[QUOTE=carrieberrie]
His Kindergarten teacher brought up ADHD. I don't think he has it because he doesn't always have a hard time focusing or sitting still. He can go to the movies and sit still through a 3 hour movie. He can sit and watch tv for a long period of time. He is also very good at taking places. Attention "deficit" is really a misnomer. It is more of an attention imbalance. Hyper attention for things that the child/person really enjoys and no attention at all for most everything else. What you describes sounds very much like there could be an attention problem going on. But of course, no one can diagnos for you over the Internet, even the teacher can not.
I think the issue at daycare and sometimes at school is he gets bored. He has a memory like a steal trap and loves to learn.
I am afraid to take him to his doctor and ask them because it seems like these days everyone is ADHD happy. I would see a specialist, not a family Dr. There is testing they can do. In addition, they will have you and his teacher fill out questionnaires. I would not see someone who is too eager to label him without proper testing. A psychiatrist most likely will not do testing. Some kind of psychologist will, then if you get a proper diagnosis, you can take that information to a psychiatrist and decide whether or not you feel meds are warranted or some other kind of therapy or diet, or modifications at school. Is there a brain test they do or is it just questions they ask him. Lets just put it this way, he did bad on his first report card because his teacher asked him to count as high as he could and he stopped at 3. When I picked him up from daycare I just casualy asked him to count for me and he did to 45.
I have a friend and her son is ADHD and the medication has seemed to stunt his growth and he is the skinniest kid I have seen. He is 9 but looks about 6. She said the medication surpresses his appetite.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Carrie
[/QUOTE]
You son sounds like mine and is the same age. Susieb is right about the focus issue, I think.
Is your son at the school daycare? What are the complaints? I checked daycare out at my son's school. It lacked structure, and the ratio was too high. I found a local private preschool that charges only slightly more. They pick him up in a van after school. The ratio is 6 to 1 or thereabouts. They provide structured activities. I never receive complaints from them about my son. He can stay there until he is 8, and then he will have to go to the school daycare. Perhaps you should look into other options BEFORE he gets kicked out, if he's at the school daycare.
I think susieb is right about the neuro-psyche also. That way you can test for a myriad of things, not just ADHD.
As far as the discipline, again, our sons sound alike. If you search on the board under "Smithbaby" there is a post by ogram about a marble system. I use it now, and it resolved most discipline problems for me (I too removed everything from my son's room, but nothing less than that would work for some problems).
The school cannot ask you to put your child on meds.
The place he is having problems is a regular daycare. Every once in awhile he will get a red card at school but 99 % of the time he is good there. At the daycare there is no structure play, play and play is what they get. They dont learn anything there.
I am putting him in the Discovery Club at the school and hope to see a difference.
From the age of 3 to just the beginning of this year he was in speach therapy at the school because he refused to talk only liked to point at things. He improved remarkably the first 6 months but i left him in it because he was learning so much. In October he tested out of it. I was so excited. Would that have anything to do with him having or not having it?
I will look up the marble thing on here maybe that will work for cody.
ADD/ADHD kids sometimes go into a hyperfocused state. Mostly, it's on stuff they really like to do. I've been told that these kids often hyperfocus on TV/Video/Movies, so don't let that mislead you. Ask his ped if he can recommend a neuropsychologist. Peds will do the questionnaires, but little testing/dxing beyond that. A neuropsych will do a battery of tests. My son was dxed when he was 8yo. They did 6 hrs of tests (woodcock-johnson, etc) and said they would have done more but he couldn't focus anymore and they wouldn't be much help. Go to the library and get the book Driven to Distraction by Hallowell and Ratey. It's a good overview/beginner's book.
There are many different treatment options for ADHD. Stimulant medication is one and stimulants can surpress appetite in some people. My son has never had that problem, in fact, one pose that is common for him is with his butt sticking out of the fridge. Strattera is a non-stimulant that would be an option. Also try behavior modification or modifying his diet by taking out foods with chemical additives, colorants, artificial sweeteners etc. See the alternative therapies board.
carrieberrie, above all don't NOT get him dxed because you're afraid of the meds/treatment options. The only way you can help your son is to arm yourself with as much info as possible. Then be a firm advocate for him. Trust your gut feelings and don't let anybody steam-roller you into anything. Over the long haul, you'll probably have to try lots of stuff before you find something that works. Also, discipline and structure is important for these kids. My son doesn't respond to the usual punishments so I have to think outside the box. Too long in the shower? You get only cold water after a certain time. Can't manage to get dressed in a reasonable time? Take your clothes with you and finish getting dressed in the car. Hang in there and Good Luck!
