I don't think my son (4.75) has ADHD but ADD because he is SO spacey. He fell off his bike the other day because he was so focused on reading the address numbers on people's houses. 
He often seems like he's on another planet. He is also immature and lacks executive functioning skills.
You might also enjoy...
-
Is there any chance he's a bad sleeper? I had a student like this last year, and they ended up having him evaluated, and he had to have his tonsils and adenoids out. Anything like that going on for you guys? It was like night and day after the surgery--the poor kid just wasn't getting sleep!
-
@Jess1483: He has not been sleeping well lately, but I feel like it's from being under stimulated. We give him melatonin at night because he has trouble settling down and he still sometimes wakes up 3x a night for various reasons. I'm not sure if it's sleep related or not because it's like this even when he has stretches of good sleep. I am going to ask our ped about an ADD evaluation and will keep this in mind. Thank you!
-
@Jess1483: @crazydoglady: I was so hoping my son's tonsillectomy would help here...but I'm pretty sure it's ADD inattentive type. We were about to seek testing when the world shut down.
-
@MrsSRS: Yes, the inattentive ADD. Would you mind sharing what signs made you want to seek assessments?
-
Well, I think it's kind of hard to be concise. I've been keeping an eye on it since about 4. D.S. is almost 7 and some of the things I thought he would outgrow he hasn't. His executive functioning is poor, he cannot follow complex directions at an age appropriate level, his short-term memory is almost non-existent, his capacity to focus is wildly inconsistent. I haven't worried about it so much because he's been in a small, private school that makes accommodations left, right, and center. But next year he'll be moving to a large public school and if we don't have a diagnosis he's going to fail. Maybe not right away because he's several grades ahead, but eventually. A few accommodations like written directions, and complex directions being given one piece at a time will make a huge difference for him. It's not diet, exercise, or sleep because I have all of those pretty well handled. It could be anxiety but those diagnoses tend to track together. His current teacher says he presents like a pretty classically gifted child: several years ahead in academia, several years behind in emotional maturity and things like empathy and focus. this is going to sound bad, but what really brings it into stark relief is comparing him to his younger sister. I know each kid is different, but her executive functioning and focus look so wildly different from his that it's worth seeking a professional opinion for me. Also, I'm a teacher so my sample size is bigger than some parents 🤣 He's a quirky dude. He's got something going on.
-
Super long post, but here has been our experience:
My son got diagnosed at 4.75 with ADHD combined type (inattentive and hyperactive) and was diagnosed by a neuropsychologist. I felt in my gut from about age 2 that there was a possibility that he would one day be diagnosed. He just turned 5, so our diagnosis is recent and with all the COVID stuff going on, we haven't been able to pursue the treatment things we have as part of our plan.
He has been receiving private speech therapy with the same therapist since he was 2. When he turned 4, she broached the subject with me and said that it might be worth it to consider an evaluation when he got a little older. He has always been reluctant to sit and work with her, especially on unpreferred tasks and would act out (impulsivity related to the hyperactive part of his diagnosis) and refuse to work, but would sometimes get hyper-focused on some tasks (inattentive) during therapy.
We see the same thing at home and I've always struggled with certain things with him beyond what I feel was developmentally appropriate for his age. He hyper focuses on a task (coloring, building, artwork) and will refuse to break focus to do anything else, such as pick up toys, etc. Sitting at the dinner table to eat is like pulling teeth. Getting him to put on shoes, brush teeth, get ready to go somewhere he doesn't want to, etc. ends up being arduous tasks that are frustrating for everyone in the household. As he's gotten older, his frustration can lead to emotional outbursts which are exhausting. We also have a 2 1/2 year old and the impulsivity he shows while playing with little brother can be scary. He is very physical and acts without thinking first.
When I took him to his evaluation, the neuropsychologist had me fill out a lot of paperwork, had his daycare teacher complete paperwork and did a 1:1 formal observation with him. She said and I've read that ADHD usually presents in more than one setting, like home and school. The results were really fascinating and it showed that he has above average areas in everything put persistence to tasks (not sure the formal wording on his paperwork right now), which means that he doesn't like to work on anything that he perceives as frustrating or not engaging enough, which then leads to behaviors. It explains why he struggles at speech and doing tasks at home that he sees no value in doing.
The neuropsychologist gave us lots of great strategies to start implementing at home and some books to read based on his specific needs. She also recommended finding a play therapist that specializes in ADHD to teach coping strategies then eventually adding medication. I had been working to find a play therapist with openings and office hours that meet our scheduling needs before everything closed down for COVID-19 and I wasn't able to. Now I feel like we are stuck in limbo with no therapy and we plan to start him in kinder in the fall before trying meds although I'm completely open to medication beforehand if necessary. I just wanted to see how he coped with the demands of kinder before putting him on medication.
With all that said, I've always been a huge proponent of following your gut. I hate to compare my son to my friend's kids that are the same age, but he has always had behaviors that they never exhibited and I would get so flustered and frustrated at playdates. I cried in my car in the parking lot after getting his diagnosed because I felt so relieved and validated that there are things beyond his and my control that were/are affecting him and that we could finally move forward having a plan.
