ADHD, Wondering If My Son Has It.

If his teachers have not discussed their serious concerns with you by this time, he may not have ADHD. Most children I know with this disorder are seriously struggling in school by age 6 or 7.

If you are concerned, however, there are people who specialize in conducting psychological assessments of children and this is the best place to start - better than any other doctor who is not a specialist in this area. I would not begin any type of medication without a full psychological evaluation by a specialist in this area.

Try www.ldonline.org
"Learning Disabilities On Line is the leading website on learning disabilities, learning disorders and differences. Parents and teachers of learning disabled children will find authoritative guidance on attention deficit disorder, ADD / ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, dysnomia, reading difficulties, speech and related disorders.
And here for some information:
http://www.ldonline.org/adhdbasics/symptoms

As the parent of a child with ADHD, I urge you to at least address this with your son's pediatrician. From there, you can get a referral to specialists such as psychiatrists or neuropsychologists who can make a diagnosis, if one is needed (most pediatricians are not qualified to diagnose, so demand to see a specialist). Your son very well may have ADHD-inattentive type (assuming there's no hyperactivity involved?). Also, ADHD is a brain disorder, NOT a personality disorder. It's a valid, well researched medical condition.

Don't worry about medication. Kids are no longer "zombies" on these medications because they're so much better researched and administered today than many years ago. It just doesn't happen anymore when they're managed by the right specialists. Your child will retain the same personality and be full of energy, but the issues you're facing with inability to focus will go away. It can take a bit of trial and error to find the right medication, however. But with stimulants, they're out of the child's system at the end of the day, so if you hate one on day one, you call the shots and can stop it and move on to something else. Listen to what the doctors have to say, not the naysayers online. Medication was life changing in the most positive of ways for our son. We had to start at age four because his ADHD was so extreme (he has combined type ADHD, which involves the hyperactivity component in addition to lack of focus and other symptoms).

Take a look at the website for ADDitude magazine. It has some good information as you begin this process to better determine if it might be ADHD and what you need to consider. For now, I would get started with the medical profession to see if you can get some answers.

Best of luck to you!

For me... the first "uh-oh" moment came at about age 3 when we got the report from his teacher that he had "ungodly concentration".

Most toddlers don't. They have a 15 minute max attention span. ADHD kids, however, all have something called "hyperfocus"... which translates to "ungodly concentration" in *anything* they find INTERESTING (which is both the flipside to hypofocus/distractibility and a big part of why most adhd kids are gifted in some way).

Over the next several years there were a number of "tells". Including, but not limited to emotional volatility, sensory "schtuff", ignoring social "cues" (aka class clown/ standing up to bullies/ fixating on single aspects of a situation/ etc), only listening to part of what's said, leaping off on "exciting" tangents, giftedness, oh gosh... hundreds of little things here and there... both on the positive side and negative side of the disorder. All of which was in addition to his always being an extremely active / intense child.

When did I actually *know*? The first time I decided to try an experiment and gave his a mocha (instead of hot chocolate) and we spent the next several hours flying through work he hates/ considers "boring".

Since I'm adhd-c (OTC medicated... meaning caffeine and nicotine), I had a LOT of "uh-oh" and "huh" moments. But I didn't want to tag him (my mum had years prior, while I was still in my "probable" phase)... because I didn't know how much was just learned behaviors from ME in conjunction with his own personality. ((<Laughing>... waiting and observing for several years myself ... I would never say you're "jumping to conclusions")). ALSO because I'm adhd-c I started teaching kiddo coping mechanisms since he was a toddler, plus went out of my way to make sure that as much of his life as I could was suited to him (certain things bring out all the negatives of adhd, while certain other things bring out all the positives). But really, the opposite caffeine reaction, just nailed it.

BIG second to CAWriterMom's post. *I* don't use meds purely because I haven't found one I like that ALSO lets me keep the positive aspects of the disorder. Many people DO find their "personal magic wand". But I've been on several that I really and truly adored except for ________ which just made it a no-go for me (ex: on my favorite to date, I can't hold 5-6 different thoughts in my mind at the same time, which means I can't write... on another I couldn't multitask... etc), and for my son we haven't used meds YET (we may very well at some point), because currently a) adhd isn't a problem at our house (because we're a very adhd household)... just a series of challenges to work around... and b) Since I've been dx'd for over 20 years I personally prefer to teach the coping mechanisms FIRST and c) we have the luxury to be able to since I pulled kiddo out of school in the 1st grade. For some reason, soooooooo many people make moral judgements on adhd meds. Which I just don't understand. I mean, no one makes moral judgements on Insulin or antiseizure meds.

www.additudemag.com is a great resource. And my personal favorite adhd book is by Kate Kelly & Peggy Ramundo... "You mean I'm not lazy, stupid, or crazy?!?"

