Adhd??

[mrssparkle123]

Posting on here for traffic, please don't tell me I'm being unreasonable 🙂
Oh and well done to anyone who makes it to the end of the post.... it will be a challenge!

Hi everyone,

I went to the GP with concerns about my 4 year olds behaviour and I only got a third of the way down my list when he said he'd refer us to rule out adhd, he did say it could be that there's nothing wrong with my son but a paediatrician would be able to assess more extensively than he could.

The concerns I have are mainly 'normal' child behaviour (I think) but possibly not that at the frequency and extremity that my son displays them. My brother is dyspraxic and some of these things do overlap, so that's also a possibility. I would just like some opinions from anyone who knows about adhd...

1. random loud noises at random times
2. very loud
3. interrupts half way through a sentence
4. 1 way conversations
5. frequent emotional outbursts, screaming and crying up to 10 times a day
6. irrationally aggressive, violent behaviour towards younger sibling (for example if he says a word he doesn't like)
7. hates loud noises
8. hysterical laughter
9. impulsive behaviour (jumping up on the table randomly)
10. always fidgeting, moving, can't sit still
11. lack of awareness of his own body (accidentally kicking people when flailing his limbs around)
12. obsessed with food
13. obsessed with death
14. inappropriate with body parts
15. very physical - sitting on people, squeezing people, jumping on people and likes people to do it to him, will be laughing while doing it and if the other child is crying he doesn't seem to realise/he able to stop
16. will totally switch off when television is on and be absorbed by it
17. very short attention span (unless it's for television!!)
18. very obsessive with characters/colours
19. very routined
20. takes a long time to fall asleep at night (up to 2 hours)
21. irrational fears, eg terrified of cars in the distance when he's on the pavement holding my hand, or terrified of a dog in the distance
22. appears sorry for doing something wrong but doesn't seem to stop himself from doing it 5 minutes later
23. repeats a question over and over until he is satisfied with your answer even though you've been saying yes all along
24. low self esteem and says he can't do things without trying
25. gets distracted half way through a task
26. instructions have to be repeated over and over very clearly and concisely

Thank you to anyone who managed to get to the end of my post 😂😂

Forgot to add incessant monologues (to point of making ears bleed!) and embellishment of the truth.

Your list could have been written about my son! His current diagnoses are autism, adhd, dyspraxia and sensory processing disorder. He's 8 and received his diagnosis for asd in may this year although we've been going through the core diagnostics process since he was 4!!

Weneed is that my list your son is similar to?

Things like the obsessional stuff I wouldn’t have thought was a big symptom of adhd

What people call obsession can be the hyperfocus aspect of ADHD. Sometimes there can be overlap with a co-morbid condition like OCD. But I know when I hyperfocus, I know I'm hyperfocuing, whereas other people, who cannot see inside my head like I can, think I,m being obsessive.

I just like something, and like it A LOT ... until I get bored with it after 24/7 focusing on it for some time. It can be really, really hard to stop. It's like riding a dragon. You try to steer, you kid yourself you are in control, but actually the dragon is going where he wants to go and can't even feel your thighs squeezing in an attempt to decide the direction of flight.

Looking back when I was little what people called me being obsessive was deffo me in hyperfocus. And it is probably the most prominent feature of my ADHD.

3 of mine have between them ADHD, ASD, Dyspraxia, Dyslexia, Sensory Processing difficulties.

Some of what you've listed is very much dyspraxia, some is typical 4 yo (body parts), some suggest ASD and some ADHD.

DS1 was dx with dyspraxia at 7 yo. We were convinced he was autistic but were just poo-poohed by the medical profession. Now he is an adult I have met people very much like him who have been dx with Autism. He is going through referral now.

DS2 was dx with ADHD and mild dyspraxia at 7 yo. He is now late 20s and has recently been dx with ASD as well, which surprised all of us.

DD2 was showing signs of ADHD from 4 yo, only obvious because we were looking for it. Referral to paed who said no, just young. On starting school I went straight to SENCO who wrote us a report for the GP to be referred to a different paed and got dx of ADHD when she was 6. That was followed by a dx of dyslexia at 10. We assume she has dyspraxia as well from the way she is, but don't have an official dx.

@WeAreSailing yes all of your list plus op's list. It's the incessant talking at you that drives me to the edge! He's in mainstream school just. But they are feeling he would be better in a more specialist school. I don't think there is anyway he will be able to stay mainstream for secondary school it's such a fight all the time to get them the help they need. It always comes down to funding and that sucks

In many areas you can self refer to children's occupational therapy, physiotherapy etc.
If you Google your local NHS Trust Children's therapy services you might be able to self refer, ours did do a phone referral system which meant that parents could phone them and they would ask loads of questions on a referral form then pass that on to the relevant therapists who would then go through the form and decide if further assessment was warranted they would then phone you and discuss this you and make the appropriate appointments if necessary, when I did this I had a response within 48 hours and an appointment with an OT for a week or so later.

From what you described your DS sounds a lot like mine and he has a diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, sensory processing disorder and a few other things as well. We were asked at the the time if we wanted an assessment for ADHD and were told that a diagnosis was likely but that the AS would be the primary diagnosis and that is what they would focus on.

@CesiraAndEnrico thank you, that's really interesting to hear from an adults point of view, because actually that sounds VERY much like my son!

@weneednopants oh my goodness, so at 4 what did you do to start the diagnostic process? Was it really obvious to you and others that your son had additions needs? Because outsiders say my son is a totally average 4 year old... my list doesn't seem too average though but everyone else doesn't see all of that because they don't spend all day and night with him!

