?? About ADHD symptoms in young children
I have a now four year old. She was diagnosed at the age of 3 1/2. In fact last November.
She too walked early and had no fear. I knew that there was something different about her since she was a baby. I also have a 10yo.
I have spent many hours crying and feeling as if it was someting that I did or didn't do. She is a very bright child and sometimes she has what our family calls her "Chuckie's sister moments" but things have come along way since last year. Our family was falling apart slowly.
Don't get me wrong we still have our moments when all I want to do sit scream and cry but she seems happier. We are going to the dr today because her meds are giving her a "tummy ache" but things are diffently better then before. I don't know if its right or wrong but my feeling is that if it helps her have a better life and be more in contol of herself then so be it.
Since my son is on the young side 3 (four soon). He was diagnosed with ADHD just recently. I am wondering what symptoms other young children with ADHD are showing. I'm finding alot of information about children around age 8-9 yrs old but not much about 3-4 year olds. If you have a child who is over 5 and has ADHD what kind of symptoms did they have when they were 3-4? At his age, any child with hyperactive behavior will get labeled ADHD. My son did. The truth is, he is too young to diagnose with a final diagnosis and it is likely his diagnosis will change with time, especially if he rages or is violent in any way. We went through two wrong dx. until my son was rightly diagnosed at 11, and, trust me, we saw every sort of professional around. They diagnosed my son with ADHD because he was extremely hyperactive. It turned out he is on the autistic spectrum, which ADHD symptoms are part of (although seperate from actual ADHD). We started stimulants at 4 with my son, but he really never needed them. I think around 8 they know more what is going on. At 12 it even becomes more apparent. Sadly, there are no blood tests, so wrong dx. abound. If you are thinking of medication, you can try it, but remember that his dx. may not continue to be ADHD as he grows older. Most parents posting here have younger kids. My guess is that, once the teens hit, the other stuff surfaces and the dx. changed so they no longer post on ADHD boards. It can take a long time to get it right. I hope you hit the jackpot the first time. Good luck!At at 3-4 my son (now 6years old) was very interested in experimenting with things he could dump over, such as water cups. He would also empty bottles of shampoo into the tub, color on the walls...at pre-school he would tune out the teacher and do his own thing (unless he wanted to do the activity). I took him to story hour at the library and he would heckle the reader and only seem interested when they would sing songs...he was never aggressive but he did not follow directions . He was very interested in computers and would stay busy with them for hours...I think he taught himself to read while using the computer...Well this is what he was like. Hope it helps.psm0904 ...Joe has pretty good social skills and shows empathy and consideration for others feelings... He also uses and can read others facial expressions. I looked up the definition/description of Aspergers and that does not fit. As far as the dumping stuff goes I feel was his experimentation stage which thank goodness he has stopped. He still loves the computer but mainly for video type games...I think that this is pretty typical for most boys. To Joe's mom: I would urge you to have that particular child looked at by a NeuroPsych for Aspergers. That kid has a lot of symptoms of autistic spectrum disorder, includng the seemingly common interest in computers that these kids are very extreme about loving. The dumpnig stuff out and sometimes flipping light switches or exploring of things with textures are very common. How are his social skills? Aspergers mimics ADHD and is almost always the first dx. these kids get. To anyone else, any child who swears, rages, or breaks thing a lot or is violent should be checked by a child psychiatrist for early onset bipolar. ADHD doesn't cause that sort of extreme anger.Good luck :)unless its an extreme case, i think that 3 is just too young to come up with an accurate diagnosis..
[QUOTE=shauneet] Since my son is on the young side 3 (four soon). He was diagnosed with ADHD just recently. I am wondering what symptoms other young children with ADHD are showing. I'm finding alot of information about children around age 8-9 yrs old but not much about 3-4 year olds. If you have a child who is over 5 and has ADHD what kind of symptoms did they have when they were 3-4? [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=shauneet] Since my son is on the young side 3 (four soon). He was diagnosed with ADHD just recently. I am wondering what symptoms other young children with ADHD are showing. I'm finding alot of information about children around age 8-9 yrs old but not much about 3-4 year olds. If you have a child who is over 5 and has ADHD what kind of symptoms did they have when they were 3-4? [/QUOTE] My son is almost 7, definitely ADHD, and I have been thinking about this diagnosis since he was a baby!
Walked at 9 months, always "off like a shot", no fear of physical danger, crash-and-bang into everything (through everything), high threshold for pain (no feedback!), etc. Really bright, engaging, loved by everyone who knows him, yet nobody who has tried it wanted to babysit for very long. One (childless) friend commented after spending 1/2 an hour outside with him when he was 2 ... "Wow, parents have to be brave!" He nearly gave her a heart attack climbing and jumping off everything in sight before she could catch him.
After spending time at our house, people tend to say "wow, how do you do it?!" and they've been saying that since he was very little!
So in our case I'd say the symptoms were very obvious way before kindergarten age.
I agree many kids have adhd like behaviors at age 3. However, my ADHD son was always standing out in every situation. For instance, if the kids were getting a little wild running around mine was always the worst. If the teachers were talking mine wouldn't listen. He would continually interrupt. He played rough - had a hard time settling down. He had very poor impulse control - if he wanted to do something he did it - no regards for safety or discipline. We couldn't take him to eat out or to church, and at birthday parties he always wanted to be center stage.
I always felt like there was a behavior problem, but no one took me seriously (including my sister). It was always boys are boys...However, once 1st grade started then I knew he was very different from the other kids, and he was formally diagnosed.
i_am_pauls_mom I only have one son-no daughters however I most of my good friends have daughters. I agree with you that boys are often more busy and bouncy. Some of my friend's do have sons.LOL. Ok. Just wanted to make sure you checked out everythng. My son has PDD-NOS and seems pretty friendly, but he'd rather play alone so there is a difference.I can't see how in the world that a dx could be given at such a 'young' age. I remember taking our son to his Dr. and he said (at the time he was 5) that he's your typical 5 year old boy with lottsa energy. I think BOYS are 'more' energetic than girls at times...and I'm sure there's some mom's here that will disagree. I just think boys will be boys...Enter Your Email below to claim your Free Book