INSIDE PERSPECTIVES of AS & Neurodiversity

 

ADHD

 

   Like AS, ADHD is a collective term for several things, the main 3 being attention  ‘deficit’ (difficulty/difference), impulsivity and hyperactivity.

 

   All of which, in my opinion, can be either innate or environmental, or a combination of both) and be either useful or limiting, depending on circumstances. Like Aspies, ADD-ers have advantages in some situations and disadvantages in others.

 

   This is not a homogenous group; in fact, the two dominating ADHD types are often at opposite sides of the scale:

 

·  The inattentive (ADD or ADHD-i) type is often hypo-active, introvert, passive, intuitive, dreamy, artistic and extraordinarily sensitive. They tend to be hypersensitive to medication too and mainly just need a very quiet, stress-free environment, teaching suited to their learning style, and inspiring things to do.

 

·  The hyperactive (ADHD-h) type can be divided into those who are naturally & innately so, and those who are more HSP/AS/ADD but become hyperactive from environmental factors.

 

   “ADHD-i is more common in girls than in boys. They often get their diagnosis late, since they haven’t caused any trouble for anyone but themselves. (I’ve heard a school psyhologist say that the student doesn’t need a neuropsychiatric evaluation because she doesn’t constitute a problem in class.) ADHD-i combined with giftedness is the trickiest to detect.”

 

   “So, to make a gross generalisation, boys with with ADHD-h are noisy and run around. They get help when someone gets tired of them. Girls with ADHD-i daydream. I would think many of them seek psychiatric help due to depression and anxiety.”

- Agatha, adult ADHD/Aspie from Sweden

 

   It is very common for both types to co-occur with AS, despite DSM-IV saying that you can only have AS or ADHD. Many get misdiagnosed for this reason.

 

   “[Researchers] now believe that about 75% with AS also have ADHD. Often you don’t see the AS until the ADHD is medicated.”

- Lotta Abrahamsson, adult ADHD/Aspie teacher & author from Sweden

 

 

ATTENTION DIFFICULTY (ADD/ADHD-i)

 

   Attention difficulty can have numerous reasons, and be either purposeful or mainly an inconvenience (often depending on circumstances).

 

   “Fatigue and distractions are sure causes of ADD for me. Or often I will focus on something about a person that I'm more interested in, such as how they are saying things, the sound of their voice or if I'm trying to determine what kind of person they are, and not hear what they say, or I'll look at things with a creative eye instead of a practical eye and these types of things I attribute to purposeful ADD that I've engaged because of my own interests or boredom or disinterest.”

 

  “Then there's non-purposeful ADD. One thing I've noticed is that my brain has a mind of it's own.  At times it will automatically filter what it thinks is interesting without regard for what's important.  It will filter things I've heard before even if I've forgotten them on a conscious level, will automatically seize on the novel.

 

   “Other times, such as when I'm involved in a conversation and someone is taking a long time to say a simple thing, my brain will filter out everything the person is saying except the one important bit. Other times my brain will just not focus at all or very poorly all around no matter what I do. So I think the most frustrating thing is when my mind cannot control my brain!”

- Carrie, adult Aspie from USA

 

·  To mainly be interested in paying attention to things that are useful, interesting and relevant to that particular individual, I consider perfectly normal. Some of us have a harder time forcing ourselves to take in something we’re just not interested in.

 

   “How can the attention mechanism be at fault if attention is consistently doing its job by pointing at things of interest? If attention is not fixating on some task, is not the task somehow incompatible with the person or vice versa, but the attention mechanism itself most likely operating just fine?”

- Ric, adult ADHD/Aspie from USA

 

   “Sometimes I have no problem concentrating on things like washing up or cleaning. Sometimes I have problems concentrating on just getting out of bed - since I have something else that is more important to concentrate on.

 

   “Isn’t everyone concentrated on that which for them is most important at that particular time? If a gnu that is being hunted by a lion is not able to concentrate on how its hair looks, does that mean it has a concentration difficulty? How can anyone concentrate on something if you think something else is more important? Can real people do that?”

- Stefan, adult Aspie from Sweden

 

·  In learning situations,