obsessive compulsive disorder and autism

is obsessive compulsive disorder a part of autism?

[MJIthewriter]

I don't know, but I notice I have OCD tendencies with myself.  With PDD and "atypical" autism I'm sure there's going to be crossovers with other disability characteristics...  I think when things deal with the brain, things are not black/white- this or that...

If you think about it and the snowflake expression, the same applies to the human brain. Every brain is unique and there's a considerable range of how each part functions. With some people, the shape of certain parts or how they function is a little off in one area, but not enough to create a disability.  In others it is more severe.  For a good visual, try drawing a flower and without tracing, try to draw the exact same flower about 15 times.  If you really want to challenge yourself, try without refrences.  Some the petals will be smaller, some larger, some may be a bit mishapen... It's like that with the brain.  Several parts could get affected or maybe just a few areas. I think there are a number of overlapping symptoms characteristic to different disabilities, that may or may not occur with every case.

With developing research, scientists are finding several different things can cause or coincide with autism.

[monotreme]

Hello.  OCD is common in Aspergers Syndrome, which is high functioning autism.  I cannot say for sure about other forms of autism.

[MJIthewriter]

I can say with me, though I've not been dx'ed OCD, I can spot similarities in myself that are very similar to OCD. Like I said in my earlier post, OCD may or may not come with autism. Someone with autism may show characteristics of OCD but may not have OCD.  ADHD is another similar condition often confused with autism, but meds used to treat ADHD may not be useful for the autistic, (Ritalin comes to mind) even though at a glance someone would think they were the same thing.

Ritalin is a stimulant, aka upper.

Ritalin for the ADHD person in theory calms the person down. A friend I had in highschool who is ADHD explained that stimulants work reverse for people with his condition.

Ritalin for a hyper active autistic: in practice works just as any upper would do... Result: A VERY, VERY hyper child.  My dad said after 2 days being on it the school made us get off it immediatly!