Anyone have experience of ADHD with ASD?

[devilinside]

My 6 year old (7 in summer) was diagnosed with asd a year ago, but at the time I also suspected ADHD, which I mentioned to the EP who scoffed at the idea.

According to the EP, children with ADHD are conspiratorial and try to draw others in to their 'clowning' around. When she first observed DS he wasn't at all socially aware, so probably incapable of either. Now I can see his jokey side is coming out and he spends much of his time fooling around to make others laugh.

Along with the ASD, he is impulsive, has zero concentration and spends the entire evening bouncing along the sofa. He runs off, has no sense of danger even to the point where I am considering reins.

Have you told your paediatrician your concerns? So far for my youngest we have a diagnosis of ADHD, Dyspraxia, SPLD, Language processing and Auditory Processing and ASD Traits. We are of the opinion that he has also got ASD rather than just traits but as he is overfriendly the professionals for some reason around here find that difficult to get their heads round. Will probably seek a 2nd opinion when I have more energy and time to do so. ADHD can be difficulty with concentration and attention and not understanding the boundaries that keep him safe can be both ASD and ADHD. Just trust your instincts and get them checked out your his Mum you know him best not an EP who rarely sees him.

Hi, my DS who is 5 has been diagnosed with ASD but I expected a diagnosis of ADHD. When i queried this the doctors response what that kids with ADHD will appear on the ASD Spectrum, so kids with ASD could have ADHD as one of their behaviour traits. My DS sounds a lot like your child, no sense of fear, jumping around like a loon until all hours, but he does have ASD/ADHD traits, which makes what my doc said make sense. Our OT agrees with me that my DS is more ADHD. It is important to get the correct diagnosis, so then you can get the correct help, however if your child is borderline, its a difficult talk. We are going through the statement process now and having the ASD diagnosis has more impact, which may be a reason why Doctor's give it more - to help the parents get the necessary help. I know its exhausting, and all you want to do is the best for your kids. One step at a time.

We were discharged from the paed once he received the ASD diagnosis. I think we would need to go though CAHMS at this stage, which probably means - sigh - another referral from the GP (who seems to think fresh air and good food is the answer to ds's problems)

Rubbish. DS2 is quite happy with clown around and act up on his own. He needs no audience or co-conspirators. He's quite happy to go along with others who are acting up, but simply doesn't have the forethought to actually plan to bring or draw others in to it. If they join, great, if not, he's not worried. He acts almost exclusively on impulse, but will follow or do something someone else tells him because it just doesn't occur to him that it might get him in trouble or be dangerous or hurtful.

He's got ADHD/ASD, along with some other things to add a bit of fun to the mix.

Personally, anytime a professional tells me a specific generalisation "all children with this do this..." then I'm a bit . If there's one thing that "all children" are, it's DIFFERENT. One behaviour does not make or break a diagnosis IMO.

Why did your paed discharge you once you got the dx of ASD? Thought you were kept on forever so they could monitor progress, ensure appropriate services involved etc?

According to the EP, children with ADHD are conspiratorial and try to draw others in to their 'clowning' around.

Really? This isn't necessarily true. Some children might be aware that they're struggling and develop coping and deflecting strategies like this. Others may remain oblivious to the effect their behaviour is having. It really depends on their social skills and level of self awareness.

DS1 has ASD and ADHD and, if anything, tends to have the blinkers on when he's pinballing or being silly and impulsive. There's not a lot of communication going in or out.

Definitely pursue the CAMHS referral because it's a rather underfunded, slow system. It's a bit odd that your paed discharged you so quickly without making sure all bases were covered and checking for progress and changes at such a crucial stage of development. Meantime, read up on PDA - there's a few recent threads on here. The clowning around and attempting to draw people in that you describe is a common (not universal - there's very little that is universal where neurology is concerned) feature of that and you may find some other common threads and pointers for how to handle this behaviour.

ADHD with ASD may look different to pure ADHD I suspect. Ds (13) has both (+LD) and can appear superficially friendly to new adults when it suits him. They usually have interesting bags with even more intesting things inside. He is not 'typical' of either ASD or ADHD, however I do think the ADHD and sensory seeking side partly masked the ASD in his earliest years, so he fooled the profs. I agree querie it with his paediatrician.

In our area, we get one follow-up appt with Paed following diagnosis and then nothing. Do I need a GP referral for CAHMS?

It depends on your area, devilinside. Some teams accept self-referral and some don't. The back up of a sympathetic GP (we don't all have those, I know - we've managed to never involve ours, thankfully) who knows the local system would help, in either case.

Odd how things differ. We've been seeing DS2's paed on a monthly basis - although we're struggling (have been for years but it's getting intolerable) with his non-sleeping at night and trying to find the right balance of meds to help. Generally we see the paed every 3 months for a quick "how are things - anything new going on?" meeting and if we have any concerns between appointments, she's happy to be contacted by email.