Monday, February 20, 2012

ADHD Vs Autism

There is this girl who was very naughty in che-che's class when she was P1. Over the years, she seems to have tone down on her naughty behaviour. But what brought my interest to this subject : ADHD Vs Autism is that some mummies would say that she is autistic. But in my opinion she wasn't, I told them that she could possibly be ADHD. And mind you, most ADHD people are smart!!



ADHD Vs Autism

Basically, ADHD (completely known as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is when a person indulges in too much activity to the point that he can no longer focus his attention to a given object or task under normal circumstances. There is a recurrent feature of being impulsive, aside from the common inattention to other things. Impulsive and inattention are two of the most identifiable characteristics of ADHD.

Because these individuals are unable to focus on one task for a prolonged period of time, you’ll almost always notice them shifting tasks and frequently moving about. They really can’t stay in a single place for a long time or else they will become anxious or get bored. Nevertheless, you need not worry that much because if ever your child has ADHD, there’s still a big probability of him outgrowing the condition most especially when he reach the age of twenty and above.

Autism is when a person has poor or underdeveloped social skills. In this regard, the autistic person is not able to clearly interpret or distinguish body language. He is also unable to emphatize with other people. These characteristics are said to be attributed to the absence of mirror neurons in the central nervous system.

Autism is a more complex developmental disorder that affects many developmental dimensions of the individual. When at 3 years old, the child demonstrates certain significant restrictions in communication, interaction and behavior (repetitive) then most likely he is autistic. Sometimes autism surfaces at one year old and other cases even manifest early at birth (although you can’t conclude directly that it is autistic behavior unless there are several tests done). Because there are many dimensions and other variables to be considered, autism is usually very difficult to diagnose.

Read more: Difference Between ADHD and Autism | Difference Between | ADHD vs Autism http://www.differencebetween.net/science/health/difference-between-adhd-and-autism/#ixzz1mufuhCym

Autistic children have a hard time developing language. Even if they have already learned some new words, there’s still a big chance of losing such knowledge as time passes by. Autistic children practice a sense of ‘social retreat.’ This means that they are mostly introverted and don’t want to interact with other kids even at playtime. Most of them don’t even want to make eye contact at all. They also have sensory issues like when they identify certain stimuli as addictive (e.g. rotating fan blades). They also do repetitive motions like hand flapping.

It is also interesting to note that many autistic kids are found to have high IQs. Although they have this much mental capacity, they actually have built a ‘world’ of their own which is difficult to penetrate from the outside.

All in all, although both conditions are classified as developmental disorders they still differ in the following aspects:
1. Autism is a more complex problem compared to ADHD.
2. Autism has hallmark characteristics of repetitive behavior, language and sensory problems, and social retreat. ADHD is seen when the individual is impulsive, hyperactive, inattentive and easily gets bored.



Read more: Difference Between ADHD and Autism | Difference Between | ADHD vs Autism http://www.differencebetween.net/science/health/difference-between-adhd-and-autism/#ixzz1mug0CM6N

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