Autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, are two common childhood mental disorders. They can appear similar, but actually are very different. It’s important to note the differences between them as their treatments and management are fairly different. However, they are easy to confuse because of the overlap between symptoms and conditions.
Your child may exhibit some developmental delays or act differently than other children. It’s best to monitor your child’s growth and document these behaviors as your doctor can help guide you towards a diagnosis. Continue reading to find out more about how these two are the same and different, plus what you can do to help your child thrive, regardless.
Autism and ADHD Explained
Before diving into if your child may have Autism or ADHD or not, it’s important to understand what they are. Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a sliding scale of developmental disorders that can affect a child’s language ability, behavior, social interactions and ability to learn. ASD is a range, so your child could be high functioning autistic, which means they hardly exhibit any changes or shortcomings. Or they could be low functioning autistic, which means they need a lot of assistance and cannot perform activities of daily living by themselves.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorders, or ADHD is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that impacts the way the brain grows and develops. This can make it harder to pay attention, sit still or think before acting. These children are often super impulsive, have poor self control, and will normally have behavior issues in both the classroom and home setting.
Although these are two different disorders, a child can have both.
The differences between autism and ADHD
There are a few differences in how children with autism and ADHD behave. The first has to do with their attention span. A child with autism may find it hard to concentrate on a task that doesn’t interest them. However, once they find something interesting, it is a common symptom for them to become slightly obsessive with it. Fixation on a task, counting, a collection, or a very specific topic is fairly diagnostic of ASD. This obsession can last for hours and consume most of their attention.
On the other hand, children with ADHD are going to have a hard time concentrating on anything that they do, including things that interest them. Most likely, children with ADHD are going to have a hard time sitting still, keeping their attention on one thing, or paying attention when someone is talking to them or instructing them to do something.
Another difference revolves around communication. Children with either condition may struggle to communicate with others for a variety of reasons. However, the reasons may vary. A child with autism may have trouble expressing their emotions in general. They avoid personal communication such as making eye contact, physical touching, or conversational cues. Children with autism may have trouble picking up on social cues and may be delayed in talking. Physical touch is a huge barrier for autistic children, but some form of pressure may make them feel comfortable. As a parent of a child with autism, you may have to learn how to properly comfort your child without crossing their boundaries.
Children with ADHD may have the opposite communication problem, they may talk non stop. These children often do not have good social cues either, but this can lead to issues of interrupting, not knowing when it’s inappropriate to be talking, and how their words may affect others. If you notice that your child talks nonstop, more than the average child, and seems to continuously have trouble with self-awareness, then this may be a sign of ADHD.
Another difference is their responses to routines. Children with autism very much prefer structure. They feel safe and secure when there is familiarity that guides their day. If something changes or is unexpected, then that can cause anxiety or upset them. Therefore, it’s best to try and maintain a routine as much as possible to avoid any unnecessary conflicts.
Children with ADHD normally do not like routine. They become more easily and need something that can keep their attention. Without this variability, they can easily become more impulsive and distracted which can make it even harder to encourage good behavior. Children with ADHD thrive when they are being constantly stimulated.
Treatment differences between the two
Treatments for both ADHD and autism can vary depending on how severe their condition is and how much their day to day life is affected. Behavior therapy and medication can both help these conditions. However, autism may require extra therapy, like counseling, education, support, speech therapy and occupational therapy.
An early diagnosis can significantly help with both because the families can participate in early intervention. Early recognition means that the physician can help guide parents on the best ways to help their child, and provide them with resources and strategies that they can implement early into a child’s development.
If you think that your child may exhibit any of these symptoms, please notify your physician as soon as possible and have them tested. Autism diagnoses can happen much earlier than ADHD diagnoses as physicians normally want to wait until children are older than preschool to see if their behavior changes or evolves.
If your child has severely debilitating ADHD or autism, Diverse Health Services can help tremendously. We are a home health company that can help families and caretakers who have patients that cannot take care of themselves. Our services include, but are not limited to, activities of daily living, transportation, meal preparation, medication dispensing, companionship, etc. Please check out our services tab to see if we are a good fit for your family.
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