HOW ADHD AND AUTISM ARE NOT THE SAME, BUT THEY ARE SIMILAR; HELP FOR TEENS WITH ADHD, & WORKPLACE SUCCESS (1112 hits)
For Immediate Release From Children And Adults With ADHD (CHADD)!
"ADHD AND AUTISM AREN’T THE SAME, BUT THEY ARE SIMILAR. HERE'S HOW."
Kids with ADHD can be distractible and hyperactive. Autistic kids are more often seen as socially awkward. But despite their differences, ADHD and autism are actually two sides of the same coin. The conditions have many overlapping symptoms, which can make it challenging to determine whether a kid has autism or ADHD — or both. Many kids who have one condition have the other. But how similar are ADHD and autism? Is ADHD on the autism spectrum?
Officially, no. “Currently, they are separate conditions with intersecting features,” says Dena Gassner, a professor at Towson University, Ph.D. candidate at Adelphi University, and co-chair of the autistic researchers committee for the International Society for Autism Research. She agrees with that official distinction, but other experts question aren’t so sure.
Given that both conditions often share symptoms or co-occur, some researchers think autism and ADHD could belong on the same spectrum. “Are we looking at one condition that’s on a continuum, or two distinct conditions? I think we don’t know the answer to that question,” Geraldine Dawson, director of the Duke Center for Autism and Brain Development, told Spectrum. “There hasn’t really been enough systematic research.”
There’s still so much that experts don’t understand about neurodiversity, and the relationship between ADHD and autism is a prime example. But the more we know (experts and parents), the better able we are to help kids be their best selves.
More than half of autistic people with an official diagnosis also show signs of ADHD, the most common childhood condition to co-occur with autism, according to Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD). What’s more, one out of every four kids with ADHD has “low-level signs” of being on the autism spectrum.
The two conditions are viewed by some experts as part of a Venn diagram, with ADHD in one circle and autism in another. “In the middle of the Venn diagram, you’re going to find executive function is going to be one feature that presents [difficulties] in both cases,” Gassner says. Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child likens executive functioning and self-regulation to air traffic control at a busy airport, noting that these are “the mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully.”
EVERYONE EXPERIENCES A MIXTURE of positive and negative emotions daily. For some people, these emotions—particularly negative emotions like anger, frustration, sadness, and guilt—can be overwhelming. Emotion regulation is a term generally used to describe a person’s ability to manage and respond to an emotional experience in an adaptive way. Emotion regulation is essential for social and emotional well-being.
Managing emotions is particularly challenging for adolescents, who often experience high levels of conflict with parents and peers. This is especially true for adolescents with ADHD, who Russell Barkley describes as having a “low frustration tolerance, impatience, [and] quickness to anger.”
Although teens with ADHD have significant difficulty managing negative emotions, many also have difficulty managing positive emotions. Specifically, when happy or excited, adolescents with ADHD often display age-inappropriate levels of enthusiasm or exuberance. They may yell, jump up and down, and invade others’ personal space when they find out good news. As a result, parents, teachers, and peers often view these teenagers as immature and rambunctious.
Growing recognition of emotion regulation difficulties in ADHD Relative to adolescents who do not have ADHD, adolescents with ADHD have significant difficulty managing positive and negative emotions. In particular, adolescents with ADHD exhibit intense displays of negative and positive emotions, stronger reactions to frustration or stress, and more rapid and drastic changes between emotions.
Recent evidence suggests that the extreme changes from day to day in positive and negative emotions among adolescents with ADHD is linked to less peer acceptance, more internalizing symptoms (anxiety, depression), and more externalizing symptoms (ADHD, oppositionality, defiance, conduct problems). Overall, poor emotion regulation may contribute to many of the negative outcomes they experience, such as engagement in risky behaviors including substance use, verbal and physical aggression, peer rejection, romantic difficulties, and family conflict.
Strategies for parents to increase adolescent emotion regulation Parents play an important role in adolescent emotion development through their use of emotion socialization practices. Parent emotion socialization is an umbrella term used to describe emotion-focused parenting behaviors. It includes modeling of emotions and regulating emotions, discussing emotions, and responding to emotional displays in others, particularly their children.
Some adults with ADHD have very successful careers. But for others, the symptoms of ADHD can create a variety of challenges, including poor communication skills, distractibility, procrastination, and difficulty managing complex projects. Here are some of the challenges and tips to overcome them.
Challenge: Distractability
There are two types of distractions that can affect adults working with ADHD, external and internal. External include things such as noises or movement in the surrounding environment while internal distractions originate internally such as daydreams.
Tips: Noise-cancelling headphones can help minimize external sounds. If you have an office, consider closing your door to avoid being distracted by your officemates. Limit your access to social media when you need to get stuff done. To-do lists can help you keep on task and combat your tendencies to daydream.
Challenge: Impulsivity
Adults with ADHD may struggle with impulsivity and excessive temper when frustrated.
Tips: Self-talk, working with a coach, asking for regular and constructive feedback, practicing mindfulness, and developing coping mechanisms may help adults learn to identify their triggers and express their frustrations in appropriate ways.
Challenge: Hyperactivity
Adults with ADHD often have trouble sitting still and may fidget.
Tips: Consider jobs that allow movement or that require a lot of physical activity such as sales, teaching, or exercise trainers. For those who are in careers that are more sedentary, take intermittent breaks, take notes in meetings, and move around. You can also bring your lunch so you don’t have to spend time buying it and can use your break to exercise instead.
