Is it ADHD or High Functioning Autism??

[WTRH]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some advice as I'm a little inexperienced with all of this.

My son is 5 years old and currently in reception at school. He's progressing really well and really loves school with no huge issues so far. He's really social and always playing with someone or in groups. He does tend to struggle sometimes as he wants things his own way but quickly moves on without any huge tantrums and Any lasting issues.

The teachers have raised the possibility that he may suffer from ADHD but they have said they are not experts and couldn't diagnose him but they raised this as they said he struggles with Controlling his emotions and also has a complete incapability to sit still during the day, during carpet time and always has his own agenda.

They also say that he is always wanting their attention, never waits his turn to speak and will phsyically turn their heads to speak to him if they don't react to him straight away. They also say he is quite competitive and has to be first at everything or can react strongly. This is not something that surprises us as we see all this behaviour at home.

He speaks all the day everyday but does struggle sometimes with sentences but always manages to get his point across. Sometimes his speech is a little immature and gets his sentences muddled up but he is very capable and stringing together lots of variations.

He doesnt struggle with any sensory issues, change of routine, loud noises, or issues withh clothes....his diet is ok and has variation ....The only concerning thing is he tends to stim very very occasionally but only when he's watching something on our phone like YouTube kids and Mario kart. This literally may be once every 2 or so weeks. It's never anything else and never infront of the TV but it's not handflapping per se ....its more raising his firsts at shoulder height and sort of fist pumping whilst bouncing.....

Would anyone have any thoughts or expertise of whether this could be ADHD or HFA? We're in the process of looking into a private assessment but thought I'd start on here to see if there's any advice.

Thanks for reading and for any comments.

X

We recently had an educational psychologist come in and assess our DD(5) and it was well worth the money. School had suggested HFA but the Ed Psych picked up on a lot of other things and said an autism diagnosis was unlikely. Honestly you can drive yourself mad looking for similarities or comparisons online but having an expert spend time with her has been the best thing we could have done.

Ed Psychs won't diagnose but will try to understand what's going on and can advise as to the best next steps to take, which is very helpful.

Good luck, it's a stressful journey and a steep learning curve but your DS sounds like a lovely little boy and hopefully can get the support he needs.

@CaravanConcerns thank you so much for your reply....do you mind me asking what signs your DD was showing for the school to suggest HFA and also what the ed psyc picked up? We're so confused as we're really not sure it's autism as he doesn't seem to suffer with all the sensory issues or change of routine etc but don't want to rule out ADHD.

Thanks again x

There are a lot of similarities between Autism and ADHD. The more I learn about them the more I wonder whether those will even exist as separate diagnoses in 20 years or whether we'll have a range of more targeted descriptions of brain function/support needs. Sensory is common to both, and controlling behaviour can be common to both (it's a way of dealing with anxiety/overwhelm - and there are various elements of having an ND brain of any flavour that can trigger that). Stimming isn't really "necessary" for autism. DD's stims are very limited (a bit of jumping up and down if she's really excited but that's it really - at least for obvious/visible things).

Purple Ella on YouTube has autism and ADHD and has some really good videos on the similarities and differences. Here are a couple you may find useful:

But I agree that you can drive yourself crazy trying to work out what the right label is (we were lucky in that DD's traits are clearly autistic and has relatively few ADHD traits given how many autistic people also have ADHD: but by contrast her bestie likely has ADHD but recently had autism suggested too, which I never would have guessed although I kind of understand what the EP is driving at now her parents explained it).

I'd just advise taking up/pushing for assessments for both (it may be a bit young for them to diagnose ADHD but worth asking the question), and in the mean time reading as much as you can about the experience of both and supports and trying out different parenting approaches (e.g. Ross Greene, PDA Society, Kristy Forbes) to see if you can minimise your son's anxiety, which in turn should reduce his need to control things. A good EP report might be really useful in suggesting ways school can support him even pre-diagnosis.

There are a lot of similarities between Autism and ADHD. The more I learn about them the more I wonder whether those will even exist as separate diagnoses in 20 years or whether we'll have a range of more targeted descriptions of brain function/support needs

^^This.

Dd is 5 and quirky in so.e similar ways (except she has some sensory/ control issues too). I can't hazard a guess at what's going on with her in terms of a diagnosis, but instead see her as neurodiverse.

It may not feel this way, but it's actually great that your school are alert to neurodiverse conditions and have spotted it and are speaking with you about it. It means you'll likely have a smoother pathway through as they will add weight to your son's case to get any necessary support in place.

We have the opposite with dd's school. Cannot see anything, doing well academically, refuse to consider that what we see is not simply an 'age' or 'parenting' issue. We've asked for someone who knows about girls' 'symptoms' to observe her in school.