Does my 2 1/2year old have ADHD? | ADHD Information

A child psychologist can help you with narrowing down what may be an area to watch over time -- whether ADHD, SPD or whatever. For us, she made us more comfortable with his differences and gave us some of the more parenting-oriented tips I mentioned, such as the grab bag and the stop/breathe/think. They can tell you if you're overanalyzing or if they think there are tendencies that may need to be watched, etc. In fact, I think she was more of a help for us as parents as we were so stressed wondering what was "wrong" with our son and she made us focus more on behavior modification techniques that worked for his personality (regardless of any diagnosis), which could be used at any age. Good luck!

It sounds a lot like SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) and many kids with SPD are misdiagnosed with ADHD, so it would make sense that you see behaviours that make you think of ADHD.

If it is SPD, the earlier it's diagnosed the better, and the sooner you get help, the better.

Good luck and kudos to you for investigating early!

Cheers guys - wow I feel all excited at the thought that I could get help
for him . Thank goodness people seem to relate to what I'm
saying.
I really do want to get started early if he has problems that need working
through. The later I leave it the harder it will be for him to manage
himself.
I taught ESL (fresh out of a short course in teaching...) overseas for some
time in a country where not much seemed to be known about things such
as these. And though I was obviously in no position to know what exactly
was going on with some of the kids I could see how much they and all
their families were struggling. Mums would say "but he's such a good boy
at home", whilst in the classroom they were totally out of control. I could
see that they were good kids so it was always so perplexing that they
could never follow direction or follow through on tasks etc. In hindsight It
makes allot more sense. I hope that my son never has to reach this
situation - where he can't be the person he wants to be and others can't
see the real person that he is. Like Momin mentioned there is no normal,
but It's no fun to be ruled by your symptoms. I hope that his traits, out of
the ordinary though they may be, work for him, become his tools in life.
Anyway we saw, the family doctor today and we've started up a plan to
get further support for the language side and a session with an
Occupational Therapist.

Oh, someone mentioned a child psychologist - what kinds of things
would they help with??

Good luck and good cheer to all!Hi, Aiefie. As the others said, 2 1/2 is way too young to diagnose. But there's nothing wrong with reading up and learning more and watching and seeing. My son, who was diagnosed ADHD (hyper, implusive) and is 5 sounds much like yours at that age. It is/was like the more stimulation, the more hyper he gets. At home, great; wiht a few kids, OK; with a lot of kids, a wild child. He also was/is impulsive -- touching buttons when told not to do so, pushing kids down the slide when he knows they don't like it, not waiting his turn, etc. Yet we had no real problems with attention span as he can sit and do a project, read books, etc. He just gets really upset when things don't go as he wants/expects them to, which felt more so than the normal kid tantrum. For now, maybe just learn some strategies for how to discipline him, etc. as he gets older. We use a technique called "stop, breathe and think" when he starts to get upset about something and helped him make a chart with visuals. We also do more frequent timeouts for shorter periods (not the traditional one minute per age) to reinforce things. Another key is really to focus on rewarding the positive behaviors. We do a grab bag with things he can earn -- mostly social things like a game with dad, art project with mom, plus things like 10 extra minutes at bedtime, etc. when we catch him doing something positive, like not throwing a fit. If you have serious concerns, why not visit a child psychologists to talk it through? We did that and were happy we did so. Don't freak yourself out over it ... as he may just be a wild little boy. We went back and forth with that one forever and I finally just realized there is no such thing as "normal" anyway. He is who he is and we love him no matter what. Although I will say medication has really helped him in the social settings as we started a trial recently. Good luck to you! Hi there, I was hoping to find out from other parents what their children
with ADHD (or themselves) were like when they were toddlers. My
husband and I have always felt that our son wasn't quiet like other kids,
but have not been too sure why. From what I've seen on the net doctors
don't diagnose ADHD till much older, that's why I wanted to ask parents
if reading about my son at this age reminds them of their own kids.
He's my little angel. At home with myself and my husband he's usually
very loving and affectionate. If I look sad he'll come over with a kiss and a
hug. He plays for long stretches with his trains and can sit to read 2 or 3
story books in a row. If I'm tired he'll just lay down with me and wait till
I'm ready to get up and play with him. That said he does have a bad
temper and doesn't really sit still except to sleep and drink milk, and even
then... He went through a head butting stage and then a biting/pinching
stage, but is over them both. He has expressive/receptive speech delay
and we see a speech pathologist once a week where he is making
fabulous progress. Mind you he is in a tri-lingual home. He also has
severe allergies which means that he sleeps very poorly and is often tired
and irritable.
Other people always say "wow, he's a very active little boy". When he's in
an open park with a few kids he's pretty good. But when he's in a
crowded room - the living room with family + little dog or at play group
he's absolutely hyperactive. It's like a button has been pressed and he
goes into super naughty mode. Bouncing around being loud, hitting,
yelling etc. I usually try to keep him away from crowds. Traveling on
public transport if he's just the tiniest bit tired or hungry is an absolute
nightmare. At play group he scares other kids because he's so loud and
raucous. Today he was wooshing a pom pom in a little girls face and just
wouldn't stop no matter how many times I told him. Parents always have
to move their kids away from him...
He torments the dog and nothing seems to be able to deter him from
doing that - the dog has even nipped at him and he still goes back for
more. Just then he ran outside to tip the dog's water out - which he does
every day without fail.
When people are over and the environment is too noisy he will just
remove himself. He asks for a DVD and sits away from it all to watch.
I know he's often tired, which tends to make kids irritable, but I really feel
there's something more. As much as I would rather he not have ADHD (
eczema, allergies, food intolerances and speech delay are enough for a
little boy to have to deal with) I'd rather have some idea of what issues he
may be developing so I can get on top of them early. I know what a
wonderful boy he is, but other people usually don't get to see that. It
breaks my heart when kids run away from him, and parents give me that
"why don't discipline your child better look" - I wish I knew some way to
help him so he could interact with others in a more calm and gentle way.
He doesn't mean any harm, he just doesn't seem able to learn what
appropriate behaviour is. I know he's just little but he just seems so
different to the other kids his age. When you or your kids were 2 1/2
where they like him? What would a doctor tell me if I spoke about my
concerns? Any advice would be much appreciated.

