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 😂😂

Oh yes, DS has sensory processing issues as well. As do I, but I was always told that was related to having glue ear for many years as a child and subsequent hearing loss.

It won't be the case for all children, but if he breathes through his mouth it is worth investigating.

Sounds like my son when he was 4. he has autism

at first glance I though, yep, very like my son, but not everything. he's 9. when he was 4? definitely. I can still count 16 of the list that's pretty typical. he doesn't have a lot of sensory issues (the contrary, he seems at times to be undersensitive). he was diagnosed with ASD when he was 7, and I'm positive he also has ADHD, and I'll be pursuing a formal diagnosis (because if meds will help I am all for it).

our GP was also great, but the thing that really made the difference was when school came on board, which was in year 2. the gap between him and his peers became so much more noticable then. what might have still be judged to be within the bounds of "normal" for a 4yr old - 5yr old was noted as not normal for a 6+yr old. it helped that his Y2 teacher was a very experienced woman, v straight to the point with me, no messing about.

@WeAreSailing good luck with the private assessment, please can you let me know how it goes? I am struggling to find anything privately that will lead to an actual diagnosis if necessary, as most say they won't diagnose this young or can't test these things this young!

@Roomba that is very interesting! I'm so glad for you that he's settling well now but it must have been soul destroying to go for so long without a diagnosis. I am so worried that my sons self esteem is just getting lower and lower and I don't know what to do for the best!

I’d look at ASD and dcd with that list and SPD.

@Dontcallmelenyoulittleprick on paper it does look a little like autism, however he can adapt to some new situations really well, he waltzed into school on his first day no problem and he's not having the meltdowns etc at school, he used to have them a lot at preschool but that settled down as time went on. It's so upsetting because people say he's 'having a tantrum' or doing it for my attention but I can see that it's because he genuinely can't understand what's going on with the situation or can't cope with it.
And then people think I'm making excuses for 'bad behaviour'

I just really am not sure, because I don't know enough about autism!

@Tomorrowillbeachicken I'm leaning towards those things as well after a lot of research. He's definitely got sensory issues and anxiety. I'm just not sure about DCD and ASD. Wouldn't it have been glaringly obvious to his preschool if he had ASD?

@MrsMartinRohde it just feels so overwhelming with a long road ahead of me. And actually he could just be a NT little boy who's a bit sensitive! But I'm really struggling at home with him. My husband can't cope with him at all and it's breaking my heart because he's a beautiful lovely little boy, who comes across as demanding, spoilt, rude and has up to 10 meltdowns every day!

Your DC is still very young, but a lot of these behaviours are definitely within ASD. Impulsivity, sensory issues, over emotional reactions, inability to ‘read’ other people’s emotions, one way conversations, and a mix of distractibility/lack of focus, and over focus. They are also things a child can grow out of. As a parent, you can feel if there’s something wrong though. Definitely enough here for a referral. I took my DS to the GP at 5 yrs. He didn’t get a diagnosis then, although he did need xtra support at school and he has now got a ASD diagnosis at 12. He had some, not all, of the behaviours you describe.

@nellieellie we've been referred to a paediatrician but his school have told me it will be months until we'll hear anything and they'll probably say we can't have an appointment but they'll re-review in 18 months...! It's so hard to know because of his age, a lot of it could be down to just being young and sensitive but at least 3 times a day I think something is definitely not quite right!

Just to add, no child with ASD is the same as another. My DS has imagination, empathy and a wicked sense of humour. He doesn’t have meltdowns as such. He does have social issues, ‘special interests’ which he talks about incessantly, focus and organisational problems, processing sensory and eating issues. They ruled out ADHD for him on the basis that although he can’t keep still, and finds it hard to focus on one thing, SOMETIMES, he will over focus and can’t hear anything else - eg he can spend hours on lego, reading, computer games or tv.(the latter two, if he were allowed, which he isn’t!). To me, your D.C. sounds more ASD. Early intervention and help can be very useful, so I would get him checked.

Tinker belle, I know the wait for diagnosis can be 2 years in some places. Ridiculous. It was over 12 months for us, as I badgered, and kept making phone calls. You can go for a private diagnosis.

@nellieellie thank you replying. I'd say my son also has over focus on colouring, television and whichever made up game he is playing. But he can give eye contact (although he says things like I'm scared of xyz because their eyes are looking at me)

How is ASD actually diagnosed?

Look for local support groups for eg ASD - sometimes you can get help/ therapy without formal diagnosis.

They use a mix of things for diagnosis. There is a standardised questionnaire which they go through with you. Then an assessment with a psychologist - they use play and pictures to observe, ask questions of child. They use age appropriate stuff to then test on things like processing speeds, sequencing. They do ‘theory of mind’ tests to see if your child can understand that other people have thoughts, feelings separate to his/her own. We had two separate days for the tests after an initial ‘screening appt’. Then huge wait for the report.

Oh, the eye contact issue. My DS has always had beautiful eye contact, big smiles. That’s what I mean. It varies so much from child to child.

@nellieellie all very helpful thank you, another thing is that from about age 2 my son could recognise if a face was happy sad or cross and he could do those faces too!? So he can recognise emotions!

@nellieellie having said that, I will add that I taught him this and even when he (rarely) comforts someone it seems it's learnt behaviour, in that he knows if he hurts someone he should kiss it better!

Just posting to bookmark and come back later. I’ve had worries about my DD for a while. Also have more than a few ADHD/ASD traits myself, although I genuinely don’t know whether that’s worth pursuing. Frankly I don’t have time for medical appointments for myself

I’ll come back later when I’ve read back through the thread properly.

Sorry to jump on the thread, I have always thought my son had perhaps something as he is very hard work and he had lots of these traits, he is 7 in a couple of weeks, how did you go about getting a diagnosis?

Teacher has said about shouting out before but I think she seemed to think he was just disruptive and naughty, he comes across as
Very immature and seemed to be not as bad over the holiday however now back to school I am struggling to deal with his behaviour again and he keeps having meltdowns. I am not sure where my first point of contact would be? Or even any books to help me know how to better cope with his behaviour because atm we are just butting heads and going round in circles!

I am not recommending this company because I have never used them - but I do recommend their questionnaire. Sometimes infant reflexes do not go dormant and it can create some of these symptoms. Some of your child's symptoms sound like ASD to me - my son has this and also had infant reflex issues and the brushing technique and therapy and other complementary therapies have helped a lot with keeping him calm and happy.
www.inpp.org.uk/child-screening-questionnaire/

All of the above!
Having said that it became much clearer when all those behaviours fell by the wayside for the other children and not DS1 - so when he was about seven I could not ignore what I'd known all along. It becomes clearer and clearer.

Its good to 'rule it out' They really don't diagnose unnecessarily (despite what the media would have you believe). Never turn down assessments from misplaces pride or not wishing to 'label' 0- so many of us fight fro referrals.

Good Luck OP - the special needs board here is great

Late to the discussion, but it all sounds very much like my ds1, who is diagnosed with autism and ADHD.

And yes, one autistic child can be utterly different from the next. I have two children with autism - they are completely different, but both autistic.