Could this be ADHD?

[fulltimedaddy]

I’m a little concerned that we’re missing something in my son, but I’m not sure what to do about it.
He started his first term of school recently, he’s doing amazingly well, reading and writing seem to be going well, teachers say he’s a superstar, listens well to instructions etc, but at home, he just cannot sit still for more than 5 or 6 seconds, he will constantly change position, as if he’s never comfortable, sitting on the sofa to watch tv etc is a nightmare, after a few minutes it drives me crazy.. if I ask him to stop, he’ll just wander off and do something else.. my wife says he’s just got ants in his pants, or he’s leaping, but I’m starting to think it could be the sign of something more serious..
he’ll also try and push or rub his feet on us/flex his ankle, he will stop when asked, but just says it feels nice..
also, when we drop him off at school his other friends are basically running around ferile in the playground, but he never joins in, he just seems happy to observe, which is my other concern.. obviously we can’t see what he’s like with the other boys at school during the day, and teachers have said he’s interacting with everyone.. I dunno there’s just something odd that I feel like we’re missing..

Not ADHD no. If he had ADHD he wouldn't be able to hide it at school basically. It sounds more like he's on the ASD spectrum...I have two children, one has ADHD and the other has ASD

The child with ASD is good all day at school and then it comes out at home...it's called "Masking".

My child with ADHD is a nightmare all the time. In a good way...but hard work.

He sounds fine! If he's doing well at school he's unlikely to have adhd. Remember especially after he's just had a long day at school he WILL be exhausted so don't expect too much. Have you observed him play in any playdates etc? ASD is so talked about now and that's fantastic but sometimes we forget that our kids are allowed to have their own likes/dislikes and even be a bit quirky and it doesn't have to have a medical label. From what you're saying he sounds entirely neurotypical. However, even if he does have adhd/asd he's going to have them all his life whether you diagnose it now or in 18 years. He's not going to come to any significant harm because diagnosis was delayed. If he's thriving which he sounds to be then enjoy him and don't try to fix what aint broken

That's a lot of claptrap Jann diagnosis can help children get support when they need it which is often as they hit puberty.

Things can go from "fine" to an absolute nightmare. If he has not got anything going on then no harm done. If he has, it won't always be a breeze.

Well I think it's claptrap to tell somone their kid has ASD when there's literally no evidence of that. The OP is describing a kid who is thriving at school, has no problems making friends and who just happens to prefer not ro run around like a lunatic sometimes and figit a bit other times. I fully accept that getting a diagnosis is important and if something appears to affecting a child's progression or mental health then absolutely this should be investigated. I just don't see why parents are always in such a rush to permanently abel their child with a neurological condition as soon as their child does anything remotely outside the norm. Just relax and enjoy them, give them chance to settle into school and deal with problems if they arise.

Nobody's 'in a rush' to label their kids. Some are interested in a diagnosis. Which is not a label.

MANY kids with ASD are happy, sociable and thriving at school. You're just showing your ignorance.

I'm not ignorant at all thanks. I just understand enough about these conditions to realise that not every quirk or minor inconvenience in a child has to have a medical diagnosis. I am not ignorant at all I fully understand that these conditions present very diversely and at different levels of extremity and would always wholeheartedly advocate for them to be included and thrive in school and life in general. However I just don't get why people have a harder time accepting that a child is neurotypical than accepting that they have a condition which is actually really rare. Kids aren't going to perfectly tick all of our boxes all of the time. We are sometimes doing them a disservice by not just accepting them for who they are.

Jann It sounds like you're speaking from experience...not from a wider perspective because your mention of people who have a harder time accepting a child is neurotypical than not seems to be anecdotal.

I've never met ONE parent like that and I work with children who have additional needs. Almost all of those parents, at least in the early days, are desperately trying to see neurotypical traits in their children.

Accepting a child for who they are is par for the course. Getting a diagnosis is vital when there's something else going on. And if the investigation results in nothing? GREAT! Job done.