DS has a SALT issue which he's been getting therapy for for the last 2 1/2 years. He is definitely improving. There's absolutely no concern for his receptive language and he's got a good vocab, uses sentences, etc.
However, his preschool (in the US so he doesn't start school until 2013) has been having a nightmare of a time with him and he's exhibited behaviors there that are out of control and very out of the norm for him. Three times when I've picked him up he's been totally out of control, dumped toy bins over, ran around the room, stuck his tongue out to touch a mirror, etc. The teachers said he'd kicked at children in class, headbutted (which for him is more like head pushing) and was a nightmare. I don't know why they didn't call me. He attends school 3 afternoons/week. Those 3 times were particularly bad but the school says he also has problems with keeping to his personal space and will roll around on the floor, touch other kids, etc during circle time/story time. They also say he doesn't have good fine motor skills - which I knew but thought would improve with practice at school.
I will say up front that he's definitely got a temper on him (as do his DPs) and DH most likely would have been diagnosed ADHD if they'd been doing that 40 years ago. DS fidgets, chews on toys (we've substituted bite stick things which he's happy to use), and is always on the go. He's happy to sit still for things he likes like doing Lego, puzzles and reading books. He's attended mommy & me classes for 2 years with no major incidents and the drop in daycare we used to use @ 10 hours/week didn't have any problems that I'm aware of.
We went to a developmental pediatrician on Thursday who said borderline ADHD and ODD. The ADHD wasn't a surprise. The teachers are adamant he's got ODD because he doesn't want to do the activities or sit still when he should. I think he doesn't want to sit still because he has a hard time doing the work and he's a bit of a perfectionist. He did the tasks the Dr. asked him to do with no problems until she asked him to draw a picture of himself. He has a hard time drawing and basically asked why he should since she could see him. I actually thought it was pretty funny (it wasn't said in a mean way) but she said it was defiance because an authority figure asked him to do something and he refused (he did eventually draw a face. Badly.). The doctor said that ODD is a refusal to do something when asked. DS says no a lot but will do as he's asked without any huge issues 95% of the time. I had the impression that ODD was more serious than that.
He's going to get an OT eval just as soon as I can get an appointment. And we're going to get a referral for a psychologist to work on impulse control/ODD/ADHD issues.
Holy smokes, this is long. My real question is, I guess, what can ADHD and ODD look like in a young child?
Thanks if you made it this far!
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What can ADHD & ODD look like in under 5s?
laraeo · 28/10/2012 20:52
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