Is It Adhd Or Autism

The Most Effective Method In Adhd And Autism Treatment: Child Yoga

Child yoga is a therapy method used to help treat many diseases, including autism. In addition to the positive contributions of yoga to children with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder , the effects of yoga on children with autism were also examined.

Yoga is also used in the world for the correction of juvenile prisoners. Child yoga is actually not that different from adult yoga. Childrens yoga emerges by putting the classic poses in adult yoga into a format suitable for children. Basic activities in Childrens Yoga are breathing exercises based on simple imitation, postures, and positions, meditation, and massage. Child yoga, which is applied by making it fun through games and stories, provides socio-emotional and physical relaxation. In other words, childrens yoga is a technique based on communication and cooperation.

Researchers have concluded that proper breathing strengthens the immune system. Emphasizing the importance of diaphragm breathing, it is stated that correct breathing techniques are learned through yoga. Right breath, which has general calming effects that reduce stress on children, has benefits such as attention, focus, and controlling negative emotions and thoughts.

Asperger’s Test For Kids

This computer adaptive online Adolescents quiz for children and adolescent teems has a list of 50 multiple choice type questions to evaluate a child against Aspergers syndrome symptoms. All questions are mandatory. You may take either take this test on behalf of your child or let your child take it independently.

Whats The Difference Between Adhd And Autism

The most notable symptoms of ADHD include inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. It is primarily a disorder of self-regulation and executive function skills that act as the brain manager in everyday life, says Mark Bertin, M.D., a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and the author of The Family ADHD Solution.

Autism typically includes problems with social interactions, communication, and repetitive or ritualistic behaviors.

Children with autism do not intuitively understand some aspects of the social world, Bertin says. They have specific behaviors, such as limited imaginative play or lack of gesture language. They often find it challenging to manage social interactions and emotions.

While the primary components of ADHD and ASD are different, some overlap exists be- tween the two. The trick to differentiating between them is to determine the reason behind the behavior. For example, both can cause social challenges. For children with ADHD, the root causes may include inattention and inability to organize their thoughts, or impulsivity.

For autistic children, the reasons are often different such as not understanding nonverbal communication or delays in language skills.

Kids with ADHD may not be able to stick to turn-taking play, but they understand it. They may not respond when called because of attention problems, but they are socially engaged and recognize their name and what it means, Bertin says.

Also Check: How To Tell If My Child Is Autistic

Differences In Communicating With Peers

Differences in the way they engage with peers or create and maintain peer relationships is a hallmark characteristic of autism. However, this does NOT mean that children with autism cant make friends. Many of these children have friends and desire friendships. For children with ADHD, the diagnosis does not specifically include peer challenges. However, to be diagnosed, symptoms have to have a negative impact on school, home, or social functioning. This means that children with ADHD might be very impulsive or overly active, saying or doing things that could bother or annoy their peers. For instance, they might hit a peer impulsively if a peer says something they dont like. Also, they might talk constantly or get in peers personal space, causing other children to be annoyed. Because children with ADHD dont always slow down long enough to observe their peers reaction, they can miss important social cues.

Difference Between Autism And Adhd

ADHD is a persistent pattern of hyperactivity, inattention, and impulsivity that is more frequent than individuals of a similar developmental level. On the other hand, autism spectrum disorder is characterized by triple disorders such as social deficits, communication deficits, and restricted or repetitive behaviors and interests. Even though two of them share more or less the same clinical characteristics, there is an obvious difference among them. Individuals with autism exhibit an unusual interest in repetitive movements and patterns compared to individuals with ADHD.

Autism and ADHD are two predominant psychiatric problems among pediatric patients. Although they share many common clinical features, the difference between autism and ADHD can be identified by carefully evaluating the patients interest in repetitive movements and patterns that can be considered the sign mark characteristic of a child with autism.

You May Like: How To Make A Visual Schedule For Autism

Adhd And Autism Overlap Significantly

Of course, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder are two separate disorders. We all know that ADHD involves impaired functioning in the areas of attention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, according to one study in Frontiers in Neuroscience, while autism spectrum disorder is characterized by social dysfunction and restrictive-repetitive behaviors. However, these same researchers estimate that 30-50% of those with ASD show ADHD symptoms , and a full two-thirds of those with ADHD exhibit symptoms of ASD. In other words, ADHD and autism symptoms overlap significantly.

The same study shows that ADHD and autism, moreover, both usually include problems with attention, communication with peers, impulsivity, and restlessness or hyperactivity. Many people with ADHD also show the same obsessive tendencies that those with autism exhibit they also have the same difficulties reading emotion and participating in social situations.

The diagnoses occur together so often, and exhibit so many of the same symptoms, in fact, that one team from the Netherlands proposed they were different varieties of the same disorder. Are we looking at one condition thats on a continuum, or two distinct conditions? I think we dont know the answer to that question, Geraldine Dawson, director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development told Scientific American.

