ADHD & Daycare | ADHD Information

My sister & I both have ADHD children.  Her son (nearly 4) has been diagnosed as ADHD.  He has recently started taking a "test dose" of ritalin to help curb his super active & often violent tendencies.  He is a handful to say the least.  Over the past few months he has been kicked out of 9 daycare facilities.  Each time he has been labeled as a danger to other children for throwing objects at others,kicking, hitting, biting, etc.  As a single mother and sole support of her children (Dad's not around) she needs to work but is finding that obtaining a daycare that is able to deal with her son impossible.  Her job is in jeopardy as she has missed several days at work when she has had to pick up her son from yet another daycare that has kicked him out.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  Are there daycare facilities that are designed to work with children with these issues?  Any help would be very much appreciated.

Does your state have a program called "Early Intervention"? If you do, look them up and call them for help. I would also go to my state's dept. of special ed. Your nephew qualifies for an integrated preschool paid for by the state and they do NOT kick out any child. They know they are teaching children with all sort of disabilities. My son qualified due to speech delay and sensory integration. The adhd diagnosis didn't arrive until he was leaving the school for kindergarten. Then the school gave me an IEP to walk into elementarty school with for my son!

Contact your state!

Best wishes for the little guy and your sister!

i feel your  pain im not sure what state you are in but i too had my son  devon  4 1/2 kicked out of  6 daycares in the  last  1 year  so  i eventually had to take  FMLA through my work (state) and  i had to  get  him tested and  put on meds and  interview many many many,,,,, daycares until i found the right one

you can try chadd organization and  go online to seek help.

your  not alone  so  dpnt think you are  it took me  two  months  off at  home  to  find  my son a great place to  be  ..if  it were up to  me  id open my own GIANT school just for  kidds with  add/adhd/autisim ...but im not donald trump but i know  how hard it  is  to  advocate by your self for your  son ,it may seem like a uphill battle  but just be patience and  go through your  job and  or state to see what they  offer you msybe your  HR dept  can help ..if you need the  time  off ..

if i come  up with anything eelse i will let  you know  but that is what i did....good  luck

Are these home daycares or centers?  Sometimes centers have very hardline policies that leave no room for helping a child work through behavioral problems.  As a childcare provider myself, I hate to hear about daycares kicking children out.  What a horrible experience for such a young child.  An the inconsistency in care is only going to make the problems worse because these kids have so much trouble transitioning.

In Maryland we have a childcare resource and referal agency that helps match kids to providers that have experience with different issues.  If your state has one they may be able to help.  You might also call your local public school system.  Our county has several special needs pre-k programs and it sounds like your nephew would qualify. 

Daycare centers are too overwhelming for adhder's.  They all say they can deal with it, but then they can't.  Mine has been kicked out of several daycares but thank god I have had him in an in home daycare who are parents of kids like mine.  He behaves better there than  anywhere else.  Early intervention is a good idea they will work on his behavior, mine went for a couple years.  There is also early head start and they I think have daycare associated with them.  Check out the state stuff and they should have info about this.  I am a single mom too, and thought at one time I was going to have to quit work and be a welfare mommy cause I couldn't keep him a daycare.She needs to switch to a home daycare or a county run program. Daycare centers from my experience don't tolerate this type of behavior.

Well, I've spent most of today online looking for options.  I did check into Early Intervention (thanks for the tip BETHANN!).  I am in the Sacramento, California area and here they call it Early Start.  I've tried calling them several times today and have left messages, but haven't been able to get a live person on the line.  I will definately check with the local CHADD chapter and Early Start again on Monday morning. 

As for my nephew's previous daycares, I believe all but one were centers.  The last places lasted about 4 hours :(

My sister is currently considered a temperary employee so I am not sure if she would qualify for family leave.  A temp position was the best that she could get at the moment.  She has lost several jobs due to "unreliabilty" stemming from her daycare issues with her son.  She has two other children and is the sole financial support of her family.  The daycare issues are just the tip of the iceberg for her.  There are also issues with her other children having difficulty coping with her son, etc. I can certainly feel her pain with regard to the sibling issues as I am dealing with the same in my home with my ADD/ADHD boys.  For now her most immediate concern is finding a daycare that is prepared to handle a child with her son's needs so that she can *hopefully* remain employed.

AAAGGGHHHH!!  Please do not encourage your sister to send her son to a home daycare. I spent ten years as a daycare teacher and administrator and I cannot tell you the horror stories I've heard about home daycare. While I'm sure that there are reliable ones, the oversight on them is minimal and unreliable at best. They usually only get checked AFTER a violation has been reported. Unless you can find a special situation like the one Aaron's mom describes, I would be very wary of placing a child with discipline or behavioral issues in a home daycare setting.  Familiarize yourself with the Americans with Disabilities Act. If your nephew can be accommodated, he MUST be accommodated by them.

I found a local daycare that is privately owned rather than a big franchise.  I was fortunate to discover them as they will work with me and my son.  I have to pay a little more for their daycare services but it is worth the extra money.  I too am a single mom and it can be really hard when there is no support from the other parent financially. 

