A Dualidade Neurodivergente: Entre o TEA e o TDAH
A Dualidade Neurodivergente: Entre o TEA e o TDAH
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DOI: >
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Palavras-chave: DESAFIOS E PESECTIVAS NO DIAGNÓSTICO DE TEA E TDAH.
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Keywords: CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF ASD AND ADHD.
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Abstract: The understanding of neurodevelopmental conditions has undergone a radical transformation in recent decades. What was once understood through rigid and isolated categories is now analyzed from the perspective of complexity and overlap, describing the difficulties in comprehension due to the high number of identified and interconnected problems between the two disorders, causing some confusion in diagnosis, which often results in inaccurate or incorrect diagnoses. Within this scenario, the relationship between Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) emerges not as a rare coincidence, but as a frequent manifestation of human neurological diversity, with both being present in the same individual or in isolation. Historically, diagnostic manuals (such as the DSM-IV) treated these two conditions as mutually exclusive, preventing an individual from receiving both diagnoses simultaneously. However, with advances in clinical neuropsychology studies—a specialty within psychology that studies the relationship between brain function and behavior, cognition, and emotion—and the application of standardized tests to map brain functions (memory, attention, language, executive functions, among others), identifying which are preserved or compromised, as well as neuroscience demonstrating that "neurodivergent duality" is, in fact, a reality for most: it is estimated that between 50% and 90% of people on the autism spectrum also present significant symptoms of ADHD. This coexistence challenges traditional assessment models, even though autistic individuals show greater evidence of social and motor inflexibility, and ADHD stands out for impairments in concentration and impulse control, the boundary between the two is often tenuous. Symptoms of one disorder can mask or intensify those of the other, making the assessment process a meticulous task that must consider everything from genetic inheritance to different levels of cognitive and social functioning.
- Francisco de Assis Pereira Filho