arm flapping
My son flaps his arms when he is very excited. I haven't seen other children do this. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this a symptom of ADHD? I have seen kids that do this. It is as if the excitment they have comes pouring out of every extremity.Kids flap do weird stuff, act weird, why does this always have to relate to Add???? Why can't kids be kids and do kid stuff?? Why does everyone have to over-analyze what their kids do?As I understand it, and I am by no means an expert on anything, this is red flag autistic spectum disorder behaviour.(Or personality quirk.I don't want to cause alarm.) I've been looking at Aspergers, thinking my dd might be, that's also on the spectrum. She has no gestures or motions, though.
redhead-I didn't realize that this was normal kid behaviour since I haven't seen other kids do it.
inmypjs-I am waiting to have him tested for Aspergers. Thanks for the info.
My son has Aspergers, and i'm not trying to cause an argument. My son does weird stuff, yes, it could be triggered to the AS or not, or him just being a kid doing weird stuff, i don't over-analyze what he does. I live with it. Trust me i've seen kids do a lot worse then what my AS son does, and i think every kid does weird stuff every once in a while. My friend has 4 kids and each of them run around and throws themself to the ground and act silly;I wouldn't label them as having something wrong with them.I don't think I am overanalyzing what my son is doing. I just wanted to know if other kids did it. Now I know that they do. I live with it also. We all do. I know kids do weird things.
I know a lot about autism and arm flapping is a big symptom. Not saying he has it---you need a NeuroPsych to diagnose him----but that sort of behavior is known as a "stim" in kids who are autistic and "Hand flapping" is often described as a possible sign. Kids also sometimes rock or tap or do something repetitively. Some, like mine, make high pitched noises, although they can speak well. You can check out the Aspergers and PDD-NOS site I mentioned but, of course, the only one who will know for sure is a GOOD NeuroPsych. I have raised four other kids, two to adulthood, and none of them do the stuff my autistic spectrum kid does. My son has an autistic friend who likes to pinch his own face. He doesn't hurt himself, but he looks a bit odd. Good luck.
My point is, we all worry about our kids, but I drive myself nuts doing it and I don't know that I really like it, I don't recommend it(or the ulcer that comes with it) BUT sometimes it just feels like you might be accomplishing something when really you're waiting(5-8 months
) to see a dr.I checked out the Aspergers and PDD-NOS website. The only things I noticed that relate to my son are the arm flapping and he has trouble socializing with other kids. So do ADHD kids which is his diagnosis. I am not an expert either and will wait for the Aspergers test. Redhead-That's okay. I just worry about my son sometimes like most mom's.
Depends on the degree of socialization problems. Best bet is to see a NeuroPsych. ADHD is often a misdiagnosis for Aspergers. If he doesn't have it, they do some pretty intensive testing to verify ADHD too. Up to you. Wish we'd done it sooner. Would have helped our son a lot.Yeah, really i wish i would of gone to a Neuro Dr. years ago, i feel
really gulity that i didn't and put my son through some horrible times
at school. But this year we are gonna do it right, when find out the
diagnosis from the Dr. i want to give copies to the teacher and
pronciple so they can deal with it and him better than they did before.
i'm with redhead with her statement about overdiagnosing every quirk..
adhd kids have a hyper, impulsive or attention deficit, they don't tend
to arm flap or do many other things that ppl may think..i've worked with autistic children and i have seen arm flapping with them.. one of my students has just been dx with aspergers and therefore the diagnosis of adhd has been removed.. which ofcourse makes sense if you knew the boy..
My son is ADHD (emphasis on the H) and he often does things like arm flapping or, more often, hand wringing when excited. His father has the same habit of hand wringing and is also ADHD.
MegMaguire-Thanks for the info. So some people with ADHD do flap their arms then. My son's paediatriician is going to test for Aspergers. I don't know if we have any Neuro doctors here in Peterborough. The population is about 75,000.
Good luck to you! I hope it turns out well and you get results you feel are accurate!
Any university hospital would have professionals who understand and can diagnose Aspergers and differentiate it from ADHD (and actually do accurate testing for both). I know what you mean about small towns. I live in a town with less than 1000 people. We had to drive over an hour for the testing and my son went back six times, but it was worthwhile since it was so intensive. Not sure what other type of professional would know what to look for regarding any high functioning autism. Our pdoc totally missed it and with my son it's pretty obvious.MegMaguire-Thanks for the nice thoughts. psm0904-Is pdoc paediatrician? I don't drive so I would have to take him somewhere local. I can always ask his ped for a specialist.
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