New Here/ Intro... | ADHD Information

Thank you all for welcoming me. A little more info, like I said M. is adopted, as are all my children, he was born healthy. He has older sibs with adhd, and bio-m, has some sort of depression and maybe-probably some other mental issues. M hit the terrible two's at one when he learned to walk and talk. No discipline deferred him from wrong behaviors. I mentioned that he was diagnosed with a med-severe delay in speech and fine motor skills, this was news to us, as we never suspected it. He has been speeking clear complete sentences since 2yrs. old. When he learned to talk, he learned his colors almost immediatly. But they say he is not processing the language the right way and even though he is like a parrot and will repeat everything he hears, he does not understand what the words mean. A typical day in our household revolves around M. His agression is very severe. To take him anywhere can sometime be a battle. He is a big boy, and can be very difficult to control. If he is getting corrected he fights, bites, and yells and screams. He also does all this when he does not get his way, which is a lot of the time because he thinks he is in control of everyone, and demands things to be his way, we do not give into this. He more than tantrums, he rages if he does not get his way. We do give him choices. We seem to think that he really does not have control of all this, because after its all over and he is calm, he is very very sorry, and I truly believe he means it. He is a love bug, and generally cares about people and animals. He has always since a baby been very in-tune with music. It also seems to calm him. Our families sometimes think we spoil him and let him get a way with this behavior, we don't. He is my baby, and sometimes I just want to cry. I just want to help him and help us understand what is really going on. Everyone up till now has said adhd and definatly odd, I guess we'll see what the psychiatrist says in two weeks.

I'm guessing the speech problem is not with articulation. Repeating what you hear is a very autistic trait--not saying he has it, but my son did the same thing. Not understanding speech is also a trait. My son taught himself to read at two (that's unusual even for a kid on the Spectrum, but he has, what is called, hyperlexia). He could read fluently, although getting him to talk in a conversation was not possible. He didn't understand what he read. He'd just memorized, in a rather alarming way, sight words). ASD kids have fantasic rote learning skills and are often fascinated with letters/numbers--my kid knew them all at age two. It's the abstract stuff that gets them. I would still test him for ASD. A NeuroPsych (which can be found at all university and children's hospitals) is the best, most thorough diagnostitian you can find. They test for ADHD and way beyond, a nd actually sit and spend hours performance testing the children to give them a clear direction. As far as I've seen, no other type of professionals do much testing at all. Is your son is anywhere on the Spectrum, early intervetnion (pre-kindgergarden) is the key to a good outcome, so I'd see. Meds can help attentioin, but won't cure the other problems of ASD. IF he doesn't have it, then you know. But he has a lot of the symptoms, so chalking it all up to ADHD may not be the total or even half the picture. Take the online PDD Assessment Test. The folks on the PDD message board swear it's correct, and it certainly was for my son. Then take the results to a NeuroPsych (skip the regular Psycologist--they are really pretty clueless about high functioning autism). Again, on the PDD Message Board, Psycologists (without the Neuro) have screwed up diagnosing so many of our kids--few were diagnosed by Psycologists, as they just don't understand the high functioning types) Take care :)

www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html

MomWI38922.2641550926Since no one addressed your question about medication I'll weigh in and say you might want to take a look at the Alternatives to Meds section of this board. Many of us use different methods such as supplements and/or homeopathy with much success. Good luck to you and welcome!

