly making friends. Most of all, I am pleased that they feel more comfortable in their skin and have made a lot of progress. It’s not perfect but my kid is blossoming. The self harm completely stopped when the anxiety/depression was properly treated, They were seeing a pediatric psychologist all throughout middle school and the first semester of college. They can seek mental health support at college if needed or I will find them another private provider if the need arises.

[Trying1978]

From what I've been told, there's a lot of Venn diagram-y overlap between ADHD, OCD & ASD.

I also wasn't aware of all the various levels of assessment until we went through it with our son: the full ADHD/Anxiety/Mood one + IQ, then the more observational one for ASD/OCD + IQ as well.

We finally had our full pediatric neuropsych one for our son a few weeks ago & are awaiting the results. The psychiatrist is pretty confident that it's just ADHD, which can manifest in similar ways as ASD or OCD.

I think part of the issue is the way we commonly use these terms. I have called people "spectrum-y" for years & people always say, "Oh, I'm so OCD." But, in reality, these things are so different from how we commonly refer to them.

Not lecturing here, just explaining what it has taken me many years to learn!

I am bipolar but I live in a house where 2 kiddos & my wife gave ADHD, so it's always misinterpretation of behavior for me. Like I see deep meaning in things that are just ADHD, and I thought of ADHD as something totally different before our children's diagnosis and actually learning more about it.

For example, I took our 2 older kiddos to their basketball practices & games last night (the 2 with ADHD; the other is 4 so it's hard to distinguish 4 in & of itself from ADHD, as our Drs have said). We got back late & I got everyone to bed. My wife & I are having dinner & watching a movie & she's just deep into her phone looking at birthday presents for my son. I've barely seen her all day. I'm like, I can pause the movie or grab my laptop if you just want to zone out; I have work to do, too. She's like, Why? I'm like, We'll, you're just starring at Lego websites & ignoring me when I talk. She's like, No, I'm all good; I'm just doing this, too. I thought she was mad at me for something & finally just asked. She's like, No, dude, I'm just tired & want to do this; that's all. (Which I'd foreign to me, as I'm an extroverted talker who loves interaction, so I just never get like that!)

Anyway, that was a long message when I've barely been on here in months, but I thought it was good to illustrate because she & her father gave definite tendencies I on my own would have labeled "spectrum-y" or "OCD-ish," when they are often symptoms of classic ADHD hyper focus. But I have a mood disorder, so I see everything through that lens.

Man, I didn't mean to write so much. But I've been thinking a lot about this since the full ped Neuropsych eval a few weeks ago!

[Mamamichl in reply to Trying1978]

these are also co occurring disorders that run in families. My dad is ocd, I’m adhd, my daughter is adhd and possibly ocd. Also, we know asd run in families too. My doc is on the fence of me being asd as well. It’s interesting how they are all entwined. There is even research with showing how asd and adhd may be the same overlying disorders.

[Bootsie1]

check out Megan Ann Neff's website. She’s very knowledgeable onbtye subject and creates Vin diagrams that are helpful to discern the overlap and differences.

neurodivergentinsights.com/...

[Jewelrymom in reply to Bootsie1]

Thanks!

[Bootsie1 in reply to Jewelrymom]

You’re welcome🙂

I'm attaching a link for you. Marilyn Montero is an expert in the field and created the MIGDAS autism diagnostic tool. She is absolutely amazing and her methods of diagnosis are positive and neuro-diversity affirming. Google her and you'll find videos as well. She does virtual assessments and is surprisingly affordable and very receptive to emails.

Best of luck to you and never give up until you have all the answers. You will know when you do!

[Willowbee37]

my 9yr old is diagnosed with both. ASD and ADHD definitely have alot of overlapping symptoms so make sure the diagnosis comes from a neuropsyche doc and not just a pediatrician. His ADHD is moderate and his ASD is mild. My son struggles in school and does well around kids he knows but really clams up and gets very overwhelmed in bigger groups or new people. He’s also very rigid with things. “I won’t fly on an airplane cause I’m 1942 a bomber had a mid section engine failure and crashed” people definitely know he has ADHD but nobody ever thinks autism. Now that I know more about it he has shown signs of it since he was very little.

[Elijah1]

Both ADHD and ASD have impairments in socialization but the reasons are different (simply, ADHD doesn't do what they know while ASD does not know what to do). In addition, the executive function deficits, impulsivity and need for a high level of novel stimulation in ADHD can impact social behaviors. Anxiety-based behaviors and OCD occur with ADHD and can be confused with ASD behaviors. It is important to ask what drives the behaviors rather than superficially state they must be ASD. Over the years, people have erroneously stated that our son, who is very social, must have ASD because of his anxiety and his interests (yes, people can have areas of interest and not have ASD). It is important to learn about the social immaturity and challenges of the ADHD population so as not to confuse them with ASD.

[Aspen797]

I think the big message is we should seek assessment for the symptoms from the therapy providers that might offer treatment, regardless of diagnosis. It’s hard though because you often don’t know which providers treat what and rely on a doctor to refer. Unfortunately doctors often rely on diagnoses to refer instead of individual characteristics!

And to further muddy the waters, there are some preconceptions about ASD that may push people away from identifying with it—like it’s totally possible to be an extrovert and be on the spectrum (a la Elon Musk, lol) and people on the spectrum often have emotional empathy in spades, but some can struggle with cognitive empathy/perspective-taking to name a couple. On top of that, the female presentation of ASD was not used to standardize the ADOS despite girls/women presenting quite differently, so girls are often overlooked and not identified until late adolescence.

Finally, age and intellect can affect the presentation of ASD. When kids are bright and talkative and not hyper focused they are often overlooked. When kids are little, the perspective taking piece is not well developed for all kids so, again, kids on the spectrum can be overlooked.

For us, when the treatment options offered under ADD were not sufficient, we kept pushing for more appropriate treatments and after years of this finally got the ASD label as well, which helped tremendously with school services and, most critically, understanding our son’s way of seeing the world. It’s unfortunate that labels are needed.

[Mamamichl]

since the most recent DSM came out (2013), there are starting to show some possibilities that they could be the same condition, but portrayed a bit different. It is very likely that they are co-occurring conditions for sure. Depending on how you got the diagnosis, you may want to get a full neurological exam (those last like 6 hours over a day, but are more thorough than a doctor with forms for parents and teachers.

[Bootsie1]

marilynmonteiro.com/

Sorry, here is the link. That was my ADHD 🤣

[Nats2005]

Our son was diagnosed around age 4 with ADHD, ODD and DMDD, but over the last couple of years as we've had struggles with aggressive behavior (resulting in two short-term hospitalizations and an 8-month stay in a residential treatment center) a few professionals have suggested he may be autistic as well. After a year and a half of trying we finally have an appointment for neuropsychological testing that will hopefully give us some answers whether ASD is part of the mix.

[JG907]

My 5 year old was just diagnosed with ADHD and screened for ASD. The psychologist was great, and shared that there is some overlap between the two especially when it comes to speech development and emotional regulation.