To my friends, ADHD is the reason I’m always full energy when we meet up. To my family, ADHD was the reason they dreaded Parent’s Evening. To the 1 in 69 people, who like me have autism, ADHD is just one more thing 30–50% of us have in common. But what is ADHD and how is it related to autism?
What is ADHD?
When it comes to understanding ADHD and it’s relationship to autism, the first thing to keep in mind is that, whilst the condition is extremely common for people on the spectrum, the same can’t be said for the number of people with ADHD who have been diagnosed with autism – as, although almost half the autistic community has some degree of ADHD, only 14% of people with ADHD are autistic.
Put simply, this is due to ADHD being a lot more common than autism. In spite of this, it seems that, just like autism, we are still at a loss for an explanation as to what ADHD is (which means you can stop blaming bad parenting and fizzy drinks).
What we do know about ADHD, however, is that, whilst there is no definitive evidence as to where it comes from, it is likely caused by a range of factors :
- It may be something you inherit
- It may be something which develops alongside other conditions
- It may be caused by long-term early exposure to chemicals e.g. alcohol/nicotine (not gamma radiation like The Hulk)
What are the Symptoms of ADHD?
When looking at a comparison of ADHD and Autism, many of the symptoms the two present are two sides of the same coin. For instance, while many autistic people will not respond to outside stimulations, such as noises and smells (OR they will struggle to process them altogether), many people with ADHD will overreact to their senses, unable to control them in highly stimulating circumstances or boring ones.
These aren’t the only comparisons between the traits that autistic people have and the symptoms which people with ADHD present. It’s often the case that both people with ADHD and autism struggle to understand emotion – with autistic people not being able to make sense of other’s feelings and people with ADHD finding it hard to control our own (sometimes resulting in destruction that makes me want to retract the statement about us all not possessing Hulk-like powers – or at least that has been my experience).
On the other hand, there are many symptoms which people with ADHD demonstrate that people with autism don’t. For example, autistic people may higher than average levels of determination – becoming steadfast to the point where our focus can become an obsession. Conversely, people with ADHD often struggle to pay attention to a singular task unless it is highly rewarding.
It’s no surprise then, that many people will confuse autism with ADHD.
How to manage ADHD:
There are many suggestions of how to manage the effects of ADHD and after 20+ years of living with the condition, it’s safe to say I’ve probably tried most of them. These include:
- Therapy: ranging from the reward system based Behavioural Therapy to the old school ‘lie on the sofa and tell us about your upbringing’ treatments of Psychotherapy.
- Stress Relieving Exercises: Regulated breathing, fidget cubes, tangle toys ect.
- Medication (e.g Ritalin): Something which I now use regularly. However, when I was younger, I had a few false starts when trying to find the medication which suited me – with one experience resulting in me telling my mum that ‘I wanted to draw but had forgotten how to’.
Whilst It’s important to note that these options all offer varying levels of success (changing person to person and even depending on the person’s stage in life), ADHD is not something which can be cured. In fact, I would go as far as to say that, whilst all these techniques have potential to make ADHD more manageable, on the surface, they only make ADHD easier to cope with for the people around us.
For myself, although it’s true that I am no longer a force to be reckoned with when I become disinterested, I still struggle when trying to do something which requires long periods of concentration: from mild irritation when I am trying to watch a programme that is longer than 30 minutes, to visible levels of frustration when I am performing site maintenance for this blog or responding to work emails.
This is something I want everyone to take away from this article as, whilst children with ADHD are in danger of being labelled as ‘micro timebombs’, there is so much more to ADHD than just our responses. In reality, the effects of ADHD can last a lifetime and though, yes, our outbursts have become a hallmark of the condition, this is just the tip of the iceberg when compared to the challenges it can present in later life.