The Difference Between Adhd And Autism

The Centers for Disease Control defines ADHD as one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders during childhood. ADHD is usually first diagnosed in childhood. The disorder can also last into the persons adulthood.

The symptom that is most commonly associated with ADHD is trouble with paying attention. People with ADHD may act without thinking about the results and consequences, meaning they have trouble controlling impulsive behaviors. Another characteristic of ADHD in individuals is that they can be overly active, hence the term hyperactivity in the name.

It is alright for children to have trouble in terms of focus and behavior throughout their childhood in one way or another. But children can outgrow these traits when they grow up and learn to cope or focus better. However, children with ADHD dont simply get rid of these behaviors as they grow up.

There are some characteristics that can be observed in a child with ADHD. A child with ADHD might be inclined to daydream a lot or talk too much. They may act without thinking about the consequences, take unnecessary risks, or make careless mistakes.

Another trait that children with ADHD might have is finding it troubling to take turns in mutual communication. They may want to fidget or squirm often, and they often lose things. Since ADHD majorly affects the childs social abilities, they may have trouble getting along with other people.

Recommended Reading: Is The Good Doctor Actor Really Autistic

Getting The Proper Treatment

The first step in helping your child get the proper treatment is getting a correct diagnosis. You may need to seek out a child behavior disorder specialist.

A lot of pediatricians and general practitioners dont have the specialized training to understand the combination of symptoms. Pediatricians and general practitioners may also miss another underlying condition that complicates treatment plans.

Managing the symptoms of ADHD can help your child manage the symptoms of ASD, too. The behavioral techniques your child will learn may help lessen the symptoms of ASD. Thats why getting the proper diagnosis and adequate treatment is so vital.

Behavioral therapy is a possible treatment for ADHD, and recommended as the first line of treatment for children under the age of 6. For children over the age of 6, behavioral therapy is recommended with medication.

Some medications commonly used to treat ADHD include:

• methylphenidate
• mixed amphetamine salts

Associated Clinical Comorbidities Adhd/asd

The diagnosis of both ADHD and ASD is based on behavioral symptoms. Both conditions frequently encompass deficiencies in communication with peers, attention, various degrees of restlessness or hyperactivity, and impulsivity. The significance of the presence of clinical overlap regarding the underlying neurobiology and phenotype is not well known. Both syndromes are known to present genetic susceptibility, showing comorbidity across family members as well as within the same individual, and both conditions bring about significant academic, behavioral, adaptive, and emotional impairment at home, at school, and in other places .

ADHD behaviors and autistic-like features have been reported to present a positive significant correlation in a sample of community two-year-old children. The correlation between ADHD behaviors and autistic-like features was found lower in older children when compared with young adults , indicating that the covariance of ADHD/ASD increases with age . This can possibly be attributed to the fact that not all the characteristic behavioral types for ADHD and ASD have appeared yet in children, which makes less reliable the measurement of these behaviors when compared to adults.

Read Also: Does Nick Eh 30 Live With His Parents

So What Does This Mean

Number one: a lot of kids diagnosed with autism are also diagnosed with ADHD, and vice-versa.

Number two: its often hard to tell if a kid has ADHD, autism, or both. I personally show many of the characteristics of autism spectrum disorder: Im not great at the using nonverbal communications, like eye contact, body language, and social expressions. Many times, I suck at the social give-and-take of friendship. I tend towards narrow interests abnormal in intensity and focus I show stereotyped repetitive motor mannerisms. As a child, I exhibited more signs of ASD.

Number three: its important to have kids who are diagnosed with one disorder evaluated for the other.

I know several people with severe ADHD whove been told theyre close to ASD. I also know many people with ASD who also exhibit symptoms of ADHD. So its important for parents to be aware of the disorders comorbidity and act accordingly. Are they the same disorder? The jury is still out, but there is definite overlap in behavior, brain chemistry, and genetics.

Whatever you believe, its important to be aware that the two disorders often occur together. Make sure your kids doctor can parse out their differences. And perhaps make sure your own doctor can parse out the differences between ADHD and autism as well.

Overlap Of Adhd And Asd

Although their core diagnostic criteria do not explicitly overlap, lately, an increasing number of studies provide evidence for an elevated degree of corbidity between ADHD and ASD, with different levels of symptom severity. In DSM-5, the diagnoses of AD and ADHD will not be mutually exclusive any longer. This provides the basis for more differentiated studies on overlap and distinction between both disorders. .

ADHD and ASD are more frequent in boys than in girls, and both emerge, at least to a certain degree, at preschool age. Research on the co-occurrence of ASD and ADHD has focused on older children despite the fact that characteristic ADHD and autistic behaviors appear already in early childhood. Clinicians have been able to recognize behavioral characteristics, such as social deficits, in children with ADHD hyperactivity among children with ASD for a long time. However, it is only in recent years that research investigating their comorbidity has burgeoned .