Often more strong willed and artistic and spontaneous child are diagnosed as adhd or add children when it is just a personality issue really.They are just having a very hard time focusing on anything academic(classical piano lesson are still teach very academically) but let them dance ,sing or paint or playdough or draw and ohh they can focuse for hours on end.So, should a certain kind of personality be medicated? Just my two cents on it. I am sure they are children that are indeed suffering from it.But i have also seen so many that were just with a more let say exorbitant personality over diagnosed. Some kids are more strong willed and harder than other.I do have four kids and they is a huge range of personalities between them all.My 7 years old could may be be diagnosed as add by some because of a lack of focus.If it is just that i say it is personality and not add.She focus perfectly fine when she does painting ,playdough or is at the playground.She is just so much more kinestetic than a lot of the other children.Is that a sickness?
N..

WOW, you have received some interesting responses. I guess people must be passionate in their opinions, but lots of answers to questions you didn't ask!!

Anyway, it sounds like you plan to talk to your pediatrician, so that will help you sort out the traditional medication questions vs the alternative, more diet related theories. (someone wrote about ssri's, just had to mention these are not used to treat ADHD, and also have been proven safe).

As a therapist, I just couldn't stop myself from pointing something out. You sound like you are very aware of what's going on with your son, so stay focused on your 'gut' and what you know. It's so easy to follow others off the rails in terms of diagnoses, etc. Stay focused and centered. Look how well you describe his symptoms, this came natural to you and will serve you well. Don't start wondering how much red dye he eats or gluten or dairy, this leads down a crazy road.

Find a qualified therapist who will gather info from you and your son's school. Simple as that. Though I will mention that you said 'he does fine in school now'. There may be more to it than that, but with true ADHD, there is no differentiating. An ADHD child simply can not keep it together one place and not another. It's across the board.

Best of luck to you, it can be overwhelming. Especially when so many people have their own experiences and, while meaning to help, can overload you.

My son is 8 and has been diagnosed with Aspergers and ADHD. We knew at age 3 that he had some issues. He would not sit in the circle with other kids for storytime or music, even on my lap. He talks all the time, wandering in and out of the room in the middle of a sentence. He can focus for hours on an electronics project that he wants to do, but homework involves hours of screaming and crying. This is severe enough that he has an aide at school.
Last year, we switched to a different pediatric neurologist who did formal testing. One test was a machine that displayed a number on the screen. He was supposed to press the button if he saw 0. I watched him do the test. He truly thought he was concentrating, holding his hand over the button to be ready, but he was actually looking away often, looking at the ceiling or around the room without even realizing it. (I had to tell my husband not to do the test for him by telling him when he missed one). The tests also measured impulsiveness(can you stop yourself from pressing the button when the wrong number is displayed) and whether there was a difference in response when seeing the numbers or hearing the numbers. On the longer test my son's results were so bad on the visual part, that they couldn't even be sure he was following the directions correctly, slightly better on the hearing part. Proof to me that my son is trying to pay attention but his brain is jumping all around. My husband still has doubts about the results and thinks that my son wasn't trying hard enough and just needed to be lectured on why the test was important and doing his best and paying attention.
For homework, my son also has trouble writing, so it is a struggle. His 2nd grade teacher was very creative with the homework assigments. She would give a list of choices, pick 2 out of 5 for each subject. Some of the choices would be web sites, and they had an entire week to do them. What helped with homework was to do a little bit every night as a routine, and if it got to the point where my son was taking more than 3 hours per night, just write a note to the teacher to let her know. They would either cut back on the amount of homework or pick some of it to help him with at school, when he was still in "school mode" and his medication hadn't worn off.
We put off ADHD medication until this year. Some allergy meds seemed to help. We tried diet, it helped slightly. The school has him take lots of breaks out of the classroom to shelve books in the library, deliver copy paper, and other excuses to get him moving. But he would still end up in the office for hours, acting like a caged animal. When it got to the point that he was licking the walls, knocking over furniture, and saying that ghosts were haunting the school, we decided to try medication. The neurologist felt that it would allow him to catch up in math. Concerta does not change him wanting to focus only on his favorite project instead of homework, or having tantrums. The constant talking and singing does stop- I can tell when the medicine wears off because the humming starts again. It has definitely helped at school, but there are side effects. Stomach ache, no appetite, and insomnia. So we don't give it to him on weekends or during the summer.

Hi--
Jackie E. below is just plain wrong about one thing--if your child has an allergy to milk it will absolutely cause ADHD like symptoms--particularly difficulty focusing. That said, it isn't necessarily milk. Food allergies/sensitivities often present themselves in behavioral issues. It is not ADHD--that is a problem with the brain--but it can be mistaken for ADHD because some symptoms are similar. So my advice would be to test him for allergies before going down any other path. Things like chemical preservatives, artificial dyes and flavorings, and msg can also cause ADHD like symptoms, but will not show up in allergy testing (this is actually documented in medical research). If you see a chiropractic you should ask about all of this. If not, it could be trail and error. If this is something you'd like to pursue further I can totally help you with this. Incidentally, my background is working with emotionally and behaviorally challenged kids, so I can help with some behavior modification things as well if you like.
J.

