ADHD & Aspergers

So since starting my research I have come across many articles that suggest that my son may have been misdiagnosed as ADHD instead of Aspergers or may have both. I am not sure exactly how I feel about it. Aspergers would explain a majority of his symptoms. I have found some great websites that have lots of info on them: http://www.retrainthebrain.com/autism.html and  http://autism.lovetoknow.com/ADHD_and_Asperger




According to http://www.retrainthebrain.com/autism.html below is a list of characteristics associated with ADHD or Aspergers.



Autism (or Aspergers) Behavioral Checklist



• Difficulty mixing with other children; My son has this.



• No real fear of danger; My son use to have this - now he seems to fear alot of things



• Tantrums: displays extreme distress for no apparent reason, He has this to a degree- he overexagerates.



• Inappropriate giggling or laughing, In preschool he would get in trouble for laughing at another child's injury.



• May not want cuddling or act cuddly, This varies- sometimes he wants to cuddle, sometimes not.



• Noticeable physical overactivity or extreme underactivity; hyper



• Little or no eye contact, When he was little he could not make eye contact and I use to make him look at me when I talked to him. He would fight me on this but I wanted to make sure when I talked to him about safety issues he was listening. To this day he still doesn't usually make eye contact.



• Works impulsively; often makes careless mistakes: work is sloppy, This is him!



• Uneven gross/fine motor skills I am not sure exactly what they are talking about with this one. So I am not sure whether it applies or not.



ADHD Behavioral Checklist



• Cannot talk or play quietly; disrupts others with talk or actions, This varies-sometimes he can play quietly but other times he cannot.



• Difficult awaiting turn in games or activities, yep!



• Engages in potentially dangerous activities, This is accelerated when he has red dye.



• Plays without normal caution or consideration of consequences, definitely!



• Severe temper tantrums, He use to have these all the time. THey went away for a while but now they are back in the form of "You’re hurting me"



• Interrupts, disrupts, talks and acts inappropriately, Yes



• When younger, difficulty accepting soothing or holding, Sometimes



• Always on the move, overactive, even during sleep, especially when he has red dye



• Often does not seem to listen when spoken to directly, I have to repeatedly call his name and make him look at me to make sure he is listening. If I don't see his eyes then he probably doesn't hear what I am saying.



• Often does not give close attention to details or makes careless mistakes in school work or other activities, Yep!



• Uneven gross/fine motor skills. Again I am not sure what they are referring to...



This site also said that Aspergers/Autism can seem to suddenly develop too. So it seems according to this my son has both ADHD and Aspergers but according to the DSM he doesn't qualify for Aspergers...So confusing!!