I know that at my son's school they accept children on special programs from the state. As a result many of the children at my son's school receive special services such as therapy etc... You may want to check into things like this. Our family does not receive these services however we were able to utilize the specialist that visits with these kids and get some great advice from her.  Goodluck in finding what works.  Don't give up.  Your sister and family will find the right fit and services.  Sometimes I think we just have to struggle a little to grow and prosper in life. 

BPQW is right..home daycares can differ immensly in their quality of care...

I do home daycare and care for a set of twins that have just been dx as autistic.  I have cared for them for a year and a half, and I pretty much knew they were autistic, but the official dx just cam down last week.  Before me, the mother had thes boys who were not quite 4 when I got them, in at least 5 other home daycare situations.  I had taught her older daughter in Head Start, and heard all of the horror stories she had for providers...when I quit Head Start, I began caring for children in my home, and she approached me..

The boys have come a long way in my care, from being nonverbal at almost 4 years old to at least parroting phrases at age 5, from wearing diapers, to being at least toilet trained enough to perform when taken to the bathroom on a set schedule...self feeding skills have been learned, and many other things too.  They have a routine here that never varies, and they thrive on it.

Then there is my sister who lives in a town about 25 miles from me...she also does home daycare...she has a brand new house with a full basement that she made into a playroom chock full of expensive toys, etc.  And she cares for 17 children basically alone....5-7 of them being under age 2!  I have tried to tell her that not only is this ratio dangerous to the children, but that there is no way the children are getting the nurturing, attention and love that they need.  Yes they have toys to play with, and food to eat.  But proper care for young children is so much more!  I am sure she makes tons of money, but I do not see how any parent can turn a blind eye to the sheer numbers of children in her care at any one time...

Of course she is not licensed, so nothing will happen until she is reported or there is an accident.  I am not liscensed either, and live in an old farmhouse.  The children play with the toys I have from when my children were little and what I can glean from garage sales, but I think that they receive much better care...I have training and classes in Early Childhood and am working towards my degree (slowly!).

If you have the time to REALLY check out a home daycare and find one that is safe and a good fit, and possibly licensed..by all means do so.  But if you don't, a daycare center is a better choice, because of the checks and balances of the licensing procedures and all of the spot checks done.

My son was also kicked out of two large daycare centers at four. I am a
single mom too, also from the Sacramento area. I parked my son with my
stepmom and got a listing from a county agency, I think it is called Child
Action, that is a huge database of daycare providers. After what seemed
like a hundred phone calls, I made appointments to see three places. I
explained everything that was happening and what I thought he needed.
One director of a tiny church daycare looked me in the eye, really
understood, and said that she had three "difficult" boys out of seven right
now, but she would give it a try. He did much better initially in the smaller
setting, but after a few months she said that she couldn't handle him
anymore; that he was in a whole other league from the other hyper boys.
That was when I knew I had to look into medication- and I was so glad
that she agreed to let him stay for the trials, so that someone who knew
him well would be observing him. Communication is everything. He
improved immediately, I found an amazing private school that did
kindergarten and full-day care in a very structured setting, and he is
doing better than I could ever have imagined now in first grade. We are in
the Carmichael area; PM me if you would like referrals. I was so lucky to
have a great boss... he had a "high-strung" toddler himself and I think he
was scared that he could be going through it too someday. I remember
how scared I was... I hope your sister finds some help soon. Good luck!On the topic of home daycares, when my son got kicked out and/or was unhappy at daycare centers, I did have to interview 32 home daycare providers to find the right one. my 4 yr old had a tough time in daycare but i got with the county school system which provides evaulation on kids even at 3. my son was qualified for prep a small structured class for behavior children. where they work with them on their weaknesses. and is doing great for them they don't call getting you off work because of behavior. they work with them.with rewards and positive behavior his teacher has been working with kids for 2o plus years. i hope he will go into kindergarten with a regular class next year and do great. keep fingers crossed. lesnathan39073.5504976852

I have spent most of this week making and returning calls trying to find something for my nephew.  Some of the programs (mental health type programs that work with children with behavioral issues) said they could help him if he were medi-cal eligable but not if he has private insurance.  His father does carry court ordered private health insurance for him which makes him ineligible.  My nephew's test dose of medication has run out and they will not refill until he has seen a physcologist.  My sister has tried to get approval for the visit through the insurance company but they will not speak to her because she is not the carrier.  Dad hasn't been helpful at all.  My sister finally scheduled a appointment for next week for which she will have to pay out of pocket.  Hopefully this will result in a referral of some kind.  As of right now, nephew is bouncing between one relative or another with some saying they can't watch him again because he is destructive & at times dangerous.  Gosh!  Seems like there is a brick wall at every turn now.

Next step will be contacting the school district to see if they have any programs or suggestion...

Good luck, and I am sure that your sister knows how lucky she is to have you on her side helping her.