hi glad to find this place. Not having problems with my kids right at this time but there is always a next time. My kids are 10 year old boy adhd 9 year lod boy adhd 8year old boy add? Still not sure if that is what the youngest has or if that is all he has some weird habbits and is a little strange but ....... i am 35 and am add. my oldest told me today he has a girlfriend omg. And i thought it would be good to get to know some people who understands the good and bad and busy times they have to offer.
Welcome, Anita! It certainly sounds as if you have your hands full! I have a 17 year old boy with ODD, a 9 year old girl with ADHD, and a 15 year old boy who we are suspecting may have ADD. I have just recently found out that I probably have ADD myself. Yes, they do start out with girlfriends early these days! It seems that the girls are worse than the boys!What is your three year old like? Strange gestures? Sounds? Any delays or food and texture issues?
my 8 year old just started to eat meat in the last little bit and was always very fussy what he would eat. He has to touch everything. We went to a home show and he picked up a [piece of sidding and rubbed it the rest of the day. he still has to touch everything as we walk throw a mall or anywhere else person or object. He is great with puzzles math but just starting to read with resourse teacher(grade two) can tell you anything about acient egypt. Hears anything never forgets. Learned to ride a bike last summer took alot of practice he has very little cordenation just started to walk up the steps without falling lol He makes lots of strange faces alot not sure why. very lovable just strange he gets more upset when soneone else gets in trouble or hurt the if it was himself.
Antia, I think you should have your youngest evaluated by a neuropsychologist.
it kind of strange i never really thought to much about his strange behaviour cause i was do busy trying to tame the other two lol i just know that he is very different then my other. He was not misbehaving so he kind of just lost in the other two. i guess not good on my part.
PicklesMom, my son is on the autism spectrum and your son has very typical symptoms (with the fan) of Aspergers Syndrome. Whether he has it or not, you'd need a NeuroPsych to tell you, but that's very typical--knowing everything about one topic and obsessing over it. My son did the lightswitches for a while. Asperger's kids are very prococious and bright, in general, but struggle with social cues and life skills and don't seem to "get it." Social impairments tends to become more glaring as the children age, and often the kids don't get diagnosed until they are 10-14 when it's Aspergers. That wastes years of interventions they could have had. My son was finally diagnosed at 11, although we kept bringing up the possibility. We saw it; the professionals, who only saw him for an hour a shot, guessed him with other problems and he was on tons of meds he never needed. Back to autism: The degree of their impairment. vary Some people have marginal Aspergers adn teach themselves to compensate for their social deficits/sensory problems without ever being diagnosed. Most are very "different" and need help learning social cues and life skills. Early intervention is best for an excellent prognosis. Almost all the kids in our autism group started out with a diagnosis of ADHD, including my son. The kids are very inattentive. Meds for ADHD sometimes help the kids attend and sometimes don't. Either way, the kids are considered "strange." They are step beyond ADHD, but there's lots of hope with the right help. OlderMom38798.4312615741
Pickles mom - HFA is High Functioning Autism. There are varying degrees of autism, from severe impairment to low impairment/high functioning (you might have heard the term 'autism spectrum disorder' which is used to describe disorders that are characteristic of a certain level of the spectrum). Kids and adults with HFA have autistic characteristics, like hyperfocus and issues relating to others, but are generally able to function in the world at large with minimal intervention. This is the link to the National Institute of Mental Health's info on autism spectrum disorders http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/autism.cfm, it's very detailed, but the UK site http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=114 is very user friendly.
Asperger's Syndrome (AS) is an autism spectrum disorder that affects a person's social abilities (pedantic speech, inability to make eye contact, inability to interpret non-verbal signals) and ability to deal with transitions. Here is a formal definition http://www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/aswhatisit.html and the diagnostic criteria.
I could not think of a good way to describe a neuro psych, so here is the definition from the neurotrauma registry - A neuropsychiatrist is a physician (M.D. or D.O.) qualified to practice neuropsychiatry by virtue of either 1) primary training in either psychiatry or neurology followed by a period of at least one year of fellowship training in neuropsychiatry/behavioral neurology, or 2) formal residency training in both psychiatry and neurology. http://www.neurotraumaregistry.com/Index.cfm?file=neuropsych iatristdef.htm
As OlderMom said, HFA is frequently first diagnosed as ADHD, until the social deficits become really pronounced and parents have them re-evaluated. If you suspect your DS may have HFA, I highly recommend you find a psychiatrist or neuropsychiatrist in your area with experience diagnosing and treating childrent with autistic spectrum disorders. If you live in an area with a children's hospital, they should be able to make a recommendation for you, or you can ask the people on this message board if they recommend anyone http://www.healthboards.com/boards/forumdisplay.php?f=17 (I got a great pdoc recommended that way). Best of luck!
Dear Older Mom- What is HFA? I wonder if my 4 year old could have a high functioning Autism. He does perserverate on things such as fans he has to turn them on all the time when he sees one, he talks about fans he knows every restautant that has a fan etc.. He has sen OT for sensory isues since he ws two and a speech therapist. He is very bright cognitivly. He is finishing preschool he has an IEP and I know he is ntoready for kindergarten but they say he has to go on... What is a neuro psych?thank you for the info i will mention it to the doc when we see her on thursday.(he has lots of headack latley pro mingrains but we are making sure. but will give us a good chance to talk to the doc while we are there.
anita*three, you are not alone in this respect. With the problems that our oldest and youngest have had over the years, our middle child has always been the "easy one". His problems have only come to our attentenion since he has had a lot of problems academically over the past couple of years, and now he is failing in school. It is easy to overlook what appear to be minor difficulties when you have two others who are more demanding!
[QUOTE=anita*three]my 8 year old just started to eat meat in the last little bit and was always very fussy what he would eat. He has to touch everything. We went to a home show and he picked up a [piece of sidding and rubbed it the rest of the day. he still has to touch everything as we walk throw a mall or anywhere else person or object. He is great with puzzles math but just starting to read with resourse teacher(grade two) can tell you anything about acient egypt. Hears anything never forgets. Learned to ride a bike last summer took alot of practice he has very little cordenation just started to walk up the steps without falling lol He makes lots of strange faces alot not sure why. very lovable just strange he gets more upset when soneone else gets in trouble or hurt the if it was himself.
Has this child ever seen a NeuroPsych for possible high functioning autism? He has so many symptoms it ain't funny--he's a lot like my son who has HFA. Often it is first mistaken for ADHD. Touching everything is the rule of the day for my son. WHen he visits the family, they put all their knick knacks away. He is very inattentive, but it's part of autism as well as ADHD. Autistic kids, even very high functioning, tend to get very focused on certain topics and learn everything about it. They are "brilliant" in some areas and struggle in others. They tend to have serious social deficits and are "odd ducks." I strongly advise a NeuroPsych appt. A NeuroPsych can diagnose, with lots of testing that other professionals dont' give, ADHD, high functioning autism and other LD's. My HFA kid is the most loving child on earth. Often these kids have coordination deficits. My son has good large motor skills, but he still can't write--he is 12. He has to print and is learning the keyboard. I wish you luck and hope you explore this possibility. He sounds a lot like an Aspie (Aspergers). I postd an Aspergers link. If you browse, you get a good look at what Aspergers is:
http://www.aspergersyndrome.org/oasis_guide.html
[/QUOTE] OlderMom38795.8657986111