New here

[DoIhaveto?]

Hi. I'm new. I have a ALMOST 6 year old, who the doctor thinks has ADHD. I was thinking for a long time it might be Aspergers, but he's been started on medication (metadate 10mg, which was SO, SO wrong for him, and trying Adderol 3mg right now). It seems to be helping a little. He currently has some OT and is in the regular Kindergarten class with an aid. I am wondering about the differences in behavior patterns between ADHD and Aspergers. His behavior patterns at this point have been very hard to pin down.
Thanks for any help you might be able to lend. :)

[momster]

Hi Do I Have to. It would help if you told us a little bit about your son. I know several kids with AS and have an adhd kid. AS kids exhibit some of the typical spectrum behaviors - especially perseveration - really focusing on an interest intensely to the exclusion of nearly everything else. AS kids often are very good at focusing, they sort of like to be little know it alls. They tend to have lots of sensory issues, although so do adhd kids. Also in common is that often both of these groups struggle socially, but the kids with AS, esp at a younger age, are typically less bothered by it. AS kids often tend to have very good fine motor skills and are freuqently very good at puzzles and drawing.

Six is pretty young to have a full picture on your child's iissues. SOmetimes diagnoses are evolving experiences. You start with one dx when they're young and it turns out to be a different story when they're older. You should also be aware that it is common to for kids diagnosed with adhd to ultimately be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, either in addition to or instead of their original diagnosis.

This used to be a moderately active forum before the great computer meltdown of '06. Hopefully you will get some responses from others, too. Welcome, and good luck!

- momster

[DoIhaveto?]

Oh, where to begin? :D

Anytime we had people over or a social situation he would not be able to sit still long enough to eat anything and had to eat before or after people were around.
He had problems with Fine motor skills until he went into OT and also filtered music therapy. I'm not sure what the definition of persevaration is, but he's always been more interested in vehicles, especially tractors, trains, and construction types, than in anything else.
His behavior/moods get really bad if he does any kind of video game play and to a lesser extent computer games. He fixates on them to the point where he can barely eat or sleep unless we make them unplayable and he knows it.
He is tactile defensive to the point where he wouldn't finger paint or tolerate face painting, and it translates to not eating certain foods, like fruit/veggies. He doesn't read body language so social interactions can be very difficult.
He doesn't communicate feelings well.
He runs away or hits when frustrated.
He has an Educational Autism qualification at school, just so he can get some help and not be labeled a "bad kid".
He has normal IQ according to the school district tests.
He's a very sweet and helpful boy when he's in control and having a good day.
His moods can seem to swing suddenly.
He has been tested for Autism and the panel found him to not be on the spectrum at all. I didn't agree at the time, and am still very confused.
Our younger son has Autism, but they don't act exactly alike. They have similarities in tactile defensiveness and trouble communicating and some of the fine motor skills.

There's probably more I could say, but I can't think of it right now.

[WellLovedMom]

You are right that there sure is overlap between ADHD and Asperger’s, such as impulse control, and anger management. The big area of difference is the social aspect. The ability to empathize with others is lacking, as is the ability to read social cues. My son was diagnosed about the same age as yours (he just turned 8) and I truly believe early intervention has been the key to his success. Learning social skills, such as HOW to treat a friend, noticing and paying attention to social cues, such as facial expression and body language have taken years, and we are still working on these skills. Looking people in the eyes is hard for them. They can have trouble reading facial expressions. We too struggle with the tactile, food, and sensory issues. For a few years, he simply could not go into Wal-Mart, due to their extremely loud intercom system, very bright lights, and overload of “Stuff” everywhere. Anyway, I’m starting to ramble here, so I’ll try to stay on topic.
I agree with you, that it does look like your son could well have Asperger’s. I certainly wouldn’t see it as a bad thing, but instead as a VERY helpful roadmap or handbook, letting you know that you child has these “handle with care” instructions (sensory issues, needs assistance with social skills, needs extra help learning how to express himself). I’m wondering if maybe the panel just caught him on a REALLY good day, to say that he does not have any autism spectrum disorder.
I thought about commenting on some of his challenges, and noting ideas that we’ve found to work, but I didn’t want intrude or ramble off topic. I did want to comment on video game though (we’ve had to really work on this too). I’m limit video game time, mostly because with the challenge of needing to develop social skills. Our solution is that BEFORE starting to play the game, we set a certain amount of time (1/2 hour, or at the most 1 hour at a time). Also, when he does play, it is usually with dad, so that he can still be working on social skills. Our exception to video game time is that when we have errands to run, we let our son bring his GameBoy, which keeps him focused and happy and we don’t have to deal with the whining “when are we going to be done???”
Anyway, not sure if I was any help, but good luck with both of your boys,
Maria

[DoIhaveto?]

Please, ramble away. I will too. :)

We do some time limits as well, although I'm probably not very consistant about it. We do play with him too sometimes. They tried letting him play a gameboy on the bus to school, as well as bribing him with treats for good behavior, but those don't seem to work all the time in that setting and seems counteractive to what we try and do at home. He is very sensative to sounds and lots of people moving around him. It makes bus, school, pretty much any type of social gathering so difficult for him. He will litterelly start bouncing off walls and people if you don't redirect him to something else and get him to take a few deep breaths.
One other thing that is so strange, is he's got days where he seems perfectly lucid;he's sweet, cuddly, helpful, seems sympathetic to others needs, shares well....he pretty much does everything you could ask for right. Then it's like a flip gets switched off and he's a completely different boy. :(

The biggest problem with how the panel studied him was that he was closed off from his normal triggers. He was in a small white room. There were no toys laying around. The time was all adult directed. They cleaned up between each phase. It was very quiet. There was no one competing with him for the toys or bumping into him. I've considered waiting a little while and having him retested for being on the spectrum. (This is the same hospital, some of the same doctors, who dx my younger son with autism.)

In the mean time, is him being on an ADHD medication going to hurt him? He seems to think it's helping him, but in his mind the drug is telling him to do this and that, or act a certain way. That's how he verbalizes it anyway. I think it is helping him a little. His daily report sheets from school are looking a lot better so far, anyway.
I'm also wondering if ADHD and AS can be at work in the same body and if so, how would you tell to what degree was one and not the other?