Here's some info. some are requesting...
Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD): A Comparison
Sally Bloch-Rosen, Ph.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Educational Director
William Beaumont Hospital Center for Human Development
1695 West Twelve Mile Road, Suite 120
Berkley, MI 48072
Difficulty Adjusting to Changes & Making Transitions
Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Attention/Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
· Prefer sameness due to cognitive deficits which limit abilities to adapt spontaneously to change.
· Prefer novelty, but have difficulty realigning behavior in changing circumstances.
· Subjectively more apt to be described as anxiety-provoking.
· Subjectively, more apt to be described as exciting.
Inattention & Distractibility
Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Attention/Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
· Distracted by objects and movement of objects.
· More apt to be distracted by the activities of other people.
· Attend to atypical stimuli and, therefore, appear quite inattentive.
· Attend to stuff that most kids would find compelling.
· Prone to "tune out" due primarily to difficulties in mentally imposing organization on their environment.
· "Tune out" because of mental fatigue, have missed too many bits and pieces of information to make sense of the input, etc.
Repetitive/Annoying Behaviors
Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Attention/Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
· Often represent a self-stimulatory behavior and more often has an odd quality.
· Often represents a discharge of energy to permit greater mental focus.
· Resistant to incentives and rewards.
· More success using reinforcers.
· Examples: head banging, hair pulling,
· Examples: foot tapping, pencil gnawing
Responsiveness to Reinforcement
Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Attention/Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
· More difficult to find out exactly WHAT they find reinforcing (may be somewhat unusual).
· More typically respond to reinforcers that "make sense" and are consistent with rewards that most other children desire.
· Often prefer to stick with the same reinforcer, and then after many trials, may suddenly find it no longer rewarding.
· Need to change reinforcers frequently.
Response to Rules
Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Attention/Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
· LOVE rules. Rules help them to bring order to what they perceive as a chaotic environment.
· Not quite so fond of rules, may have difficulty conforming to rules due to impulsivity.
· Often the "little policemen" of the school, may be unnecessarily rigid or persnickity as to the details of a rule.
· May stretch the rules as much as possible.
Language and Communication
Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Attention/Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
· Usually reflects preoccupation with area of special interest and is wanting in terms of meaning.
· May go from one topic to another, but intent to communicate is clear and within normal limits.
· Nonverbals like facial expression, often do not match inner feeling states.
· Usually inner feeling states are apparent – may have trouble modulating or suppressing expression of emotion.
· Pervasive probelms in pragmatics – using language to accomplish a practical goal.
· Typically do not show a significant problem in pragmatics, may be skilled at "wearing down" adults using language.
· Speech usually marked by unusual prosody and inflection.
· Unusal speech patterns not associated with core diagnostic features.
Social Skills Deficits/ Difficulties In Establishing and/or Maintaining Peer Relationships
Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Attention/Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
· Social relatedness problems arise from difficulties dealing with novelty AND using nonverbals to regulate social interactions.
· Social relations dirupted by problems with impulsivity, turn-taking, etc. which can disrupt the flow of social relationships.
· Do not "get it."
· Have a more solid grasp of nonverbal communication but may have difficulties with response inhibition which prevent competent execution of their knowledge.
Cognitive Markers
Autistic Spectrum Disorders
Attention/Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
· Poor grades in math due to difficulty grasping mathematics concepts, especially as concepts become more abstract.
· Poor grades most commonly arise out of careless errors in computation.
· No consistently observed difficulty in conceptual math for AD/HD.
· Sloppy handwriting, motor planning deficits, never liked to color, fine motor deficits.
· Not much improvement with medication.
· May or may not have motor planning/fine motor deficits. Handwriting sloppy often due to a tendency to rush through.
· Often more of a significant improvement with psychostimulant treatment.
· Difficulties with gross motor skills (sometiems with islands of competence) but often seen as clumsy or accident prone (due primarily to cognitive impairments.)
