Could my 4 year old have ADHD | ADHD Information

He sounds like classic ADHD to me. He sounds like my son. I wish my son's preschool teachers had been so honest; I wouldn't have spent to much time spinning my wheels. The time he spends quietly coloring or doing puzzles is irrelevant. These kids focus when they are doing something they like. My son used to spend a huge amount of time focused on drawing--and I mean I have enough pictures to create an encyclopedia set. It finally stopped at age 8. Now he focuses on this monumental legos structures.

Hey--you wrote my post about MY 4 year old!  I was just going to ask the same thing!  He has always been hyperactive (as my husband told me he was at that age), he is impulsive, and has a problem sometimes with paying attention (as again, my husband does) I'll look forward to sending him to a VBS (vacation Bible school) for a week, and either I'll be told he may not be ready yet (even though they accept 4 yr olds) or that I'll have to sit in the program with him. (uh, Hello!  VBS is partially so I can get a break from my kids!)  My older son, who is 6, has a medical dx of Klinefelter Syndrome and also has SPD--so he is easily frustrated, sensory-sensitive, argumentative..My husband is against having our 4 yr old checked for ADHD at this point--he's convinced he's just a hyper 4 yr old, and he's afraid of a dr. putting him on meds that will squelch his spirit (and this concerns me too).  DH says that if he's still like this in 2 years, then we'll have him evaluated.  (He doesn't want another label thrown at one of our kids, too, I think.)  Easy for him to say--I've been a SAHM for 6 years.  I just want to know--I suspect it, because of his extreme behaviors, but my son is also quite bright, academically, too.  Between my two boys and an 8 yr old very bright daughter, who I worry loses out when I lose my patience with the boys, I'm going nuts!  Maybe when I go back to school this fall for a MS in OT, I can talk to some of the instructors to see if there are some checklists I can fill out and talk over with them...

Thank you so much for your post--I feel I am in just the same boat you are!

Michelle

One of the Myths of ADHD is that kids cannot concentrate on anything and if they can concentrate on even the smallest things they do not have ADHD. Most kids with ADHD need instant gratification and so will sit still and do things that they like for that instant gratification. At this point it will be hard to tell if your son has ADHD. Only thing I can say is that my now 8year od son with ADHD was always the active one in the class and always very busy. You really need to talk to his preschool teachers and enure they are aware of his active behaviour. When my sone was smaller we worked with the teachers on reward systems. The teacher would let us know how our son was for the day and depending on how well he did in school that day we would earn tokens etc and when he got to a certain amount he would redeem them for a trip to Mc Donald's etc. We also had reward systems at home. Hope this helps!

 

Your son sounds a lot like mine when he was 4 (He is now 7 1/2).  I had my son first tested when he was 3--he had a history of inability to self-regulate as well as a history of hyperfocus.  He would also repeat the misbehavior, attention-seeking behavior of others.

When he was 5 he underwent a comprehensive neuropsych eval.  He was diagnosed with ADHD--a clear case.

Your son might be just 4--or it could be ADHD.  But the sooner you find out, the sooner you can put behavior supports, social skills therapy, school services, O.T., etc. in place, if that is what he needs.  If not, maybe you could still get some recommendations on a good preschool program with positive reinforcement strategies and a behaviorial program for you to implement at home.  Check out if your local public school has an integrated preschool program.

Good Luck!

P.S.  A good pediatric neuropsychologist can have a waiting time of 6 mos-1year so get an appointment now--you can always cancel later.  The comprehensive neuropsych exam and the occupational therapy eval. is ideally done privately (not through your schools).  The school should accept these reports.

P.P.S.  Pediatricians can be great at certain things, but not early diagnosis of ADHD--at least mine certainly was not--I was given every excuse in the book for my concerns regarding his behavior in group settings (ages 2, 3, 4, 5) until he turned that magic age of 6 when I was told to medicate him.  Thanks for the advice, doc!

I would have your son evaluated, why wait. This way you will know.

You describe my son at that age as well. I had him in early intervention and then an integrated preschool. He was officially diagnosed at almost 5 yrs old. He also had speech delay and sensory integration.

I also remember thinking and telling my husband that our son was great at home, but as soon as the front door opened, it was as if I had him locked in the closet and he was "free at last". Total and complete over stimulation.

Until you have a diagnosis, you will wonder if it is overstimulation and just a busy boy. My son was very impulsive and easily overstimulated. he could not regulate himself.

He did stand out from the others. The other children got mad at him when he just thought he was being a fun boy.

Once we began to medicate him at age 6,almost 7, his life began to change. It brought out the REAL him.

Things are better academically, and socially for the most part. We still have tough social times because he is immature for his age, and the younges in his class. But I also think we are dealing with tough social times for all kids at these ages IN ADDITION to ADHD.