You May Like: Is Freddie Highmore Autistic In Real Life

Looking For General Signs

Theres Neurological Evidence To Support A Link Between Adhd And Autism

A JAMA Psychiatry Study published in 2017 examined the brains of children with ADHD and autism. To simplify: they measured neural connectivity in the kids white matter. No matter what the childs diagnosis, there were associations between autism symptom severity and abnormalities in white matter organization. The same issues were found in kids with inattentive ADHD but not hyperactive ADHD.

Science Daily reports that a Danish study found ADHD and autism share changes in the same genes. The very fact that mutations are found to the same extent and in the same genes in children with autism and in children with ADHD, points towards the same biological mechanisms being involved, Anders Børglum, professor at Aarhus University and one of the studys main researchers, told Science Daily. Changes in this particular gene increases a persons risk of developing ADHD and autism by more than 15 times.

Another study found that theres a substantial overlap in functional brain connectivity between ADHD and autism. So the brains of those with autism and ADHD tend to work in the same ways. And while theyre certainly different disorders, the overlap is remarkable.

Read Also: Can A Child With Autism Have Dyslexia

Signs And Symptoms Of Asd

People with ASD have difficulty with social communication and interaction, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. The list below gives some examples of the types of behaviors that are seen in people diagnosed with ASD. Not all people with ASD will show all behaviors, but most will show several.

Read Also: Life Expectancy For Autism

Is Adhd On The Autism Spectrum

Characteristics of autism spectrum disorders and ADHD sometimes overlap. More than half of children on the autism spectrum have symptoms of ADD, according to CHADD difficulty settling down, social awkwardness, the ability to focus only on things that interest them, and impulsivity. ADHD itself, however, is not part of the autism spectrum.

A mother I previously met summed up her confusion and eventual enlightenment: John is smart and quick to learn something new if he is interested, she says. But he has a terrible time focusing on things he doesnt find interesting. When this happens, he starts rocking or pacing around the room. For years, we thought it was ADHD, but, at his last evaluation, his teachers suggested that he might have a form of autism. After seeing a pediatrician, he received a diagnosis of Aspergers. Knowing he has it and working to manage the symptoms is a relief.

Also Check: Life Expectancy With Autism

Recommended Reading: Do Kids Outgrow Autism

Autism And Adhd: Beau’s Story

Beau had been a ball of fire all his life. “Ever since he was born, he was a very active, loud, hard-to-tame child,” recalled Baldassari, 39. She didn’t suspect anything was wrong until the family’s first big move, which took place in June 2011, while Beau was in kindergarten. He was upset before the move and didn’t settle down in the months following it, either. “He’d go his whole day angry and defiant, and yelling and upset,” she said. “It just seemed like he was so unhappy. I’d never see smiles out of him.”

Baldassari took Beau to a psychiatrist at the new base, who diagnosed him with an unspecified mood disorder and put him on risperidone , an antispsychotic medication. “It lengthens his short fuse, I was told at the time,” she said. But problems persisted, and in March 2012, doctors finally diagnosed Beau with ADHD.

Beau seemed to do well on ADHD medications, but another move in the summer of 2012 exposed his dark side again. “It was even worse than the first. Just the most outrageously terrible behavior,” Baldassari said. “Three months without a smile he was just angry all day, explosively angry.”

It all came to a head at a meeting between Beau’s parents and school officials in March 2013. Even though the medication had helped reduce his hyperactivity and impulsiveness, Beau still continued to have meltdowns at school. School officials suggested he might have autism.

The Relationship Between Adhd And Autism

When a school-aged child cant focus on tasks or in school, parents may think their child has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder . Difficulty concentrating on homework? Fidgeting and difficulty sitting still? An inability to make or maintain eye contact?

All of these are symptoms of ADHD.

These symptoms do match what most people understand about the common neurodevelopmental disorder. Even many doctors might gravitate toward that diagnosis. Yet, ADHD might not be the only answer.

Before an ADHD diagnosis is made, its worth understanding how ADHD and autism can be confused, and understand when they overlap.

There are three types of ADHD:

• predominantly hyperactive-impulsive
• predominantly inattentive
• combination

The combined type of ADHD, where you experience both inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms, is the most common.

The average age of diagnosis is 7 years old and boys are much more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than girls, although this may be because it presents differently.

Autism spectrum disorder , another childhood condition, also affects an increasing number of children.

ASD is a group of complex disorders. These disorders affect behavior, development, and communication. About 1 in 68 U.S. children has been diagnosed with ASD. Boys are four-and-a-half times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls.

Heres a comparison of the two conditions and their symptoms:

You May Like: What Is The Life Expectancy Of People With Autism