For several years now I've been hearing speakers mention that ADD/ADHD is on the Autism spectrum. In the newest book I'm reading, Children with Starving Brains, Dr. Jaquelyn McCandless, states this very clearly. "Autism is a condition often characterized by a failure to bond, lack of social interaction, avoidance of eye-to eye contact, difficulties in language development, and repetitive behaviors. There are associated milder forms of this condition such as Asperger's Syndrome, PDD (Pervasive Developmental Disorder) and ADD/ADHD, or Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. These are all known collectively as Autism Spectrum Disorders, or ASDs."
Our son, Brad, was diagnosed with ADD in 5th grade, but I never felt like that 'label' quite fit him. Attention was an issue, yes. But I also saw language delays, sensory integration issues, and the lack of social connectedness. I remember working hard trying to get him to look at me to smile at about 6 months old.
Physically, Brad had a huge head as a toddler. The literature suggests that the only physical marker for autism can be a larger than average head circumference as a toddler. He displayed specialty interests as well, legos and computer were his favorite past times as a youngster. At about 11 years old, he spent an entire summer 'reading' a calculus book. He did score a perfect 36 on the science portion of his ACT a few years later, so maybe some of it sunk in! :)
IM was helpful in almost every one of his deficit areas. Language processing: About half of the way through his IM training, Brad came home and said he felt he could 'throw in an idea' during the lunch time conversation. Before it was as if the other students would have moved on to another topic before he had processed the information enough to enter the conversation. By the end of IM, Brad and I were having real dialogues, not just monologues or question and short answer sessions. His language processing gained phenomenally.
Social skills - Brad calls IM the beginning of his social life. He calls pre IM his social-less time of his life. When asked he will say the social gains of IM were his largest area of gain.
Fine motor - though I hear many times from teachers that handwriting improved with IM, that did not happen for Brad. Actually, the spatial awareness improved - he began writing on the line rather than slightly above it, but his handwriting could still use A LOT of tweaking. Today's world offers computers!
Sensory integration issues - Brad still does not enjoy loud places, but he can put up with them now without needing to escape or possibly melting down. As a child he would curl on in a ball on the gym floor occasionally with his hands over his ears. Now I know that behavior was actually a red flag. His diet has GREATLY improved post IM as he is more willing to try new foods. Some of that is age, but at 17, he had an extremely limited diet. Brad did IM at 17 and 1/2. By age 18, I was turning my head at all the foods he began eating that he wouldn't have ever tried pre IM. Tight clothes bothered him A LOT as a younger child. He wouldn't even wear a pair of jeans until 5th grade. Sweat pants were the only option. By 17, clothes were no longer an issue so it's hard to say if there was improvement there - though there probably was. His tolerance level for everything was extremely low pre IM with several overloads/meltdowns a day, coming out as frustration or tears often. Post IM Brad could handle a typical day with typical sensory information very typically - pretty nice huh!
Attention and focus - Brad stopped taking his ADD meds post IM and did well getting all his homework assignments not only done but turned in post IM. Not everyone gets off meds, but some do, our Brad was one of them.
