Sure its not AHDD but....

[Kaz33]

He definitely displays some of the characteristics of AHDD and I am interested in any thoughts on diet and behaviour issues.

He is not so much physically hyperactive but:

• is always talking
• is very sensitive to changes
• does things without thinking, very reactive
• is violent (both verbally and physically)
• is totally jealous of his little brother
• finds it difficult to concentrate on any task
• is always fiddling with things and other people (incapable of keeping his hands to himself)
• loses himself and just blanks out ( occassionally)
• spaces out in front of TV and computer. (We have just syopped all TV and computer usage for about 6 days and his behaviour has changed a bit but in some ways more hyperactive and jumping around more)
• doesn't really like to play on his own.

I think he is on the spectrum so really looking on for thoughts on what works with kids like this.
He has just completed his first year at school and seems to have done ok - comments about fidgeting and being a bit shy.

HC ~ you have spurred me on to find out more. Where can I got to find out about dietary changes?

We went to Bibic last year and changed dd's diet and did see a huge change. Unfortunately I have let things slip and she is having the odd hubba bubba and glass of lemonade

I really need to sort myself out!

JJ2 - DS2 was definitely a mix of food allergies, with a terror of school, and a complete phobia of all things 'literacy' (due to his dyslexia). His fears compounded his problems and difficulties with socialising. School made him angry, scared and prone to self-harming. He now gluten, dairy, school and stress free - and flourishing!

BH - I just googled 'allergy induced autism', as my friend's DS has this, and has a much more restricted diet than we provide for DS2. Hopefully you'll find some helpful links here. Just want to clarify that I'm not saying that my DS2 had autism and that his GF/DF diet cured or stopped it. He had ASD-like symptoms that were mis-diagnosed.

HC ~ so do you think your ds was misdiagnosed or that with the help of all the interventions has outgrown them?

I have a 7 yr old dd with a mixture of things so am really just keen to see if I can help dd in anyway.

BH - the consensus of opinion amongst the medical people involved in assessing DS2 is that it was a set of severe food allergies that caused symptoms similar to those found with ASD. They say that it was 'probably' a mis-diagnosis as he is now completely asymptomatic. I think that the socialising aspects have also improved due to him maturing though - and he can now see situations more clearly because he's not fogged up with all those allergic reactions. He is now able to see things from another persons' perspective, and is aware of consequences.

That's great news HC

my son struggles with seeing things from others perspective, i will try cutting out certain foods and see if that makes a difference too

The more I think about it I think DS1 dad probably has adult ADHD to a certain extent. He is:

• disorganised
• impulsive to a worrying amount
• childish
• has problems with maintaining personal relationships

The sites say that the symptoms might diminish as you grow up but adults often develop strategies for dealing with it.

And it is something that often runs in families.

I feel like I am sitting here with a dictionary desperate to diagonise my family. Does anyone have a knowledge of this?

.

I have just come back to this thread by accident and it is so interesting to reflect on where we are now.

At the time of this thread I booked DS1 in for kiniesology with a specialist who deals with children with learning difficulties - a process which we have nearly finished.

It has been a fascinating journey, we have dealt with physical structure, neurological blockages for certain activities like reading and writing. He totally fixed his atrocious pencil grip which DS1 refused to change. We did a lot of work on diet, supplements and blocking things out of his diet such as additives and sugar. We have also dealt with NLP, helping to support his self esteem.

My son is the same but different, he is still ultra sensitive to all forms of outside influences from diet, TV, perceived inequalities in treatment.

But now coming to the end of YR1 he can write very well, can now read, gives eye contact, is less violent, more understanding of other people. He gives me unrequested hugs
and trusts me

I am roughly £800 worse off but I have learnt so much about my son and had the recent pleasure at parents evening of the teacher being only positive about my son's progress and behaviour.

Just wanted to share.

That's good news Kaz. I'ts great when you can seem some progress. Did you actually get a diagnosis in the end? I ask as my DS (9) is ADHD.

No his behaviour was not bad enough / had not deterioated enough for me to talk to the school about it. But I do know that something was wrong and DS1's fragile self esteem was suffering.

It was like unpeeling an onion, dealing with one thing to then deal with another and as a parent I had to unlearn at lot of my parenting techniques and admit where I was getting it wrong.

The therapist said that he was hyperactive (though not severely) and with dxyspraxic tendencies. Probably one of the biggest changes was cutting sugar completely out of his diet for a month. Now I do try and limit it and when he starts to get a bit out of control then I just cut it out again. I feel now that I have proven techniques that work.