ADHD and Aspergers together?
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ADHD and Aspergers together?
| Thu, 09-07-2006 - 12:30pm |
Hi,
I belong to another autism yahoo group and someone mentioned that if my son has Aspergers he can't also have ADHD. Has anyone else heard this? I thought they could go hand in hand. This gets to be confusing sometimes!!
Thanks,
Amy
I belong to another autism yahoo group and someone mentioned that if my son has Aspergers he can't also have ADHD. Has anyone else heard this? I thought they could go hand in hand. This gets to be confusing sometimes!!
Thanks,
Amy


Amy,
This is a kind of difficult one.
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My 11 year old was Dx with ADHD before about 2 years before we ever got the AS dx. It is because of the smilar behaviors at least in the attention, impulse areas. Plus Josh can sometimes have a hard time staying put plus Josh is a talker and when he is nervous be a non-stop rambling talker.
But our neuropysch said many people don't always recognize Asperger's for what it is meanwhile everybody knows or rather thinks they know ADHD.
Now that we got the AS dx, we are trying for the no meds route to see if there truly was a difference. The only thing is that the teachers don't know this yet because i want them to know Josh. New teachers so they don't know medicatied Josh versus non. So when i met them towards th e end of this month at met the teacher. I will then ask them to fill out their Conners scale so the developemental peditrican and I can see if the Concerta really helped or not.
Rina
I agree with Paula but I do believe I know what that other person may have been referring too.
In the DSM (I have heard from a couple psychologists but haven't researched myself) there are different Axis. Well I guess that when you have a person who fits more than one diagnosis within an axis you are supposed to use the diagnosis which is the most prominent for the person in that Axis. So a person can have say autism and asthma but autism and ADHD is kind of redundant since most people with ASD will have significant ADHD symptoms.
I have also heard from others that comorbid dx'es should only be used when the second diagnosis is definitely a separate entity from the first. So you can have them but it is rare.
It is all a confusing thing because these kinds of neurobehavioral diagnostics are not an exact science. For some reason people just don't like to be pigeon-holed into neat little categories so you will have lots of overlap.
I have been told my son could be diagnosed (if a doc were so inclined as to do the comorbid thing - some are. Not the one I see) but he would be diagnosed with ASD, mood disorder, tourettes, OCD, anxiety disorder and ADHD. But for Mr. Mike it is all part and parcel to his autism. If you address the autism these other symptoms for him improve as well. You still need to address the others and be cognizant of them but his main challenge is ASD and all the others come from that base.
Personally I am a huge NON fan of labelling a kid with AS with a comorbid of ADHD because the first question always then is about medication for ADHD. I have had teachers harp on that one. The problem is that ADHD meds are not effective and even harmful for many ASD kids. I have had to go through that explaination nearly a million times and often it isn't believed. Well if you just try the meds. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt lady.
Renee
ACK nearly forgot.
Under the ADHD diagnostic criteria I believe there is a statement about ruling out the symptoms being caused by another disorder. That is why. Theoretically, if the ADHD symptoms are caused by AS then according to the DSM criteria the ADHD label is ruled out.
You are supposed to rule out everything else first before making an ADHD diagnosis (including learning disabilities, processing disorders, etc) because so many other problems have symptoms that mimic ADHD,
The problem is that docs have gotten into the habit of dx'ing ADHD first and trying meds. If the meds don't work then they consider that as "ruling out" ADHD and trying other things. I have had a doc who wanted to try that approach with Dave and bipolar. If he responded to the meds then he was bipolar. HELLO! The meds are seizure meds. If he responds to the meds couldn't he also have an undiagnosed seizure disorder?
Hit me on one of my soap box issues, lol
Renee
My son has the diagnosis of both ADHD and Asperger's. His psychiatrist who prescribes the ADHD meds has mentioned his Asperger's symptoms repeatedly, and then addressed the ADHD as well, through medication. To me they are both on the autistic spectrum, although it's not in written the criterion as such. I think before we had the correct meds, the ADHD was the dominant group of symptoms, and once we addressed them, the Asperger's, which had been masked somewhat, was readily apparent. Yet, I think when Ian is not on his meds his Asperger's is worse because he's having to deal with the ADHD and it interferes with his ability to deal with his sensory issues. Also, since he's been on meds, there is more variety in his interests although the perseverations are obvious. Sometimes it's hard to pinpoint where the ADHD ends and the Asperger's begins, but I do see differences. He doesn't stim the same way Duncan does (Duncan has PDD-NOS without any ADHD issues) and it's hard to put into words, but it's very different. I'll try to explain adequately. When Ian is ADHDing, he can't stay still at all. He can't sit in his chair, maintain a conversation, or do ANYthing, regardless of the environment, noise, what is supposed to be happening structure wise, etc. It doesn't matter -- he's totally hyper, totally impulsive, just plain squirly. When he's on his ADHD meds and that is under control, then you can notice what it is that overwhelms his sensory functions. His shortage (not total lack, though) of empathy, his need to have things be predictable and under his control, his need to be first, to collect, etc. There's more, too much to address for this purpose, but my point is those are not ADHD. They are definitely part of his Asperger's. But he certainly does have ADHD. You can't miss it! I think the symptoms sort of stream into one another and though some issues are distinct, some seem very related. I don't know if that makes sense....but I can tell they are two different things and yet I see them being connected.
Kelly
I also want to add that all of our kids are individuals, so I'm not knocking someone else's experiences or disagreeing with anyone here. Sometimes I think we (my family and I) don't fit in anywhere, even in the psychiatrist's office, LOL! I can only relate our experiences in my own family. Seems like a lot of these "labels" and diagnostics are limited through their need to be specific. No one is specific, LOL! It's like trying to put analogue into digital -- there will be something lost in the transfer.
Kelly