A FEW DEFINITIONS OF ADHD AND AUTISM

ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder but an alternative acronym is DAMP Deficit in Attention Memory and Processing. However ADHD can also be conceptualised as luster of difficulties in areas that have best been described by Russell Barkley as Executive functions: the ability to manage one’s emotions and get things done: encompassing focusing, reducing distractability, using one’s working memory, self-motivation, self-control, time management, planning, prioritising and organising: breaking down bigger projects to smaller ones.

People with ADHD have chronic problems with time management, self motivation, mental organisation, concentration and inhibition. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/may-i-have-your-attention/201311/adhd-adults-what-it-feels-have-adhd

Dodson’s definition of ADHD is

  • interest-based nervous system
  • emotional hyperarousal
  • rejection sensitivity to perceived criticism

ASD stands for Autism Spectrum Disorder, also called Autism Spectrum Conditions, or Autism. It used to be defined as a triad of impairments: of social relationships, of social communication and of imagination (Wing and Gould, 1978). All three impairments had to be evident, but some people may have had more impairment in one area than the other. The term Asperger’s used to refer to people with Autism who did not have an associated intellectual disability. We don’t use the term Asperger’s any more, nor do we use High functioning Autism. People with Autism may or may not have had speech delay.

More recently, since 2013, Autism is characterised by two categories:

  • persistent deficits in the ability to initiate and sustain reciprocal social interaction and social communication
  • restrictive, repetitive and inflexible patterns of behaviour, interests or activities, including differences in sensory sensitivities and interests.

The sensitivities in textures and sounds, inflexibility in routines, needing to do things in a certain way, resistance to change, severe anxiety and challenging behaviour are mainly manifest when the environment isn’t accommodating to the person’s needs or when there is a change- for example, the person changes school, goes to college, starts a new job or moves out of the parental home, or something happens to the parents or carer. https://www.docdroid.com/Uqx6OoG/nas-secondary-ks3-4-infographic-20210114-pdf

The term “spiky profile” refers to the fact that certain skills may be more developed than others due to delayed maturation of the frontal cortex (ADHD being a disorder of executive function). An individual may be emotionally and socially several years behind their actual age. Moreover, as neurodivergencies commonly co-occur, it is important to screen individuals with ADHD and autism for specific learning difficulties. Neurodivergencies include dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, sensory processing disorder etc. Neurodivergencies overlap. As many as half of people with ADHD are reported to have autism additionally. https://www.adhdevidence.org/blog/140222