Can you tell me a bit about young boys/ADHD vs typical boys

[schlooby]

I have only got one DS so nothing to compare him to No current diagnosis of anything.He is the second DC, eldest is a super compliant girl who is doing well at school.

DS is 5.5 and in reception. He is not doing well at school and I was chatting to one of the other mums who mentioned how much he reminds her of her son before he went on medication (for ADHD).

He is very bright and inquisitive - but utterly non-compliant. Very selective hearing. Very 'engineering' type mind - if he can build it/climb it/dance with it, he is in . He is able to read/write a bit but mostly won't. He starts wittering about a details in the picture of telling me about something else and simply refuses to look at the words but he will happily make up a reasonable guess to match the pictures in his book. Won't settle down to sleep until very late - like 2230ish mostly, often wakes in the night and gets into my bed. Likes to sleep in his sisters bed the rest of the time. But can totally concentrate on a long film and tell you all about it in a way she won't. He has broken bones twice doing reckless stuff. He is not at all interested in praise from his teacher etc - he just wants to do what he wants to do, and isn't bothered if it gets him in trouble (though he doesn't go out of his way to be naughty IYKWIM)

So any suggestions -am I ignoring a problem or just seeing that two children have very different personalities/strengths.

Hi

Hmmmm... I'm not too familiar with ADHD. Obviously there has to be symptoms of lack of attention, hyperactivity. Though saying that, there are some kids who do have ADHD but actually are not hyperactive but do have some attention issues.

When I read your post, your DS seems like he has some autistic traits. Though this could be that I know quite a lot about autism, and the traits between ADHD and autism do overlap.

But I think that if your concerned, talk to the school and talk to your GP. Write a list of your DS behaviours and present that to your doctor and hopefully you would get a referral.

I honestly don't see autistic traits in him, it's very hard to articulate.

but I don't know if I'm blanking out something in a denial type fashion tbh.

plus I'm an hcp and possibly can't see the woods for the trees because he's my own.

He is very articulate and tuned in to tones of voice and facial expression. wide and interesting vocabulary very determined and stubborn. He is a gorgeous boy but also quite hard work.

I honestly don't know what I think. It's not the first time I've pondered along these lines. but bit of a shock for someone else to mention it I think.

thanks Polter I'll check those out

Schlooby go with your gut instinct. It will depend on how much his behaviour is affecting his everday life at home and school that will determine any assessment or possible diagnosis. My ds was dx ADHD at aged 7, now 11. I knew when he was about 3 that one day, someone would say something to me about his behaviour. They actually raised their concerns when he was 6. What does his school say? Sorry, what is an 'hcp'?

I'm a health care professional.

school have only expressed concern about the excessive not listening and non compliance basically.

He is good at charming other children and plays nicely with them but doesn't recognise when they are not very kind to him. School wise he is just not engaged with it at all. He says 'I'm just not up for that stuff' which about sums him up.

I'm worried he won't achieve as much as he could because school isn't able to get him interested enough I think.

What he really needs imho is like a forest school or some kind of technical college for 5yo's where he gets some high value/concrete reward for learning stuff iykwim.

I mostly think he is just not getting what he needs from school and is a very cheeky awkward stubborn little bugger rather than anything else.

The school isn't very good tbh. I'm a governor there and I know its not very good.

by reward I mean reward he perceives as high value. eg I think he would read if it was lego instructions or a den building guide or a camping survival book but he doesn't like 'reading books' esp as what he can read is so much simpler than what he can understand.

I dont have a Ds but I used to describe Dd1 as Durracell bunny on speed!!

She never settled at anything, she was impulsive and flitted round the house/garden all day long.

At night her sheets would be off and she could turn a duvet round inside the cover!! As a baby she used to escape from a babygrow because of all the thrashing around.

She uesd to run off in shops and just about everywhere else!!

She never got a diagnosis but I am fairly sure she has ADHD and possible Aspergers as well.

Food had a massive impact on her behaviour and as an adult she now self regulates by eating the stuff that makes her hyper so she can keep going that little bit longer!!

She survived school by doing loads of sport, so secondary was better than primary.

I would recommend keeping a diary of your Ds's issues and taking it to your GP and asking for a referral to a developmental paediatrician.

Good luck