@HaveYouSeentheWritingontheWall will take a look asap although it's not something I've heard of in my area :-(

@WeaselsRising so interesting, what on my list stands out as dyspraxia to you? It would be the most obvious as my brother has it and I've read it can be hereditary. But from the sounds of things I'm not going to get anywhere fast!! It's so hard to not have a diagnosis as I just don't know how to help.

@WeAreSailing that sounds exactly like my son, the monologue.... and if you try to butt in to the monologue, oh my goodness the outbursts. I know I shouldn't try to butt in but sometimes it's painfully slow and he's repeating parts of the sentence over and over and we're getting nowhere 🙄

I have four children, two of which do all (or most) of those things on your list, one diagnosed with adhd and asd and the Other on the pathway (with very obvious asd).

Diagnosis will depend a lot on the area. Here no one is diagnosed before 6 my eldest was at 6. Referrals have to be made via the school only (although GP can push things if needed), waiting lists are years long just to be seen though.

@mummyhaschangedhername goodness me...! My gp has referred us to paed consultant, so not sure what that will achieve! I'm not really sure what to do to help him in the meantime.

Does anyone know anything about auditory processing disorder?

@Tretchikoff @Threeminis @Stressedout10 @Singlenotsingle @PutYourBackIntoit @NotSoThinLizzy @mouse26 @Lisabel @librarysuperstar @incogKNEEto @Impulsesealer @HopeSpringsEternal2017 @Earslaps @depleted @deliciousdevilwoman @Curious2468 @CripsSandwiches @Cath2907 @cameltoeflappyflapflap @Brandnewstart @Badbadtromance @arethereanyleftatall @5000KallaxHoles @QuietNinjaTardis @WeAreSailing @WeaselsRising @HaveYouSeentheWritingontheWall @weneednopants @mummyhaschangedhername

Sorry if I've tagged anyone who this doesn't apply to. I just thought this would be the easiest way, I've thought of something I didn't add to my list and wondered what potty training looked like for anyone who's had a diagnosis of adhd/asd/dyspraxia?

My son started at just over 2, took to wees in a matter of days and had no accidents at all, until around 3 weeks in he needed to go when we were on the motorway and I couldn't stop, he was screaming and eventually wet himself, after that he refused to go to the toilet unless I sat him on there and he held it for hours, he even gave himself a urine infection, he eventually started going normally again after a few months

Poos.. my god, well he used to have toddler diarrhoea and go up to 5 times a day, when potty training he became so scared of this that he would hold it and became constipated, he then became scared of this so he trained himself to go in his sleep! I saw multiple gp's, community health nurses, health visitors and finally a paediatrician who all said they'd heard of children holding it and going in a nappy but never came across holding it until asleep - every night!

He continued constipated and we had to use all sorts of laxatives - he'd still hold it even with them! We got a really strong one and eventually he started to have to go in the day but he'd shake with fear, we'd tried reading on the toilet, singing, blowing bubbles, drawing pictures, all the advice and eventually with the laxatives started going. But then any time a change in his life happened - daddy at home for Christmas, new children in his preschool class, we had to start all over again! It's only been stable for the last month or so and even that could change again. It's taken nearly 2 years!

Looking back now I obviously wish I'd just stopped potty training but all the professionals told me not to and I suppose these problems could have occurred any time I tried!

You (almost 5) DS is currently being assessed, and he does pretty much everything on your list. He potty trained very quickly, only wet the bed twice, but after a bit of mild constipation he got so terrified of having a poo he started withholding. He wound up severely constipated, which had to be treated, and is now on a maintenance dose of movicol to stop it getting that bad again. He still routinely lies about needing a poo, and will often end up sprinting at the last second to the toilet.

@ipswichwitch very interesting, what is he being assessed for and who has he been referred to?

My ds didn’t potty train until he 3 1/2 he got wees pretty quickly after several days of accidents and was fine but pooed his pants regularly for weeks. He was ok after A couple of mo this poo wise but everything was a struggle. So getting him to wipe himself, getting him to wash his hands etc etc. Everything you ask him to do has to be repeated umpteen times until it sinks in and even now we still get cries of ‘i Don’t know what to do’ for various things.
Getting dressed, putting shoes on can still end in temper tantrums at the slightest misstep.

@QuietNinjaTardis sounds the same as our household 🙄

Toileting difficulties can be common with asd and actually adhd. Not really a way to diagnose but can be a part of the fuller picture. I taught a boy with adhd who got so over whelmed and/ or excited he had no idea he needed the loo. Only happened occasionally though.

There's a few ASD flags in there too OP. Excellent GP you have there. Mine is useless.

Sounds very similar to my DD (4). She is on ASD pathway. Too young for ADHD investigations at present

Some of your list sounds like dd14. She has an ocd diagnosis and is on the waiting list for an adhd assessment. She has been assessed for asd twice in the past but I don't think it's that. Camhs agree, too.

I have pretty much seen something different since birth and I have a younger ds so she's not my only. I have jumped through several hoops and feel guilty for not fighting enough. Girls are hard ti diagnose, though, so you will have better luck him being a boy

DD ticks many of the things on the list and she has ASD.

In regards ADHD, as PP mentioned it is not the end of the world. A close friend of mine has just had a ADD/ADHD diagnosis at the age of 38, she has a law degree and has a fab job. She does struggle with a few every day things but the diagnosis now means that she can find strategies to manage her life better. Thought I'd share this as she found her diagnosis a real eye opener as to why she always saw the world differently as a child.

Good luck with ped assessment. I found DD's dx came both as a relief as well as a bit of a shock. We get a lot of support now which is great. She's 4 next week so starting school next year.

@KitandPup I only got about 5 deep into my list and the doctors words were 'ok ok, I think we'll put a referral in to rule out adhd' I was a bit stunned and put out I didn't get to share the rest of my list! But very grateful. Although not sure how useful the referral will be at this point at 4 years old!?