Hi there, I am after all the advice I can get. I have a 7 year old daughter who is ADHD/OCD and I have a 4 year old son who I am asking for advice about. Recently my sons behavior has really taken a turn for the worse and I am starting to worry about him. We were at a doctors appointment a couple of weeks ago to treat a sinus infection and the doctor mentioned having him assessed for ADHD because of his behavior in the doctors office (he was overly talkative and interrupted a lot, plus the doctor said he was in his personal space), plus the fact that I had recently had his hearing checked due to the loudness of his voice, my world crumbled once again as it did when my daughter was diagnosed. I denied that there was anything different about my daughter for the longest time, I pretty much struggled with her from about age 3 and she only started medication this year in May, it was really hard for me, but now I see a wonderful difference in her.
My son attends preschool 4 half days a week, he attended last year and never got into trouble, however this year he has been in trouble a few times for silly behavior and being mean to his friend, pushing and shouting at him, he even spat on him one day and dumped his drink out on him another day......his actions tend to be towards only one child, but then this is his best friend who he spends most of his time with.
I have noticed a difference at home, if we have other children here he is bad at sharing and he gets frustrated with them all to quickly, plus he drives me crazy with constant silly behavior, words and sounds.....I call him my bobble head because it seems as though his head never stops moving.
While I don't want to be in denial concerning my son everything I have read says a diagnosis with medication can't be made until at least 6, when my doctor mentioned the assessment to me the other day, the first thing I said was isn't he too young, my doctor informed me he has two 18 month olds under his care medicated. He also said it is hereditary and as his sister has it there is a good chance he does too. With my daughter it was apparent from about aged 3, she never played with toys, her attention span was about 3 minutes, bedtimes were hell, she would wake during the night, she had a temper etc etc, my son however has not displayed any of this, he has slept like a charm from day one, he plays with his cars or trains for hours, and the temper isn't there. What should I do? Should I wait or should I start the assessments now?
THANKS SO MUCH for any advice you can give me......
Start with the assessment now!
It's true that most of the time you hear that kids have to be 6 yrs old but that is just a guideline. Many, many children are diagnosed before the age of 6-my son included! My son was diagnosed just before 4 yrs old and medicated. It has been the most wonderful thing we could have done for him!
The reason they usually wait until 6 is that the symptoms of ADHD can be confused with normal toddler/pre-schooler behavior. BUT, it's all a matter of degree. If a child's attention span is very short even compared to other kids their age, they're more active, they're more impuslive etc then they should be evaluated!
Just because your son's symptoms may be different than your daughter's doesn't mean he doesn't have ADHD. Each child is different in the symptoms they display. My son has always been a wonderful sleeper (luckily ) and he was able to focus on select things. But his other sypmtoms are sooooooooo bad that there is no mistaking the ADHD. If your son does have ADHD, then the earlier you catch it the better. Think about the difference it has made in your daughter's life! Why not help your son a little earlier in life? Good luck and I wish you the best!
It is not an emergency. You can mull it over until kindergarten, and just observe. It won't have any significant impact until K or 1st grade. Not all ADHD kids are the same (I have two, totally diff). Read up on all the typical symptoms and then just watch him with objectivity. Give yourself some time. Let it sink it and follow your intuition. Of course the odds are higher with the sister already dx. I am in the same boat. I am completely lost. My 8 yo daughter was just diagnosed with ADHD; anxiety disorder adn depression. Her doc actually is trying to determine if she is bipolar or some otehr problem. Here is the problem, the school says because she tests godd in all areas except attentional and math they can't provide special services. Her teacher actually sent me a report card indicating all was fine but then when peditrician sent her forms for a more in depth eval she claims she has extreme attentional; executive functioning; syquencing etc..but becaue she performs at level everywhere except maththey can't help because "math" unlike speach or reading is not in any budget.Don't wait start the assessments. I have nephew that is 3 receiving early intervention and medication for similar issues and is doing so much better. I am just finding out now my 8 yo is ADHD (attentional only) with other isues and she is way behind he peers on social functioning (won't go anywhere even school field feld trips unles I am with her unless its a one on one play dates). I ignored her issues thinking its the age or she is just a little diffrentplus the school kept saying she was fine. I wish I had services adn assesments done before. Waiting was of no benefit to her in the long run. Try an early intervention and behaviral therapy programs they will probably help. His preschool should be helping with these type of programs.My son is just about 4 and a half and was just diagnosed4 years old is old enough to be medicated. DO you consider his behavior serious?