Question about assesments | ADHD Information

My gut (in other words, go ahead and dismiss anything I'm about to say)
says that diagnosing at 4 years old is rushing things. 4 year olds don't
need to focus yet, they need to play. And socially they can catch up later
easily.

So my question for you is - why do you want the diagnosis this early?
Are you thinking you'll just do everything once and get both kids taken
care of? Because what works for one won't necessarily work for the other.
I personally would go mad if I had two kids starting meds and treatment
at the same time.

I'm not judging you, I just feel like I'm missing some part of the picture.
At 4 if her symptoms are so extreme I would test to make sure she
doesn't have something else, like autism or even ODD. But I think (and
I'm not a doctor) that the rate of misdiagnosis of ADHD would be much
higher that young. Even the diagnostic surveys they take are different,
much more general and open to interpretation.

If I was in your situation, here's what I would do. I would get as much
info for my son, learn what he needs beside medication, and try the
alternatives with both kids. For instance, if you were going to try charting
to encourage good behavior - do it for both. See what works, and if after
a couple of years there is a huge gap between the kids - the elder is
doing great but the younger is out of control - then I would start the
diagnosing process with the younger child. But again, that's just me, and
I don't know the details of your situation.

It could be that your daughter is reacting to your son, and by treating
him, her issues might evaporate because she won't have to react to him
anymore.

Finally - I trust doctors. You can tell if you've got a good one or a bad
one. If my child had a good doctor and the advice was to wait a couple of
years, I would absolutely wait a couple of years.The Headstart people will help you a lot. I'd say try a general
assessment, not specifically for ADHD, but to see if anything is going on
at all. It could be a sensory integration issue. It could be anything.

My friend has a son who has ADHD - and also has a severe learning
disability. They diagnosed the ADHD, and then didn't understand why the
treatments weren't working. They stopped there, because they only
tested for ADHD. When it was positive, they figured it was done. He
went through 2 years of school where he learned nothing - he went into
the third grade without even being able to tell letters from numbers when
looking at a page of print. They finally figured out he had a LD, and what
do you know, now that he's getting the help he needs he's doing great,
though it's still going to be a tough climb for him to make everything up.

If it's that extreme that early I doubt it's just ADHD - get her assessed for
what she should be tested on. Check with the state for what she's
eligible for. My son was tested for Aspergers (negative) when he was 4
and the assessment was covered by the state. Not sure what the
requirements are. But if your gut says she needs help now, go for it.

Keep us updated!I have a 6 y.o son who is currently going through his assesments for adhd. my husband also has it.  My daughter is 4 and I believe she has it as well.  My pediatrician has told me that the assesments/testing cannot be done until the child is 6 years old.  I have seen more than one post on here with 3 and 4 year olds having already been diagnosed and on meds.  Is this a statewide thing as far as the age, or does the insurance have something to do with it?  I would like to be able to get my daughter evaluated sooner rather than later if at all possible.  Are there disadvantages to having them assesed this early?  what are the "typical" meds for children this young? Do alternative meds/options work better at this age than meds?  And I, like alot of others, was totally against having to use meds, but after everything we have experienced, researched, etc. I have realized that for my son at least, this is the best option for us, as we have tried many other "alternative" actions to help control his adhd with little to no success.  Any input or advice would be greatly appreciated. She is far more out of control than my son is.  I think part of it is adhd, but am concerned it may be something else, just my gut feeling.  It's not so much that I WANT to get her tested right now per say, but I can that sometimes she is....i don't know, confused about what she is doing, or doesn't understand why she is acting the way she is, i guess is the best way to put it.  I am starting either the marble or charting with both of them.  I think the charting is going to work better for both of them at this point, based on their personalities and what they will respond more to.  My sons "symptoms" started around age 1, my daughter has been like this since birth.
And I trust my pediatrician completely, just didn't understand her telling me about the age 6 thing, and then I see where others that are younger are already diagnosed and such.  And yes, I certainly understand about their needs being different as far as treatment. the need for different meds/techniques/etc. and definately don't want to be starting it at the same time with both of them. i just wanted primarily to gather the pros and cons to having her diagnosed earlier rather than later.  You cleared some thing up for me, and I thank you much!  She is starting headstart in the fall (early kindergarten basically) and I can tell already it is going to be a rough time for her and for us.  Am already trying some "alternative" behavior mods for her and a few diet changes to see if it helps any, to try to help get her "settled" a little before she starts school.  And I will say again, I am soooooo glad I found this forum!
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