rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I earned two master’s degrees - one in Computer Science and a MBA - each a “consolation prize” for not completing an appropriate doctorate because I had trouble ‘settling down and studying’ {I completed over 90 hours towards a DBA - in later days I took too many days off with my camera}. In retrospect in a later generation I would have ‘had ADHD’.

DocDav Loc: IN

Your still wrong. Apparently you do not like facts nor do you wish to attempt to verify your statements.

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

With all due respect, you are making judgements and pronouncements about issues where you have no or faulty information and are not medically qualified to address. ADHD and Autism are VERY different things, neither of which are new, but as medical science progresses, we now know more about many diseases than we did 50 years ago. I challenge you to post verifiable links showing where EITHER condition qualifies for welfare of any kind. Walk what you talk.

You know, we all make mistakes and say mistaken things, and when we do, the right thing to do is man up, admit you are wrong, check your facts, revise your thinking and move on, not try to justify.

DocDav Loc: IN

Architect1776. Does not man up nor admit mistakes. He just spews hateful bias and stand by it. If anything, he rejoins with ad hominem. Typically calling all else losers or similar. Just who he is. My guess just an unhappy man with nothing else to do. I honestly dont know why I respond to his nonsense. But hey. Nice try TriX

Diocletian

👍

Diocletian

This is addressed to Architect1776

Compassion: sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.

Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another

I know they are not in your vocabulary .. but even an old dog can learn new tricks!

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

My next door neighbor in Charlotte had an autistic boy. We knew him well. He was definitely not ADHD, and the family were solidly upper middle class.

One of the most successful multi-millionaire school photographers I know had ADHD and was also dyslexic. And some of the most influential leaders we know are mildly autistic — It has a wide range of effects. One of those effects can be single-minded focus and determination, with a complete lack of apparent fear.

I’m thinking of Greta Thunberg in that context. Love her or hate her, she’s a force to be respected for her gifted articulations. She knows how to marshall attention to a cause.

Diocletian

From Harvard Medical Review which points out that parents would rather have a diagnosis of ADHD rather than autism.

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-it-adhd-or-autism-201510278462

Is it ADHD—or Autism?
Posted October 27, 2015, 8:00 am , Updated October 29, 2015, 5:40 pm
Claire McCarthy, MD
Claire McCarthy, MD
Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism can look a lot alike. Children with either one can be very active and impulsive, and can have trouble focusing and interacting with other people. In fact, it can be hard to tell the difference between the two.

But telling the difference is very important.

In a study just published in the journal Pediatrics, researchers looked at about 1,500 children between the ages of 2 and 17 who had a current diagnosis of autism (as reported by their parents). They found that those who got an ADHD diagnosis before they got an autism diagnosis were diagnosed with autism an average of 3 years later than those who got the autism diagnosis first — and were 30 times more likely to get the autism diagnosis when they were 6 years old or older.

Why does this matter? While there is a lot we don’t know about autism, one thing we do know is that the earlier treatment starts, the better the child does in the long run. While autism can be diagnosed as early as age 24 months, the median age for diagnosis is over 4 years. Every year the diagnosis is delayed is a year a child isn’t getting help — which can have lifelong ramifications. So to have the diagnosis delayed by three years — and delayed past those crucial early years — is a real tragedy.

It isn’t always easy for general pediatricians to diagnose autism in young children. It takes special training, and it takes time, something the average busy pediatrician doesn’t have. And given that the social aspects of autism may not be obvious before a child starts school, parents may not realize that their child has trouble socializing with others — and may not report it to the pediatrician. Given this, and given that most parents would rather hear that their child has ADHD than that he or she has autism, and therefore not push for further testing, it’s understandable how this happens.

Autism isn’t the only diagnosis that can look like ADHD. Children with learning disabilities, sleep disorders, hearing loss, and other problems are often misdiagnosed with ADHD.

So before settling on a diagnosis of ADHD, especially in a young child, parents should talk with their doctor about whether doing more testing would be a good idea. These are hard conversations to have, but they are important ones: they can make all the difference when it comes to getting a child the help he or she really needs.

pendennis

I can speak to autism, because my 48 year old son has it. It's indeed a "spectrum disorder", and there are identifiable traits, from those which resemble ADD and ADHD, to non-communicative. It takes a skilled psychologist to diagnose the level at which an autistic exists.

