Dd going crazy after writing a bit

[Totpisinthenineties]

Getting really worried about Dd, 5. She was always very bright, early to talk, large vocab etc. We’ve always done activities-crafting, reading, she loves me doing sums with her and so on. Today we were writing out santas letter, she was sounding out words and writing the letters-some backwards and so on, all very normal, she then went just really silly and scribbled everywhere, then was hyper for around 30 minutes, I’ve noticed this for a while now after concentrating on an activity for a short time. Is this a sign of adhd/ASD I’m not understanding it at all

Christmas is exciting, lots of change everywhere, check her sugar, additives intake, food colouring can cause this.

It's likely she has too much to process and is trying to self regulate by being 'hyper' as you say.

If you are concerned look at her developmental milestones for age, communication skills and self regulation, self awareness around safety etc.

@PTSDBarbiegirl Developmental milestones and communication all great, self regulation not great, very hyperactive
and emotional at times

Is she is reception or year 1?

One of my DD’s started to struggle noticeably (well, noticeably to me anyway, school said she was fine) when they moved to year 1, and it was all around literacy lessons that she lost her confidence and got stressed. She felt like she wasn’t good enough at it and I couldn’t get any concentration from her at home for reading or writing at all (she loved art and crafts and could concentrate easily there).

She is very bright and she was lively and happy and sociable. Okay, I knew she was on the sensitive side and she always had sleep problems and some tantrums at home, but I didn’t have any real worries at that point.

The jump to year 2 made things worse. The literacy work seemed to bother her much so that it began to cause her to cry sometimes before school. School said she was doing well & she did keep up and concentrate in school (no-one was seeing her distress about it, which she showed at home).

If I tried to do any homework with her, we got a couple of lines completed (at most) and then she would be off cartwheeling around the garden before she would reengage at all, then repeat.

To cut a very long story short, she was diagnosed with autism at 8 and ADHD at 9. Still bright and lively and fun, but now on adhd medication (which has helped hugely) and currently on a part-time timetable at school.

It is SO hard for her to concentrate on an academic work that involves sitting down; she needs to move in order to concentrate and to regulate herself when she is trying to learn.

This may well not be the case for your daughter. I share it though as I absolutely kicked myself for not getting my DD on the assessment pathway at 6, as I knew full well that something was going on, but I didn’t trust my gut. It takes around 2 years, or more, to be assessed by the NHS in my area.

By the time my DD was diagnosed, at 8, she was actually fast tracked a bit as she was so burnt out from trying to cope in school that she had become severely mentally unwell she could barely leave her room at times never mind attend school.

She is still wonderful, and has recovered from burnout at the moment, and being neurodivergent is not a bad thing - it is part of her personality and brings strengths too (she has extremely high empathy levels for example, has strong morals, and cares very deeply about people, animals and the environment).

I just wish I had acted sooner because of the effects on her mental health, when we didn’t understand the effect that school was having on her, or how much she needed support.

The risks of assessing for adhd, or dyslexia, for example, are pretty low.

The risks of missing it though are much higher. You are right to keep an eye on things.

Shes 5, she’s meant to be running around playing unless she wants to write something, which again should be a scribble or words or whatever she wants.

@AngrySheep This is exactly what i’m
wondering too, I have a private assessment for her next month

She's 5. She's acting like a 5 year old. Your expectations of her seem to be the problem here. Lower your expectations and you'll see she's just being a typical 5 year old. Goodness me, my 5 year old and all her friends and classmates must be neurodivergent by your description. She's fine OP honestly, stop stressing. Reception is a massive jump in learning from nursery, so she's probably just had enough and a bit fed up with having to concentrate. Try again another day when she's had lots of fun non education play and you'll probably get a different result!

I think it's possible that her teacher may have inadvertently put her off if she's quite negative about play and maybe pushing the writing. Your daughter could be resisting/put off because of this. Just what struck me.

She maybe needs a low arousal environment at these times, calming sounds, lights low, no clutter. Look at her sensory overload, she could need less time spent on these activities but do them more often or try something totally different to help her discover what will help her to self regulate. Pop up dark tent somewhere to retreat to or fluffy blanket or water to play with.

@mikado1 Yes, I’ve wondered if it could be partly this too

I agree, I doubt there is anything wrong with her. She sounds normal for a five year old.

i think the condition we can diagnose is ‘this is a five-year-old’

I just have a gut feeling, but am also a worrier, so perhaps it’s just me

You DD has it developmentally right, all she should be doing is playing! I would pull back completely and follow her lead on it at home. Pushing won't help.
(Teacher myself)

She’s five, she’s no doubt tired after a week at school, writing is hard, she’s probably excited for Christmas. She hasn’t caught ADHD from school, if she was fine before she’s fine now, she’s just tired. Why are you so desperate to stick a label on your kid?

My experience is that until about 9 or 10 children really struggle to regulate their behaviour in early December. Combination of a long term, cold wet weather (so less time outside) and Xmas excitement.

No idea, but my ASD/ADHD child gets really tired after concentrating on something, rather than having a burst of energy.

Speaking as a reception class teacher, that sounds completely normal.

Is it mainly writing activities that you notice the changes as I’m not sure why you’ve jumped to ASC? Have you considered whether she may have dyslexia or dysgraphia instead?

Is it an ADHD or ASD assessment?

For an ASD one, the development questions focus very much on development and behaviours at age 4/5, that’s what the majority of the questions are about (and why it’s interesting that a few posters on here have confidently declared that she is “normal for a 5 year old!” despite never having met your DD nor being qualified to to carry out developmental assessments 🙈)

My parent interview was over 1.5 hrs long, just to go over the history before they met with me again to ask more about the current situation, then carried the ADOS tests with my DD.

There are a LOT of very specific questions in the history apt about how your child behaved in certain situations (& these can be hard to remember years later!) & so many things came up that I had completely forgotten about or that I just thought of as quirky at the time.

@AngrySheep General psychologist appointment, they’ve said it will be around 1.5 hrs for the first and then on average two more appointments

Her attention span is very short as that time.

I have no experience with a child this age but is it not quite common for them to slip back a little developmentally on starting school for reasons such as tiredness, change of environment, change of social group etc?
How does her routine compare with what she was doing before starting school? Was she at nursery? How much? Able to have a nap after lunch? To me all these changes might affect her concentration and application as you describe.

My 5 y/o does this sometimes after doing crafts or maths for a bit. I just chalk it up to getting bored and restless after doing an activity that requires concentration.

@LuvSmallDogs Does she/he go really silly and scribble everywhere, then act hyper for up to an hour…I honestly don’t see my friends dcs acting like this

@fulawitt I don’t understand sorry