· May be accident prone because they assume a fast pace of activity, act without fully thinking through possible consequences. Gross motor immaturities may or may not be present.
· Difficulties in sports because they are often viewed as meaningless activities.
· Difficulties participating in sports may emerge due to problems sustaining atention (as in baseball) or due to response inhibition which reduces the capacity to work as a team.
Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified
(PDD-NOS)
Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) is a 'subthreshold' condition in which some - but not all - features of autism or another explicitly identified Pervasive Developmental Disorder are identified. PDD-NOS is often incorrectly referred to as simply "PDD." The term PDD refers to the class of conditions to which autism belongs. PDD is NOT itself a diagnosis, while PDD-NOS IS a diagnosis. The term Pervasive Developmental Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS; also referred to as "atypical personality development," "atypical PDD," or "atypical autism") is included in DSM-IV to encompass cases where there is marked impairment of social interaction, communication, and/or stereotyped behavior patterns or interest, but when full features for autism or another explicitly defined PDD are not met.
It should be emphasized that this ''subthreshold'' category is thus defined implicitly, that is, no specific guidelines for diagnosis are provided. While deficits in peer relations and unusual sensitivities are typically noted, social skills are less impaired than in classical autism. The lack of definition(s) for this relatively heterogeneous group of children presents problems for research on this condition. The limited available evidence suggest that children with PDD-NOS probably come to professional attention rather later than is the case with autistic children, and that intellectual deficits are less common.
Appropriate educational program.
Education is the primary tool for treating PDD-NOS. Many children with PDD-NOS experience the greatest difficulty in school, where demands for attention and impulse control are virtual requirements for success. Behavioral difficulties can prevent some children from adapting to the classroom. However, with appropriate educational help, a child with can succeed in school.
Thanks. I love this link and always lose it. I might add, the differences become more obvious as the kids get older. My son just seemed like a spacey ADHD kid when he was in kindergarden, but it's pretty obvious at 12 that he is not ADHD, but on the autism spectrum. As they age, autistic spectrum disorder kids just become "odd ducks" although many are very bright and happy. Thanks again. I have to print this out.
[QUOTE=psm0904] ...it's pretty obvious at 12 that he is not ADHD, but on the autism spectrum. As they age, autistic spectrum disorder kids just become "odd ducks" although many are very bright and happy...[/QUOTE]
Thats my DD too, also PDD-NOS and age 12!
Well, bepatient, we have a LOT in common then...lol. My son is a real gift; a sweetie, but he isn't like other 12 year olds. The older he got, the more obvious it became. It wasn't that clear when all the kids were young and immature. thanks much I will definitely be reading through that and the other post from psm. I am glad you guys share all of this - it helps those of us who aren't so good at research - no patience for it (my son gets it from somewhere) Thanks!!!! I'm gonna bump this one up. It's pretty good. While it is kind of simplistic, I really like the part about how autistic kids get distracted with objects (maybe fiddling with an eraser or watching a fan spin) while aDHD kids get distracted by what other kdis are doing. It's so true. My son can be in the middle of a noisy crowd and be so tuned into his Game Boy Advance he doesn't even pay attention to the people at all. My "typical" child is always looking at the action of the people around her. Makes sense that an ADHD kid would be distracted by people, not butterflies or a flag out the window at school waving in the wind, or her own fingernails. Once some kid tried to tick off my son by tipping his chair back and forth. As my son was pushed up and down by this bipolar kid who was having a meltdown (I was at a conference for kids with disorders) my son didn't even pay attention to his screaming and swearing. He just kept on happily playing his Gameboy Advance. Finally, he looked up with a frown and said, "Thanks a lot, N. You made me die." Then he went back to his game while the kid was still raging by him. It took a while to get this kid under control, but the entire time he was trying to goad my son into getting angry, my son was barely aware of him. He was so focused on his Game Boy game. We laughed about it afterwards.Buped for BansheeBump