the closest one is almost 3 hours away in St. Louis, Mo.
His pediatrician said we definitely need to do something. They rate them 0-9 and 0 being barely or not at all adhd and 9 being extreme. Well for Inattentive he scored an 8 from the school and a 7 on hyperactive.
actually i don't. I did a search and i found a site that helps you locate one. But I didn't find anything in Illinois. Maybe someone can help me. I live about 30 min from Southern Illinois University. But I don't know if they have anything like that.
[QUOTE=brtsqd3]I hadn't ever heard of that. How do I find something like that? [/QUOTE]
Hopefully you live somewhere near a medium to large city or University town. That might be your best bet for finding a service that can make a referral. If your school system is decent they might have listings for pediatric therapists. But I agree with other posters that you need to get him a specialized evaluation for that concussion. And in the meantime, you need to protect him from further injury in this area. Reinjury can lead to permanant damage.
As for avoiding meds, I have my mild adhd daughter starting omega-3's which are very important for brain function. Research is indicating that kids who get regular fish-oil supplements have better focus and behavior. I've just started this week so I can't report whether it's made a difference. You can read about it on the alternative and complimentary medicine board. But with brain injury I would be apt to wait on using actual adhd Rx like ritalin etc.
Poor kid, he's been through a lot!
[QUOTE=brtsqd3]
I'm really concerned for him. He has progressively gotten worse, and myself and my mother in law are wondering if it could be from the severe trauma he had to his head back in may. I know everything he's gone through plays a factor in it, but he's progressively gotten worse since all of these things this summer.
[/QUOTE]yeah i'm about 4 hours i believe from Nashville.
I'll keep checking and I take him to the dr on monday for a ct of his head from his head injury hopefully they can help me out when we go. I'll ask them .
I'm a sahm of 3 kids. Chase who is 8, Trent who is 5, and Avery who is 3.
Trent my 5 yr old, has been a handful since before he turned 2. We chalked it up to terrible 2's. Then it progressed from there. And everyone just kept telling us that we don't discipline him enough, that he's the middle child, that he's just wanting attention. But that no way did he have adhd.
Well FINALLY now that he started kindergarten his teacher agrees, and the school filled out the assessment and it turns out he was rated very high.
So now he goes to the dr on wednesday to decide the best course of treatment for him.
A little background about him first. Trent has had it pretty rough. He was born with a clubfoot and wore casts every week for the first year of his life. He had his first surgery at 3 months his 2nd at 7 months, he wore dennis brown braces for 6 months after that keeping him from learning to walk.
Then at 2 he was diagnosed with an undecended testicle. They told us to let it go for now, most will drop on their own as they get older. Last month his dr concluded that its not going to drop and infact its up higher now then ever and that surgery was our only option. So he has to have that surgery Oct 25th. Plus he has fluid building up around that testicle now, and he will have to be examined and evaluated for the rest of his life for testicular cancer, as well as to find out if he is able to have children or not.
So then May 30th of this year, he was playing at the park and got up and took off running when he ran head first into a bar on the jungle gym knocking himself unconcious. He was blinded for about 10 minutes or so and his pupils were huge. His dr said he had a moderate grade concussion. Then His cousin Kedan drown a week later. Then 3 wks later he got constipated to the point he now has encopresis.
So to say the least, my son has had a very rough last year. :( Anyway, I'm on a mission to get him back on track and get him the help he needs.
Any ideas of what types of treatments they might offer to him, being that he's only 5.
Yeah BPQW that's good advice. That kind of approach works very well with my sons. We even got a comment from their OT last week, "whatever you fed them in the week, keep doing it as they both did so much better"thank you for the wonderful advice. This is exactly what I'm looking for. I really don't want to medicate him unless its absolutely necessary. I will definitely get started on this immediately.
Have you considered getting him into therapy? Play therapy worked wonders for my son and with all that your son has gone through it wouldn't surprise me if some of the behavior stems from trying to process it all.
Welcome to the board. You will find alot of supprt and information here. Glad to see you found it.Wow, all I can say is welcome to the board and good luck. My son is not medicated so I can't really advise like that but it sounds like you are on the road to getting help with him. I think you will find support here.well first welcome. And my heart goes out to your little guy. Life shouldnt be this hard at 5!
Sounds like he's lucky to have such a great Mom!
What kind of doctor are you seeing? A pediatrician or child psychiatrist? I strongly recommend a child psych especially as he is so young. They still may recommend medication, plenty of people use meds at this age. I would think you'd like a child psych (ideally a psychopharmocologist, their specialty is med management) if that is the route you end up taking. Many people go with supplements and a solid behavior modification plan at this age (see alternatives board). Start with a solid diagnosis before you start thinking of treatment plans.
Whichever way you decide to proceed (w or w.o meds) is very personal decision and one that isnt made for life, whatever you decide, you're allowed to change your mind if it doesnt work .
Thank you so much. I definitely need to find a good place to chat with others who are going through similar because the people I know can't or wont relate.
I'm really concerned for him. He has progressively gotten worse, and myself and my mother in law are wondering if it could be from the severe trauma he had to his head back in may. I know everything he's gone through plays a factor in it, but he's progressively gotten worse since all of these things this summer.
His biggest problem is that he does things without thinking. Last night, he was playing so well and then he said he was going to the garage to get a toy. I was sitting outside with them, and told him that was fine, just hurry back where I could see him. Within 2 min I hear a huge bang. I run to check on him and he has my daughters bike with my husbands extention cord that hangs from the ceiling tied to her bike and and its laying next to my van. Much to my surprise he ripped it from the ceiling. It hits the hood of my van, putting a huge gash through the hood of my van. Thankfully he was not hurt.
So for now he's going to see his pediatrician on wed and then we'll go from there. I definitely need somewhere to find support, because people around he, friends and family think this is an escape goat and that kids only act like this to get attention. Which is what I've been told about him from both of our families for the last 2 yrs. But I'm to the point now, I have to do whats best for him. He has zero attention span and focus in kindergarten and his teacher is afraid he's going to get so far behind that we can't get him caught up.
brtsqd3,
My first thought when I read your post and all the differnt kinds of traumas that your son has to deal with was, mom needs to scale all the way back to the basics and start from there. By this I mean, begin with the best whole-foods, organic diet that you can afford for him. Eliminate dairy, wheat, all those trigger foods that we can all be allergic too but not have anaphylactic shock over. Give him a good omega 3,6 supplement (takes a few months for optimal effectiveness). Avoid fermented foods (soy sauce,etc.) and food dyes. This kind of healthy eating will help center him and clear his mind, so that you can be sure he's as healthy as possible and not dealing with the effects of a modern diet. Then you can really focus on the adhd. The benefit of this kind of diet is that YOU will also feel good knowing that you are taking great care of your son. Good luck to you both!
I hadn't ever heard of that. How do I find something like that?