My son will be 4 in July. He has been quite an aggressive/domineering child for over a year now. At first, I thought it was just a phase that he was going through, but it is getting progressively worse as he gets older. He acts out constantly. He is contstantly screaming, yelling, kicking, punching, jumping, running, etc. Everything turns into an argument with him. When I tell him no, it turns into a huge battle, where he throws a huge fit which involves screaming, punching, and kicking me. Sometimes this lasts for an hour or longer. He fights me on everything. He acts out in public something horrible. I can't even count the number of times I have left a full grocery cart in the store and had to leave with him just because I could not control him any longer. He wants my attention 24/7. If the phone rings, he is right behind me screaming at me and punching me. Everyone thinks that he is a spoiled brat, and no matter how often I tell them he isn't (because he is not!!) they do not believe me. I took him to his pediatrician today just for some advice and he basically told me that everything he is doing is normal for his age and I am blowing everything out of proportion and that I am not wanting to deal with a typical 4 year old child. I have never felt more discouraged and more distraught than I felt today when I left his office. He made me feel like a failure as a mom. Am I wrong to suspect that my son has ADHD? I feel like I am just being a concerned mom. His tantrums and outbursts leave us both physically and emotionally drained every day. I am at my wit's end. I cry every night because I do not know what to do to help him. I need some advice and some reassurance that I am doing the right thing for my son by trying to get him some treatment. I do, by the way, have an appt. with a child psychiatrist to have him tested. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Thank you!!
With all the behaviors your son has, I seriously think he should be totally evaluated by more than a Psycologist and for ADHD and beyond. I recommend a NeuroPsych (a Psycologist with a Neurological degree). They run lots of performance tests, observe, and take a lot of time with the child, and they don't blame your parenting style or tell you that your child is a brat, like so many regular psycologists do (which I find very unhelpful). A Psychiatrist (with the MD) is another option, but I had better luck with a NeuroPsych. If you choose to see a Psychiatrist, rather than a NeuroPsych, I'd see one totally independent of this particular psycologist. Your son sounds over-the-top for ADHD and it's always better to be safe than sorry. My guess is more than ADHD is going on. Good luck :) OlderMom38820.5170601852