Hyperactivity label? [titled edited by MNHQ]

[Flojobunny]

Health visitor wants to refer DD (4 yo) for hyperactivity assessment. What is it with health care professionals trying to stick kids in to boxes.
Yes she's always on the go, yes she doesn't sleep but she's my DD and that is that. No good can come of being labelled surely.

minouminou I always gave a damn - I didn't like being in trouble and desperately wanted to be good. I forgot everything and was always late, my mother could say something and seconds later it had gone out of my head. I was impulsive and a day dreamer so either in trouble for acting up or being away with the fairies. Homework was a disaster. I was labelled as a naughty, lazy, disorganised child and nearly excluded from 2 schools - the first I left before they could expel me, the second kept me on... just. I am academically capable but barely scrapped my A'levels

I am now so glad that I agreed to try the medication for my DS. He is flourishing in school now.

"My sister was told her son would not get extra help at school if she does not agree to medication.
My sister has refused because her son does not need medicating at home. They want it just because he is at school."

Who told her that? The school? They can't do that, her medical decisions for her child cannot be dictated by a school and they have to provide support if needed. She might have to fight for it because unfortunately schools are really good at not supporting children with SENs, even though they are required to by law, but it's nothing to do with the actual diagnosis.

Jake - DS1 is on atomoxetine (non-stimulant) and the last place it helped him was at school. He learnt to play productively and build lego models, following instructions which he had previously given up on after about 3 minutes. He has ASD as well as ADHD and our biggest surprise was, that instead of lying on the floor screaming in frustration, he told us (in no uncertain terms!) what was bothering him.

He had a big growth spurt, recently, and grew out of the dose he was taking. We had no idea what had hit us - he was back to being really impulsive, again.

Its amazing isnt it. My son is on Medikinet..20mg once a day. It was a big decision for me to agree to it but amazing because he learned to read. It has opened up the whole curriculum for him and he made so much progress that he skewed all the school's results. He progressed through 23 sub levels in two years....unheard of apparently and the school haf to explain theor skewed results....it was down to DS and the progress he made on medication.

ouryve - I believe there's fairly recent research showing that children with a dual diagnosis are being helped socially by ADHD medication, I haven't read anything about it yet as I'm a lot bit behind on my reading as I'm not currently working or training...but it's clearly doing more than just helping with impulse control if that is the case.

You sound exactly like my MIL did when her "lively" son was the same age as your dd. She refused to accept her was hyperactive and said he was "just like any other little boy his age" and was just "busy" when infact he very obviously had ADHD,he never kept still,wouldn't stop running round,was always on the go,was a complete nightmare to ge tot sleep at night ect. Then he started school and after a year of constantly disrupting the class and generally "misbehaving" the school had called MIL in several times-almost on a weekly basis,to discuss her sons dusruptive behaviour. Her excuse for it was "he's just too smart and doesn't find the work challenging enough so he gets bored easily" after a second year of the exact same behaviour they called MIL in and warned her in no uncertain terms that her son very clearly had behavioural problems and unless she took her son to see a doctor and behavioural specialist asap they were going to exclude him as his behaviour was that bad and report her to SS if need be.

MIL took the schools advice,and her son got diagnosed with ADHD,she did the diet changes ect and it had little impact,he then went on medication and he is soo much better off for it-and is top of his class in all subjects because he can now actually concentrate properly!

You may not want to "label" your dd but she will be far better off in the long run if you look into it now. You may find that the consultant finds there's nothing wrong with her but it certainly wouldn't hurt to get it looked into,especially if it does turn out that she has a behavioural problem :)

For me I found that the meds gave me back my daughter. It's easier to have a conversation with her, to do things as a family, it's less exhausting, she communicates better.

I love my dd, whether she's on meds or not, but anyone who knows her can tell within minutes if she's on her meds, as they are able to talk to her and interact much more easily.

She is also much happier in school.

I think 4 is very young for that diagnosis too. Admittedly I am not a doctor but my son was hyperactive until he reached 10 years old. There was talk of testing him but he grew out of it. However, it isn't a quick process of getting diagnosed and maybe starting early is a good thing instead of waiting for more problems at school to come up before testing.

My 12 year old was diagnosed with ADHD two months ago and we are now looking at ASD and a possible mental illness, conduct disorder perhaps.

Two of my children were diagnosed with learning disabilities from the age of three and they have received so much more help at school from the statement.

It is NOT a label. My kids don't have labels, they have medical diagnosis.

I actually had no idea we would get an ADHD diagnosis. I pictured an ADHD child to be a whirlwind of activity. That is not the case for mine. He has the hyperactivity and inattentive part but his hyperactivity is short lived and quite rare.

For those of you who have actively sought out answers and reasons as to why they feel their children have this possible disorder, did you find out why in French children the number is less than 1% while in the UK and America it is more like 9%. The French psychiatrists believe that it is a psycho-social and situational condition and instead of giving out drugs they prefer to look for the underlying issue that is causing the childs distress or behavourial changes - not in the brain but in the childs social context. Family therapy and psychotherapy are used to help the child to overcome and learn how to deal with issues and for the family to see their possible part in the childs behaviour. Out of curiousity, what do you feel about this way of dealing with it which is more holistic. As there is as yet no real evidence as to what constitutes ADHD or what causes it has anyone any experience of going down this route when finding out about their own childs behaviour.

Did you think that maybe some of us already know some of this and don't need to be patronized?

Davs are you for real? You want children with ADHD segregated? WTF?
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No - I want them to receive the best care and education suited to them.
Not to be drugged so they can 'fit in' to a class with other children who do not have ADHD.

Diabetes requires insulin - its life threatening!

I am not saying that severe ADHD may not require drugs but personally I find it disturbing that so many children are given drugs when there could be other options.

As I said - my sister was told her boy needed medication by 'experts' and he certainly can a handful for her at times and for his current teacher and yet - he wasn't for his last teacher or for his Nan or for me.

I would prefer other things to be looked at before 'labelling' / diagnosing ADHD or drugs being prescribed.

And by what constitutes ADHD I mean that there are so many variables rather than just one definite clearcut definition. I totally get that parents are dealing with children with problems, my friend has had hers on Ritalin for the last 20 years but was just curious to know if parents explore the therapy and family behaviour route.

rulesgirl, did you mean to sound so patronising?

Did it occur to you that the French migt be ...er...behind the times?

And their children will suffer as a result.

French psychiatrists also believe that autism is a form of psychosis and refuse to give treatment shown to have beneficial results because they subscribe to the theory that it is caused by mothers article here.

So funnily enough, I'm not convinced by their thinking on ADHD either.

No, sorry , didn't mean to be patronising. Apologies. I wondered as those of you with this have researched it more thoroughly, what was your opinion on the fact that it seems to be more of a problem in America and Uk and than in other countries.

tabulahrasa so why is only one of my 3 ds asd not convinced by French psychiatrists.

No rulesgirl, I didnt bother exploring any other optikns before resorting to drugs.

And Davsmum are you reading ANY of the posts through...or just the bits you want to read?

My child progressed through 23 sub levels of progress AFTER going onto medication. ..and within two years. The school actually had to explain their skewed results.

So his medication has helped him ACADEMICALLY not just socially.

Has the op been back?
Thought not.

rulesgirl is it not simply because we have better access to healthcare?

I'd like to see the long-term outcomes for these French children.
Counselling and family therapy will doubtless be useful to cope with the demands of dealing with and living with an ADHD sibling/child/spouse.

Actually France is way ahead of us here with regards to healthcare.