Hi, I’m new here | ADHD Information

hi everyone, my 5 year old was just diagnosed with ADHD yesterday.  I was online looking for info on the topic because i have no clue about all of this when i stumbled onto this site.  My 5 year old son is very smart, he's going into Kindergarten in the fall.  Since the age of 3, i have felt something wasn't right, but i chalked it up to his age.  He is very fidgety, won't sit still, he likes to interrupt, he is a little aggressive at school, he goes to Pre-K.  We have gotten call after call to come pick him up from school because he has hit or kicked or scratched someone.  He likes to ignore me and my husband.  He flat out tells us no sometimes!  Anyway he has to have an EKG, and blood work done tomorrow morning, then we go back to the doctor in about 3 weeks to talk about meds. 

What is going to be happening over the next few months?  I am nervous about all of this, but i just want my son to get help so he can put his smart brain to work.   Also the doctor said he is borderline BiPolar because sometimes he will go from being happy to angry for no apparent reason, plus it runs in my family, my Aunt, and my 1st cousin has ADHD, and BiPolar, and my son's biological father has ADHD, and BiPolar (his biological father wants nothing to do with him, long story).

Impossible to predict what will happen in the next months.

When you go back to the Dr. in three weeks, write down all your questions to ask him.  Ask him about prognosis and a treatment plan and if he will need to see specialists.

Ask him if he thinks your son will need accomodations in school.   He is much better able to answer you.

Also, although all of us have children with some form of ADHD and possible co-existing dissorders every child is different and reacts to treatments and medications differently.

Good luck - it's a great thing that you have a diagnosis so early.

Shannon

The best thing you can do is to educate yourself on the disorders. I can give you some very good sites for ADHD. These are as follows:

http://www.russellbarkley.org/
Russell is the top man in the field. There is a lot of information here.

http://www.schwablearning.org/articles.aspx?r=54
There is a transcript of a Russell Barkley workshop you can download. Be aware, it is very information dense and can be intimidating.  Especially look at the 30% rule. It is very helpful to parents of ADHD kids.

http://www.help4adhd.org/
This is the national, federally funded information site for ADHD

http://www.chadd.org/
This is by far the best support site for ADHD.

For bipolar disorder, the book "The Bipolar Child" by Papolos & Papolos is probably the best source for good information. It is designed for both parents and professionals. They do have a website but I have not had a chance to review it. Looks good and considering the authors, it probably will be very useful

http://www.bipolarchild.com/

Meantime keep plugging. Though a challenge, these kids are worth the effort.

dizfriz