6 year old concentration / hyperactivity issues

[fatherchewylouis]

Duplicating a post I put in behaviour / development as not sure the best place for it:

I have had growing concerns about my 6 year old for nearly a year now. He has been exhibiting increasing types of behaviour associated with ADHD and my husband and I have gone through phases of worrying about it and then relaxing a bit and hoping he will grow out of it but we have just had parents evening and it seems the issues we have been worrying about at home have been manifesting at schoool and are now affecting his schooling.

My husband displays a large number of these same characteristics too and in fact before we even had children we had the conversation that these days he may well have been diagnosed with ADHD but it wasn't really done when we were children. Although my husband has done well for himself now he did under-achive academically and was labelled a naughty boy throughout school.

My husband and I are now in disagreement about whether to go down the route of having my son assessed. My husband argues that although there is obviously an issue, it is mild and he himself is a testemant to the fact that it doesn't need to affect your ultimate success in life and that he may still grow out of it so why potebtialy label him with a disorder and put him through investigations. But I feel he is not entirely objective due to his own experiences with similar.

My view is that if (big if) there is a clinically recognised disorder there, that by recognising it we will get more help dealing with it and more hope of him achieving his academic potential (he is currently underperforming) and also I am concerned that my son is now getting a naughty boy label when I really don't think he is a bad boy, it is clear to me that he really doesn't appear to be able to control himself in some circumstances and I would rather him have an ADHD label than a label of naughty boy or trouble maker.

I know that no one can tell me whether he does have a problem or what to do, but I would be interested in people's views on the pros and cons of investigations and a possible diagnosis vs pros and cons of not making a big deal of it and not labelling him with a "disorder" and allowing him the opportunity to grow out of it.

All thoughts and opinions greatly welcomed (even if they seem harsh - am prepared to accept I am totally neurotic if the cap fits).

Thanks

Depends how severe it is. My son was medicated from 6 onwards because he couldnt learn properly without it - every time the teacher's back was turned he left his seat to do something else he fancied doing - like going through the toy boxes on the shelves, and he was like a butterfly, going from one thing to another with only a minute in between. Having said that, he could watch TV and do Lego for England, but in class, it didn't work for him.
If you're really not sure, then you could always set a deadline for yourselves of 6 months before you go down the medical route, to try other non-drug-related things - like Omega 3 & 6, vitamin supplements like magnesium and zinc, or amino acid supplements, The Listening Programme, the Dore Programme, etc etc . Hope helps

HI My son is now 8 & Ive been through the same thing with him
He is borderline ADD according to the Doctors & Is on school action + which I would definately push for as you get extra help & funding at school . Im being called in again this week & I might push for him to get statemented for more funding cos he is not getting very far with education.
HTH