Autistic toddler, suspect ADHD as well

[NoMoreParades]

My nearly 3 year old ds diagnosed with autism and learning disability recently, I'm also suspicious he might have ADHD. Not that it's really important to have that additional label, and I know possible diagnosis is years away, but I'd appreciate if anyone with a DC with ADHD could tell me when they first suspected and what the signs were, especially that made their DC different to other children. Thanks very much.

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My youngest Ben had his ADHD picked up by 12 months and formally diaognosed by 18 months. At the time he was the second most hyperactive child the regional referral unit had ever diaognosed. He also had Aspergers which at the time the ADHD clouded but that was diaognosed by 2 years and he had a part-time special nursary place so I could get some sleep by then.

His eldest brother has Autism. Neither were easy toddlers although I have to admit Ben was easier to live with than Tim even though he did not sleep.

May I ask why you suspect ADHD?

Thanks Tribal, my ds is extremely physically overwhelming all the time, very impulsive, zero concentration span, no fear of anything, still dribbles excessively, drinks a lot, he's just full-on all the time and seemingly more so than other toddlers, even with his existing diagnosis. I've been googling but not getting very far.
That was very young for yours to be diagnosed, can I ask, when you say Ben was hyperactive, what sort of behaviours did he exhibit? Thanks again.

ASD kids tend to be hyper or hypo-tactile. If they are hypo-tactile they crave demand and need extra tactile imput making them physically overwelming. Hypers react badly to seamed clothes, anyone in their personal space even if thats over 5m in distance and so on. Sensory Smart sell clothes aimmed at hyper and hypo tactile ASD kids that might be worth looking into if you have a child who is always hugging, patting and demanding the same from everyone they meet. shop.sensory-smart.com/
Poor concentration can come from having an additional learning disability or severe communication disorder from the triad. It can take specilaists quite some time to work out if poor concentration stems from ASD, LD or if something else has joined the co-morbid mix. The lack of fear I recognise from Tim. He was not hyperactive just oblivious to danger as many are the further into the spectrum they go.

The dribble and excessive drinking may also be part of being hypo-tactile. Chat with folk assessing him for tips on diverting this love of mouthing water into something that is easier to live with for all of you.
Google is a blunt instrument it tends to pull up everything that has paid to have an ad attached or has embedded meta-tags. Start with the National Autistic Society for advice on managing hypo-tactile young kids.

Ben- before birth he landed me in hospital with polyhydro-nephritis as he kicked all the bloody time leaving me with kidneys three times the size they should be. At birth he was moving from one end of a cot to the other, slept less than 4 hours in 24, by two weeks he was trying to lift his own head and succeeding. By six weeks he was rolling across the floor and trying to grab everything. He found his feet very early then the fun really got going. He climbed everything, would shin up doors, broke child locks or solved them. ran everywhere. Screamed none stop as he struggled with expressive language thanks to word finding difficulties. He continued to barely sleep without displaying any sleep deprivation problems. He could slip reins inc the hyperactive five point harness I had for him. He would flit from thing to thing but would be very focussed upon said thing for the short period of time he was focussed. Very different to his brothers short attention span from not understanding things and looking constantly for something he could 'get'. Ben would act on ideas as he had them there was no thinking time and he had a heck of a lot of ideas. Tim did not have ideas he just moved from one thing to another with no constructive process discernable. Ben had word finding difficulties and would describe things by what they did as he could not recall nouns whilst Tim had a profound communication disorder and was not verbal till 7.
The real crux was Ben did not sleep, left anyone who meet him with the sense they had been caught up in the presence of a mini-tordano, lacked thinnking time before doing, was always moving be it scaling furniture to toe tapping or fidgetting 24/7, could focus on areas of deep interest but would flit continuely form interest to interest, was very impulsive i.e leaping over the upstairs bannister rail and landing like a cat; being found on the roof of the house at 2 after he picked the locks so he could watch the aeroplanes. He head sprang off the desk of the first child psych who saw him. The regional unit offered to diaognos him ASAP having meet him at his brothers appoitments. He could repsond to questions posed and would make cognitive leaps along with his body doing physical leaps. Ben is also hypo-tactile for sensory imput except for food which needs to be bland. His bedroom is a lurid orange and lime green and filled with pictures and objects he twidlles whilst working on homework. Ben needs to be able to do three or more things at once or he becomes unhappy and everything has a set place in his room. Tim is hyper-tactile except for food which needs to be loaded with chills and higly spiced before he can eat. His room is pale yellow and a flamming mess thanks to dyspraxia.

Each child with ASD is definatly an individual. Keep notes of situations and how your son has responded. Does the behaviour occur only in some places and not others? Is it more so for some people than others. Be aware hyperactive type behaviours can run alongside a LD without meeting the criteria for ADHD and in honesty the more profound a LD gets the more challenging can some of the behaviours a child displays can get.

I found The Explosive Child a very useful book by Ross Greene useful in the face of parental exhaustion and a need to pick my fights with both lads.
Young minds produce a range of leaflets fre online on ADHD inc NICE guidelines. www.youngminds.org.uk/for_children_young_people/whats_worrying_you/adhd/factsheets

Hope that helps.

Thanks so much Tribal, that's an amazing amount of info and tips, brilliant!