ADHD

[ThunderR0ad78]

Are there any ADD or ADHD specialists on here? I'd like to discuss my son as his school are making me concerned?

[scrabble1]

Not an expert but my son is 10 and was diagnosed at age 6. Navigated my way through the system alone and happy to answer any questions

[ThunderR0ad78]

Thank you for responding.......well in short my son is 8 in Yr 3 and his school has raised some concerns about his learning behaviours and general attention in the classroom.

They have said that he is very capable of good learning behaviours but is quite inconsistent with these. His teacher recognises that he is a little fidgety on the mat and with his things, pencil case etc and has said that he is a tactile learner. He can be quite disorganised generally with himself and his belongings although this has improved recently and I think he is making an effort to pay more attention and be more responsible for his things - actually this is much better.

Regarding his attention I have never noticed an attention issue at home so to speak when doing activities etc but do notice he has a tendency to switch off to conversation if he's not interested and often gives very little back to conversation if he's not motivated by it - for example if I want to talk to him about school issues etc. He has no problem with sequencing at home, when he decides to listen to what he's being asked to do but then this can again be inconsistent but he can do it, even boring things!

He can be a little unnecessarily difficult at times, awkward over small things like having to ask him 5 times to get his shoes on and get in the car etc which can cause needless stress but he is otherwise very easy company, doesn't tantrum or challenge parental decisions. He will stop any disruptive behaviour the minute I get firm or slightly raise my voice.

When a little younger, maybe 3-6 he was definitely was quite an impulsive character, couldn't be trusted to stop at roads on scooter etc which I always found to be a worry, would often show off in company but this behaviour was not repeated at home. In terms of his impulsivity this has greatly improved again but i still think he has has the potential to run in the road after a ball etc but I've always felt this is just his character / personality.

I feel a little in limbo, when describing these things to others I'm told it's nothing to worry about - does this raise any concerns given your experience? Thanks for your help!

[Checklist]

Yes, sounds just like DD with ADD! Problems tend to get worse at secondary, when its different classrooms and teachers every lesson; and homework is more demanding than at primary, where it was just reading, spellings, etc. For them, the inability to pay attention is the worst, but to an outsider, its the chronic disorganisation that causes massive problems as life gets more complicated!

[ThunderR0ad78]

Thanks for you reply.

I acknowledge that my son struggles with paying attention, but is very able to when he wants / decides to. Either to seek teachers positive comments or to get to his sports a bit earlier etc!

To be honest I have always considered my son to be a child who's motivated by what he likes and perhaps prone to switching off to stuff that doesn't interest him but then he's often does focus really well on speaking, homework etc then other times not so well.

Thinking about when I was a child I was exactly the same - but I'm not remotely ADHD or ADD. For example, I only learned that the M25 was a circle around London about 3 years ago when my job in advertising required me to travel! Before that anything regarding directions, motorways etc - forget it, not interested, will use a satnat!

I suppose I'm asking how do you tell what is personality and what is ADHD? Not all impulsive people are ADHD and I'm sure I'm correct in saying that not all children who are somewhat disorganised and find it hard to focus and/or concentrate have ADD.

As his mum I also suppose that had I thought he was ADHD or ADD alarm bells would have be ringing but he has never really caused me much concern - his behaviour is easily managed, he's lovely and calm most of the time. I find that he's a bit of a follower for example if a class mate jumps a fence, my DS will have to jump it twice, and twice as high!!! It's almost competitive as well as a little OTT! If a boy swears, he will say it again, twice! You catch my drift!!! But he wouldn't do this without a prompt ifswim! Having said that he still has a tendency to throw a ball without thinking who it could hit etc - I'd say we have about 2 of these instances in the past year, it's not a week to week thing and he has matured so much in the last year.

Any thoughts would be appreciated x