I agree with smallmom. MY son was adopted out of foster care at age 2, and it's a disadvantage not to have the family history, although we knew his birthmother used drugs while pregnant. Did yours? Speech and motor delays have nothing to do with ADHD or ODD, and my son's first diagnosis was ADHD/ODD. In fact, he has high functioning autism, and the ADHD interventions didn't little to nothing for him (except he was on a lot of different stimulants, which didn't help and sometimes made him aggressive). Some ASD kids do well on stims, but they still need outside interventions to reach their full potential. It's hard to get the ASD diagnosis, so I'd start at a young age, at least checking into it, and see a NeuroPsycologists rather than a regular Psycologists (they tend not to know much about it) or even a Psychiatrist. My son's Psychiatrist diagnosed him with bipolar, and put him on heavy duty meds. He doesn't have bipolar, and his ADHD is just part of the Spectrum of autism. ALl the kids exhibit ADHD, and most are diagnosed with it first. I posted a test for PDD. The parents on the PDD board swear it's accurate, as long as it is answered with honesty. Not all ASD kids have NO language, many are bright, and most seem to have serious behavioral issues and all have severe social problems. They just don't "get" it. My son falls into the mild/moderate autism category on this test, and, indeed, that's what he has. There is also a message board--you may want to post the same question there that you posted here, just to get feedback. IMO you need to learn about--sounds like two of your kids could be affected. Even if the kids can talk, they usually have speech problems or trouble with give-and-take conversation--they tend to talk in monologues about their interests and don't seem to understand that others want to give their feedback as well. Often they have obsession interests (trains, weather, computers is a big one, videogame interest that is over and beyond must kid's interest in it, lightswitches, could actually be anything, and they love to talk about it, if they have language). Since this is an adopted kid, it's best to do more testing than a child who is not. There is simply no way to know what's in this child'd background. We had to test him over and over until 11 to get a satisfactory diagnosis and the right supports. Now he is doing great and has NO behavior problems..yaaaaaaay! At any rate, whatever you decide, good luck!

www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html

www.autism-pdd.net/forum/default.asp

MomWI38921.1998263889Welcome to the board and it sounds like you have your hands full. ODD is no fun neither is ADHD. It does suck up all your energy and time that I hear myself saying thank goodness I only have one then later would wish I had two so she can have a playmate and sibling.

Lee, you might want to fill out the following assessment for each of your sons. While it's not a definitive diagnostic tool, it might help point you in the right direction. Here's the link:

http://www.childbrain.com/pddassess.html

My son also has seizure disorder and language delay. After 2 years in special ed/Early Childhood and him still being behind and us still frustrated with his behavior, our neurologist suggested a neuropsych eval. He had already had evals with developmental ped and child psych which led us nowhere.

Neuropsych was very thorough and her adhd diagnosis makes sense.

We have decided to trial meds soon as he starts full day K in Sept. Good luck!

Hi, I am new to this forum, I was looking for a place just like this.I have a 9yr. son C.with adhd and I have a 4yr. son with o.d.d. and undiagnosed adhd. He is the reason why I am here. My son M. will begin seeing my older sons Psychiatrist in a few weeks to get a full eval. My little one has always been hyper and has had behavior problems. We have him in a thereputic councelling program, and he will begin thereputic preschool this Sept. M. has always been a very difficicult infant, toddler, and now preschooler. I have four children all together and M. takes all of our energy. Sometimes it is so unfair to my other children, but he has to be constantly monitored, and corrected. It affects a lot of what we are able to do as a family. He is the youngest but he is also the aggressor. He will fight and hurt my others and is very impulsive. I love him so much. He is so smart and funny. He is a big charmer when he is behaving. M. is adopted and I have had him since birth. I know some of his family history, and it does not surprise me that these are the challenges he faces, but it is so hard sometimes. My 9yr. old is medicated on a combination that works for him. We are leary about medicating M., but if that is what the doctor recommends we most likely will agree. His councelor seems to think that is the way to go. I don't know if he will want to wait until school starts and see what happens or not. M. has never been in daycare or any program. He was evaluated by the preschool comm. spec. ed, and will receive speech and ot, along with behavior modification. I guess I just wanted to come here and get support and see if there are many other parents of very young children with these problems. Thanks for listening.

Welcome. I'm wondering whether you should take your son to a neuropsychologist for extensive testing. He may have a disorder that goes beyond ADHD. With speech and motor delays plus oppositional behaviors, you may be looking at high-functioning autism, which psychiatrists frequently miss (psychiatrists are great if a mood disorder is suspected).

Again, welcome and good luck.

[QUOTE=SmallMom]

Again, welcome and good luck.

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I am surprised you mentioned this, as my older son C. is on a waiting list to see neurpsychologist, he has a seizure disorder, adhd, speech and lang. impaired, and some other things going on in his head that we aren't quite sure of. But, I never thought to go that route with M., I know very little about autism, I have in the past researched a little, but could never quite find what I was looking for. Thank you for the welcome.