 

BETHANN39272.8902199074Hi
firstly have you had his hearing tested? if not it may be worth ruling out a hearing problem, secondly, he sound like my 4 yr old except for the not picking up emotional clues etc.
A good test to see if he can look at things from another perspective is to have a bear and a box, and another person....what you do is to let your child see you putting the bear in the box, but you blind fold the other person,...when the bear is in the box, you take off the blind fold.....you then ask your child where the other person will think the bear is.........if they have a normal perspective they should answer they don't know where its gone or, next to the box, as this is the last place that the other person saw the bear........if the child has problems seeing things from anther persons perspective, they will say...in the box, as this is where the child knows the bear to be.  The only problem with this test is I'm not sure what age it works from.

Does your child find changes to routien difficult? Does he like structure?
Does he tend to 'line up' his toys rather than play with them, and does he have any sort of imaginative play?
If the answer to these questions are yes, except the imaginative play one that would need to be a no.....then it COULD indecate that your child MIGHT be on the autistic spectrum, but seeing as he can play with other children, and I'm assuming he talks he would probably be on the higher functioning side, which is GOOD.

If most of your answers are no's,  then it could just be that he very full of energy and emotionally imature, which is not really too much to worry about...if I were you I would go back to the drs and ask for an evaluation, as it sounds like you are getting desperate for answers, and waiting untill he is 7 is just silly,  it sounds to me like your being fobbed off, if that dr wont help find one that will, its best to find out whats going on as the earlier you get a dix the sooner you can start helping him, and start coming to tearms with it, on the other hand, if nothing is wrong you can put your ming at ease, and stop worrying.
Good luck, let us know what happens, you have found a very good group here and you will always find support, I know they have helped me out a few times

he very well may juts be an active 4 year old. Some kids just seek attetion and love when they can make other kids laugh. My 5 year old was very, very active (still is), but so badly behaved out of the house and hyper, hyper we'd have pople say boy she is handful or what a little firecracker! Well she is those things, but I do not think she has ADHD. I have a 12 year old who does. So much of this changed after age 5. We had her evaluated last year because she also had some social concerns, and fine motor delay. We will re-evaluate her after age 6. She has made such a turnaround though, we are less worried. So, my point..............a lot of this is probably maturity. The fact that he'll do puzzles and sit and color does not mean he doesnt have ADHD. But the fact that he doesnt listen and is active doesnt mean that he does. A new baby to the family is such a huge change for him. Dont feel too put out the ped saying that, they are just saying it because  most kids are not diagnosed until around 7. Not all, but most. Most times kids mature and things settle down. I would start a solid plan at home working on your behaviors he needs to work on like the listening and ways to settle down. Solid structure and routine. See ograms marbel system, peoplehave had great luck with this. After all this if he starts school and it seems you are having behavior issues, request an evaluation. It wont hurt and it will at least be documented.

Hi everyone,
I am soo glad I found this forum...Perhaps you guys can help me out.For the past year...we've been seeing some questionable behavior in my son. He just turned 4 in March...and last summer when he was around 3 1/2...his daycare teacher suggested that he may need some testing or help or something!! THe daycare teacher complained that he doesn't listen...likes to run around..can't sit on the rug for story time etc etc etc. The biggest thing was that he always wnted to entertain kids. If he saw a kid laugh because he threw toys in the air...then he would keep doing it to make the kid laugh.
At first my husband & I thought that since he was a bit more work...the teacher would complain cuz she didn't want to deal with him. Then a couple of months past and in fall..she said he's getting better and he likes doing activities if someone sits with him and helps him out.
ALso in fall we noticed that he would spend lots of time sitting quietly and completing a jigsaw puzzle. Then I had a baby...he was great with her..no roughness at all.
Towards Feb..his behavior in school kept going up and down..so we pulled him out and he has been home with me and baby since then.
Things are ok at home. He listens sometimes..does his things etc...but I've noticed that the minute we take him out anywhere..to church, to a friends house..he starts acting up...he starts running and playign tag with kids. He wont listen to us or anyone else.
All of it came crumbling down last weekend. We put him in a weekend church camp for 4-5 year olds. It was supposed to be 4 hours on Saturday and Sunday. One hour into camp and they called us and told us to come pick him up...cuz he was just running around and didn't listen to what they were saying. Our hearts just broke..thats when it hit us..that maybe he is different. I walked in there and there were 40 kdis his age..who were just sitting there eating their snack and he was in a corner running around.
I am planning on sending him to preschool starting August for 3 days 3 hours a day...i know what to expect...they will definitely have a conference and have someone come observe him...
I pesonally don't think he has adhd..cuz he does spend time coloring quietly, or make his puzzles. I think that emotionally he doesn't know how to connect with kids. He is such a bright boy...who everyone (including his teachers..say he is very very smart for his age)
Emotionally he is slow..he doens't know how to take cues from other kids when they don't want to play with him etc.
I spoke wth my ped. and he said that he would not even look at him till he is 7.
What do you guys think? Was this how your child was at 4?
Its to the point where I don't even like going anywhere with him anymore.
Is there things I can do to make him get better? Reward system doens' treally work with him.
Someone please please please help me out.