Diagnosing ADD | ADHD Information

I  have a 7 year old boy who has had such a difficult year in school. We have had him evaluated by his pediatrician and is seeing a psychologist for behavior modification but neither want to diagnose him with ADD or ADHD yet. They both want him to see a neurologist(we have an appointment in August, the earliest they could get us in).  He gets outraged easily at small things,loud sounds can bother him and has serious jealousy issues that interfere with him making friends. He is impulsive and quickly says terrible things to people when he is upset.  His teacher did not know how to handle him when he gets upset so she would send him to the school principal who kept him in her office and now we withdrew him from the last two weeks of school on his doctor's advice that it was too stressful for him.  I feel lost, I wish there was a diagnosis for him now so we knew how to help him. I am at the point of actually being worried about taking him anywhere,even an upcoming family reunion,as I never know when he will get upset.   I have tried Focus( a homeopathic  treatment) and would love to know if there are any other natural approaches. Also, what will a neuorologist do to evaluate for other disorders? Help, I need advice, I can barely think straight.

Thanks for your advice. I already feel better sharing with someone! Yes, he has had the Connor scale and the doctor saw a tendency towards ODD or other disorders but he lacked the hyperness w/ ADHD so the doctor didn't really know and wants the neurologist to see him .    He is  upset by sudden loud noises mostly (like a balloon popping ) but also puts his hands over his ears when we go to a public restroom with automatic flushing toilets.  Thanks again for your help!

you don't have to have the hyper aspect of ADHD many kids have just ADD ...there are several forms of ADHD....my son has ADHD combined type ( but primarily impulsive), some kids are primarily inattentive and other are impulsive 

I am glad you are going to a neurologist...hopefully you can get this sorted out quickly.

joemom38883.3195023148There are things you can start without a diagnosis, like omega-3,6's. Take a look at the alternatives board on this site.  Also, you could start a poker chip or sticker system to reward good behavior. So much of our children's time is spent hearing what they do wrong, it's important to reward what they do right, especially if they get angry easily. I also pulled my son out of school early because of stress, and it broke my heart, but the down time has really helped calm him.  I agree with joemom that the loud noise sensitivity is probably not an adhd thing and should be looked at further. Is it just noises like loud bangs or the kind of noise a basketball crowd might make?  There are disorders like Oppositional Defiant Disorder  or some form of autism that also fit some of the symptoms you list.  Good luck to you.  We all know how hard this whole process is, please come back and share whenever you like.

our neurologist ruled out seizure disorder with a sleep deprivation EEG...then she had several important people in my sons life complete Connors Forms this is a instrument that is used to help diagnosis ADHD...did your doctors have anyone complete any forms?

The impulsive behavior sounds like ADHD but some of the other things you describe are not typical of ADHD...being bothered by loud noise could be some type of sensory issues.

joemom38883.2739699074

It was very responsible of your pediatrician and psychlogist to refer you to a specialist. A neuroligst will rule out other disorders but you might want to look into having your child evaluated by a neuro/psychologist instead. A neurologist is qualified to make a clinical assessment regarding a patients physical disability status as a result of trauma to the brain but a neuro/pschologist is licensed and qualified to make an assessment of the patients cognitive disability status as well.

Your child's behaviors are indicative of many things as many behaviors mimic so many disorders and that's why its important to have the child assessed by an astute clinician who is qualified to make a differential diagnosis. ODD, while said to be an disorder is really a set of behaviors exhibited by the child because the child has another disorder and that disorder manifests itself in defiance and oppositional behavior. Your definitely on the right track and the sooner you get an informed diagnosis, the sooner in a collaborate effort with your doctor you can devise a treatment plan suited to your child's needs. The earlier the treatment, the better the outcome can be. Its best to get a diagnosis first and then treat the problem as treating behaviors without knowing why the child exhibits them just delays good, effective treatment in my opinion.

Good luck and please keep us posted as there is always someone here to listen, help and be supportive

Personally, I would see a NeuroPsych and not start treating him for ADHD unless he does see one. Stims/Straterra and other ADHD interventions only work for ADHD. ADHD has many mimickers and a Neurologist, believe it or not, is not the best person to make that diagnosis. Usually they refer to a NeuroPsych who knows which tests to run for various disorders. Neurologists are mostly for things you can see, like epilepsy. The more abstract stuff really isn't in their arena. Pediatricians that are any good refer out to others for diagnosing. It's not their field either. THe Connors alone is not enough. Kids with early onset bipolar and ASD will also score as ADHD on the Connors alone. You need more than that, especially if you see sensory issues, any speech problems, raging, violence, strange obsessions/hand flapping/high pitched noises/poor ability to socialize/anger. Good luck. OlderMom38883.3615277778