Thank you for your response. I was thinking it was that the daycare is unstructured (believe me it is beyond belief) but when people bring up ADHD I get worried. Another person I have been listening to is my mother. My brother was serverly ADHD to the point where she didnt think she could care for him anymore when he was a child. And she tells me she doesnt think he has it. But I think I will bring it up to his pedi and ask for a referel to a neuropsychologist. I just dont want him put on meds from answering questions. His teacher sent home a questionair they give parents to answer while observing your child for a week period of time. Have of the questions I thought were normal 6 year old behavior.
Normal discipline doesnt work for him. We have taken every single item out of his room and he is unfazed.
Sometimes children don't do as well in unstructured enviroments..maybe the daycare is just not structured enough and it wouldn't hurt to try a new one since you feel he hasn't any issues really at school or home.. refusing to count past 3 is not a sign of adhd and believe me you would know if he was adhd...as long as your child is able to complete his schoolwork in a timely manner without having to be redirected I would say to first try a new daycare good luck
Hi I am new here. Kinda lurking actually. Trying to find information other than what scientists and doctors say.
I have a 6 year old that is in Kindergarten. This year he has had a real bad time at daycare and in class. It has gotten to the point where he has one more chance and they are kicking him out of daycare.
His Kindergarten teacher brought up ADHD. I don't think he has it because he doesn't always have a hard time focusing or sitting still. He can go to the movies and sit still through a 3 hour movie. He can sit and watch tv for a long period of time. He is also very good at taking places.
I think the issue at daycare and sometimes at school is he gets bored. He has a memory like a steal trap and loves to learn.
I am afraid to take him to his doctor and ask them because it seems like these days everyone is ADHD happy. Is there a brain test they do or is it just questions they ask him. Lets just put it this way, he did bad on his first report card because his teacher asked him to count as high as he could and he stopped at 3. When I picked him up from daycare I just casualy asked him to count for me and he did to 45.
I have a friend and her son is ADHD and the medication has seemed to stunt his growth and he is the skinniest kid I have seen. He is 9 but looks about 6. She said the medication surpresses his appetite.
Any information would be greatly appreciated.
Carrie
If he has ADHD, he also may have a co-morbid condition which means he may also have something like a learning disorder, dislexia etc. My son is ADD and also has a non-verbal learning disorder. That just means that he learns better when someone explains something than when someone demonstrates it. I think any structured environment will be better than a place that just offers free play. Also remember that ADD/ADHD comes mild to severe. Your brother may have had a severe case with co-morbids that went undxed and just added to his probs. Your son may not be as bad off. ADD/ADHD covers a wide spectrum. You are right when you say you don't want him on meds after just answering questions.
When it comes to discipline, it has to be immediate and if possible, related to the offense. I don't want it to sound like I just punish ds and never reward him but he acknowledges me as the most creative when it comes to consequences. If he lies to me, I wash his mouth out with soap. I also take away tv/video when he spends 2 hours "doing homework" but only has one problem done. I know he's been sitting there wasting his time, daydreaming, doodling and so he can't spend his free time doing his favorite thing. I don't ground him for an extended period of time anymore because after the first day, he doesn't seem to notice but we still have to curtail our activities because ds is grounded and can't go out.
I have also used 1-2-3 Magic. I give him a count of 1 when he whines etc. and when he gets to 3 he gets 5-10 min of time out. Pretty soon after I started using it, he wouldn't go past 2. This is good for eliminating annoying, persistant behavior. I've never used the marble technique, so I can't give you any feedback on that.
One benefit of the cold water or the "clothes to go" technique is that now it's a something that makes all of us laugh. We hear the timer go off and my dh and I yell "Yahoo! It's the cold water countdown" and we head to the bathroom. Ds starts laughing, turns off the water and shouts "I beat you!" He also races to get dressed and when the timer goes off he laughs and shouts "you lose!" Most important, I lavish the hugs and the I love yous and the I'm so proud of you. My ds has said that no other kid in the world is as loved as good as he is loved.
I've never heard of 1-2-3 Magic, but it so happens that I've been counting to 3 since my son was 3 years old, and to this day at 6.5 he still responds to that and does not go past 2.
For me, the consequences provided an immediate solution, and rewards provide more of a long-term, habit changing solution.
Have you looked into capd?
I also recomend looking at comorbid conditions that effect attention.
50 conditions that mimic adhd. Seizures can mimic this also. I was on seizure meds and attention meds as a kid. I had absence seizures which effected my attention.
oldtimer38728.5763310185Look for a learning center or a preschool at a Faith based place usually structured more. If you think the child has a disability it's a schools reasonsability to test at age 3. This is the law!Thank you everyone for your information. It is very helpful