-
@MrsSRS: Teacher here, too! Thank you, this is really helpful. My son is such a quirky guy, too, and I feel like you basically described him (aside from the gifted part, don't know about that yet
.) I hope you get the answers and modifications that he needs.
-
@Boopers: Thank you for explaining all of this, and I am so glad you finally got some answers. My son also is speech delayed and was getting services for a while (I'll admit we stopped when my daughter was born 1.5 years ago ) because the services weren't great and he had been making so much progress on his own in terms of vocab, articulation, and sentence structure so he will be getting evaluated again when kinder starts this year. Anyway, it sounds like a lot of what we are dealing with but not the hyperactivity as much. My nephew has ADHD (among some other things) and my son's has always looked a little different: less physical and more in his own world.) Similarly, though, he has issues with directions of any kind. My 1.5 year old is better at getting her shoes on. The lack of maturity, executive functioning skills, inattentiveness, and difficulty following directions makes it seem really clear to me.
I hope you are still able to get the help you need despite all that's going on.
-
@Boopers: I'm so glad you felt validated!
@crazydoglady: As a teacher you probably know the difference between "little kids don't have much focus" and "something is going on here." Although, to be fair, I have had multiple teachers say my son would outgrow his spaceyness and that has not been true. It's gotten a little better, but that's because I've been actively teaching him coping skills
-
@MrsSRS: I teach middle school, so it's a little different but it interferes with his safety and retention. My son is also extremely stubborn and it's so hard to tell will/skill with him.
-
We got a diagnosis in second grade (inattentive). Until then, I would not have been comfortable since maturity can play such a huge role and my kid was always one of the youngest in the class -- of course, everyone is different in this regard, though. We paid $$$ at a child psychologist. Yes, you can get a pediatrician to "diagnose" your kid but I wouldn't go that route if you can afford the proper testing (or wait for it and get it covered by insurance).
-
@Mrs. Yoyo: yes! This is why we waited until now (bridge between first and second grade) to seek testing. In our case I don't see how any intervention would have helped up until now. And I wanted to see what time and maturity did. But I did do a bunch of reading so my parenting would be more intentional in this area.
-
@Mrs. Yoyo: this is what I'm waiting for as well (kiddo is finishing first grade now). Her teacher hasn't had any major concerns in our Q1 PT conference, though kiddo does have some classic signs (very short attention span, constantly in motion, struggles with staying on task, interrupts, hard to settle to sleep, etc.) She isn't being disruptive in class and it's been manageable at home so her teacher and their school counselor didn't think it was worth going for testing now. We're keeping a close eye on things as she continues to grow and mature and see what happens.
-
This thread is so interesting. I have wondered on and off casually about my son (4) but it’s been a lot worse lately and IDK if it’s the lockdown or something else. He can’t / won’t do his zoom classes because he can’t sit still and gets very frustrated when he tries to participate and he is muted (teacher has to - there are 18 kids!). Any attempt I’ve made at getting him to write letters is flatly rejected and he has had a very hard time settling for naps and sleep at night lately. Hmmm, food for thought.
-
@Jess1483: I’m curious about how they figured out they needed to take out the tonsils and adenoids. Was your student evaluated by their pediatrician or someone else?
Our oldest is nearly six and is a super deep sleeper. So deep that she regularly wets the bed. She also falls asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. She definitely seems to exhibit ADHD symptoms too, but I’ve often wondered if it was sleep related.
-
@LemonJack: I don’t completely remember. I know he had never been a great sleeper, and was getting significantly worse. I think he’s also had strep or something. They saw their pediatrician and then an ENT and did a sleep study.
-
My son is 4 (will be 5 in August), not formally diagnosed but I'm sure he has it. Also possibly on the autism spectrum and has anxiety and a severe fine motor delay and a more moderate gross motor delay. He is in OT, about to start PT. We were supposed to have him formally evaluated next week, but...corona.
He is the oldest in his preschool class, but the least mature and the least attentive by a long shot. He goes to a lab preschool, his teacher meets with us a few times a year and does evaluations and has serious concerns, as does his OT. "He's the oldest, but acts like the youngest". Gets overwhelmed with sensory stimuli; has trouble interacting with other children he doesn't know sometimes, extremely hyperactive, poor sleep, very anxious, cannot stay in a seat, cannot stay focused on an activity at all, struggles with following directions at home and at school.
He had his tonsils and adenoids out (and needed to due to infections and sleep apnea). Unfortunately, we're still dealing with sleep issues, just different ones. I think due to his anxiety or maybe hyperactivity, it's like he fights his body to stay awake. Like he will wake up at 4am and instead of just rolling back over and going to sleep, he will start running circles or jumping up and down to attempt to stay awake. And he's so exhausted it makes everything else 100x worse.
Quarantine is very hard right now.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
17 comments