OK, my son was recently diagnosed with ASD, now as a mom I can begin to focus, right? Yes! And this entry presents co-morbidity associated with Autism.
ADHD--Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder...sometimes presenting itself as lack of focus/distractability as well as impulsivity. One of our founders has years of experience seeing ASD and ADHD co-occurring. For most students, treating the ASD first will help working through the ADHD issues that are related.
OCD--Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Rituals with seemingly no purpose can hijack these kids' ability to get started, continue, or complete an activity. This could be under control and sort of a reduced OCD, or it could be massively debilitating. In the Autism world, there is about a 37% overlap between ASD and OCD with Level 1 individuals.
What ASD is not--Oppositional Defiant Disorder. Oppositional Defiant kids are the I will not! children. ASD kids are the I can't... kids. They're stuck because brain-wiring leads them to a dead end. They see no options in the moment for success or a solution. They're stuck. Sometimes we reword this into they need someone else to help move them from an emotional/limbic-thinking back into the cognitive realm. This is why the right teacher or support can help ASD kids slowly grow the ability to independently move from limbic to cognitive.
Oppositional Defiant is cognitive, strategic, and intentional. They can have a mix of vindictiveness, aggression, and shock-value type of behavior. Autislife.com is not the place for ODD info.
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