That is a great book. Last week both of my boys went to the ot. She said that they both have sid which up to two weeks ago I have never heard of. Not so proud to say as a nurse. Lol. But I am also reading the out of sync child. Good luck.lethy proud mom39573.3309837963Thanks so much Diane V and Shelb06. I was sleepless thinking about my little boy, so I hoped out of bed to have a look for a reply and your posts have been really helpful. I will definitely look into sensory issues - I hadn't really heard of that before, but what you have both said really seems to describe my ds. It just feels good to hear something which seems to be on the right track - and some recommendations - perfect! I'm in Australia, so I'm not sure how I will go about things here. On the net 99% of info (and great forums like this) are US based but I'll have a talk to his speech therapist and the family doctor. Though I'm pretty sure I saw "The out of Sync child" at a book store on the weekend, so it might be in the library too. Thanks so much, and maybe I can get some sleep now. hi and welcome. You're right 2 1/2 is WAY too young to diagnose ADHD, but that said most parents just "know" when something is off. Where does he get is speech/language therapy? Could you bring your behavior concerns up with them? I would still talk to his doctor if you have concers. They may not do much at this age, but documenting behaviors of concern along the way will be helpful. I'd pursue it a little with the speech/language delay AND the "sensory" behaviors. Whether he has ADHD, something else, or nothing a good behavior plan is going to help all of you. Read up on different discipline and parenting tools. There a tons of suggestions on this forum. Ograms marble system, the book 1-2-3 Magic are very popular techniques. I have a 6 year old who was VERY hyperactive when she was younger. She also did not like people and especially large groups. She was VERY sensory and did all the stages, biting, hitting...etc as a toddler. At 6 she is now a totally different child. She's FAR from perfect, but basically well behaved. Still "busy", but not hyperactive at all.  She does get speech/language for conversational language and OT for poor handwriting, but is social, has friends and I can pretty much take her anywhere, food shopping, to restaurants...etc, we could NEVER do those things with her at 2,3,4.

I agree 2.5 is way too early to diagnose ADHD.  However, a lot of things in your post sound like my ds (4).  He is not diagnosed with ADHD yet & at this point I am not sure on most days that would be a correct diagnosis.  However, in my heart I am about 100% sure that he has sensory integration difficulties.  We had him evaluated by our school district & although the OT noted my concerns & agreed he probably does have sensory integration issues, he doesn't qualify for services because his academics are not affected.  I am pursuing taking him for a sensory evaluation at an OT clinic through my insurance.

Sensory integration is something I still don't totally understand but the things in your post that stood out were sleeping poorly, beign "set off" by a crowded room, noisy play group, bothering the dog over and over again (this is so my ds), putting the pom pom in the girl's face (again - something my ds would do).  Ny ds is just as you described.  He has a good attention span at home in a quiet setting but if noise, bright lights, crowded setting, etc. enter the equation he usually ends up very hyper & basically out of control.  He will run around wild & seems to not be able to control himself or comprehend directions.  He gets into other kids' space & begins playing rough, pushign, etc.  This happens at school as well, usually after lunch (which is loud & overwhelming for him), but the teacher & I are working together to help him deal with it all.

I would look around on the internet & find out more for yourself if the things you read about sensory integration sound like your ds.    Ther good thing is he is young & since he is not yet 3 you could get him services through early intervention.  I wish now that I would have done that.  I am currently reading a book highly rec. to me called "The Out of Sync Chil."  It might be worth it to check it out from the library.