He was born in 1972, and displayed fear of change as early as 9 months old, when we moved from an apartment to our first home. He had slept soundly all night when he was born; never woke up for a bottle. However, when we moved, it took him almost another 9 months to settle in to our new home.

He did show some amazing learning. At age 2.5, he could read, write, and do comparative math problems (2+2= 2+1+1). He had an amazing vocabulary. That was the good part. We thought we had a Mensa candidate. Then, however, the traits of autism began to show. He didn't play well with others, but not in a mean way; he just didn't make the social connections. He was petrified of noises. We left 4th of July fireworks because he panicked so badly. The noise of the circus frightened him. However, he was a sponge when it came to remembering things.

We took him to three different psychologists who all stated separately, that our son had an "unknown psychological problem" (their words). How's that for clarity? The closest anyone came to finding a diagnosis was the school system psychologist who suspected something related to his learning environment.

We moved to Michigan in 1982, and he resided in special education programs with all the appropriate paperwork which meant little to us. Finally, in 1989 he had an outburst in high school, and we took him to a psychiatrist who nailed the diagnosis. He was autistic, not severe, but on the spectrum at the mild end. When the word autism was used, we at first thought of "Rain Man" autism.

We started him with a psychologist in the same practice, and we immediately noticed improvements. However, he still showed fear of what we would consider normal risk/reward. He didn't learn to drive until he was 20, because he was afraid he would kill someone. He finally overcame a lot of the fears of new things, graduated from community college and started working.

In 2007, however, the ground gave way; a relapse. He tried to harm himself, lost his job, and had to move in with us, two weeks before my retirement. A trip back to his psychologist confirmed my own research. There was a questionnaire on an Australian web site containing 25 questions. I answered honestly, and he hit on all 25. He had severe Asperger's Syndrome, within the mild end of autism. What a complication!

Today, he's gotten what seems to be a dream job. He's a customer service rep handling problems for car dealers. Here's where he shines. He spends most of the day on the phone solving problems; with the advantage of not having to literally face off with customers. Right now, he's working from home, and I can hear his conversations occasionally with dealers, manufacturers, jobbers, etc. He is so at ease, and so knowledgeable, that it almost makes me forget that he's autistic.

Sorry for the lengthy post, but autism, ADHD, and ADD (I'm ADD), have a long way to go to be understood.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

For all you lib haters.
Autism does exist.
But ADHD nearly has disappeared and now kids are all called autistic instead for the welfare.
1 in 54 have it?
that is 6 million autistic people in the USA?
Give me a break.

phlash46 Loc: Westchester County, New York

and you know this is wrong because you are a stable genius? Apparently it was easy to close your little mind...

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

These days people talk about a 'spectrum' - which means a wide range of abilities / disabilities.
I am quite willing to believe that 6 million people are spread up and down it.

pendennis

Dr. McCarthy makes valid points. And ADHD has become a catchall for a host of pediatric problems.

It takes a lot of patience with observation by parents to sort out some of these problems. Today, my wife and I would have done a lot of things differently had we more information. It's not an indictment of the professions, just acknowledgement of the advancement in the autism spectrum.

When we learned of our son's Asperger's Syndrome, I was surprised that the syndrome was diagnosed first in 1945, but the research "sat on the shelf" for nearly 50 years. However, Asperger's has now been declassified into the general autism spectrum, but the symptoms are still unique. Aspergers still have difficulty in establishing the "social contract", and it takes a lot of treatment to help establish it.

And most of all, people can't ever forget, that it's never "one and done" when treating autistics. Unless constantly reinforced, their acquired behaviors are only temporary. Relapses happen, and often are more severe than the original problems. A life time of counseling and guidance is necessary.

DocDav Loc: IN

Didn't I tell you Architect has a closed mind? Just laughing. He is a true hater of anyone not as right wing as himself. A sad small man who only feels good when on the attack. He has no idea the persuasion of me, or you, yet feels justified calling us all "Lib Haters" because we disagree with him. Because we know more than him so he must strike out. Yes, such a stable genius. The spectrum ranges from mild to several architect. Despite what you may think or want to believe, ADHD has not dissipated and no one want their kid to be diagnosed on the spectrum to get your tax dollars in the form of welfare.

Just laughing.

Science does not care what you think.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

I know this conversation has morphed, but allow me to make a comment related to the original subject.

In the thread on Facebook following the original post which I re-posted here, the subject of masks came up and who was healthy. I mentioned testing and I was asked if the current testing tested for coronavirusses in general or Covid-19 specifically. This is how out of touch this group is.