Your son is at the "prime" diagnosing age. I have always had an aversion to the ADD/ADHD diagnoses as I feel they are a catch all for a multitude of issues. With that said, my son is now in the screening process for similar problems to your son *laugh* only the ADD variety.

What I would reccomend is this: Talk to the pediatrician about it. There is a sort of screening process that you and your teacher and any other regular caregiver can do via questionaire. There are also websites that provide support for parents. I don't have any off the top of my head, as I have not yet explored it. Your pediatrician can tell you of a good one. If I find a good one, I will message you privately.

One thing my son's pediatrician did say was that there were a multitude of things that could be done, including behavior modification (for child and parent :) before introducing medications into the fray.

Good luck.

I would take him off milk, and milk products. This is known to cause adhd, so, try life without milk for 3 or 4 weeks and see if there are any changes in behavior. Do a test. First thing in the morning, have him write his full name. Then give him milk, 20 minutes after have him write his name again, see the difference. I've seen where after giving a kid milk, that his writing was totally illegible, but your son might be different. Good luck

Interestingly, we thought our child might have ADHD also, but like your child she is smart and focuses sometimes. So we found out about this developmental eye doctor in Pleasant Grove. We took our daughter, because she was having a hard time focusing and I had heard there were eye problems that actually can make a child appear ADHD. We had her tested and sure enough she has something called Ocularmoter dysfunction, which is an eye movement disorder. This eye movement disorder causes the child to have a difficult time focusing on one object. So, they see everything around them at the same time instead of the word or object they have to focus on, which causes them difficulties with homework and other simple tasks, like riding bike. My daughter also spills milk a lot and she is 6-years old. Or daughter is now in eye therapy, it is a therapy that helps the eye muscles to focus correctly and now that she has been in the therapy for a month, she is willing to do homework, willing to help with house work, and so many more things which caused a fit on her part. If you want more information about this disorder there is a book called "When Your Child Struggles, The Myths of 20/20 vision" by David Cook. This web site is also helpful http://www.cookvisiontherapy.com/. I had no idea that there was a problem with my daughters eyes. She has to be assessed differently for school. She has to do things in class a little different than everyone else; just like someone who had dyslexia, but she doesn't have dyslexia. I have a really good eye doctor if you would like their phone number to ask for someone in your area to test if your child may have this eye disorder, send me a message and I will send you the eye doctors number. This eye docter sees children just like your child every day. Good luck.

It sounds like it's 'possible' he has ADD/HD, and as others have suggested your first step would be to see your Ped for a referral, or if your insurance doesn't require a referral, ask others for referrals for a pshyc or nueropshyc. I personally did not care much for the referral for the Pshycologist I got from my Ped, but I loved the Phyciatrist in the same office.
In answer to your 'main' question, I'm still not sure DS (almost 9 and entering 4th grade) has ADD (don't think he has ADHD), although he has a diagnosis for it, so I guess 'technically' he does (and I'm just in denial :). He has a CAPD (auditory processing) problem that has symptoms that crossover to ADD, and they are bigger problems IMO than the ADD. We have not been successful with meds because of the side effects that outweighed the pros in his case. If the right drug came along, we might try it.

His main symptoms are inability to concentrate when doing homework or anything he doesn't like to do, 'figiting' while avoiding things he doesn't like (such as folding up paper/origami or connecting paper clips, bouncing a pencil, etc), and as someone else mentioned he has serious 'hyperfocus' (with TV or video games). I have observed other children in his classroom and in my home a TON through volunteering and play dates (and I am a major people-watcher), so I know he could be worse, but I also know his behavior is not 'normal' for an 8 yr old. Oh, he is also HIGHLY gifted in visual-spacial abilities (something we found out when we started going through the testing processes). Many ADHD kids are gifted in some way or another.

DS went to summer school at SEPS learning center near Sugarhouse this summer, and it has dramatically helped with his math and reading skills. She has also taught him good coping and behavior skills. I may send him there again next summer. Not sure what they have up your way, but good luck!

You are awefully quick to be ' ready' to medicate. Medication should be a LAST ditch effort for extreme cases only, in my opinion.

I have seen kids diagnosed with autism,( in fact I am helping a mom right now), who have been falsy diagnosed. The real culprit in many instances is toxic overload. In this boy's case the toxin is gluten, casien and there is also a yeast infection that gives off a toxin.
Unfortunately 15 years of SSRI's have caused serotonin poisoning to the degree that he will have central nervous system damage for a lifetime. (i suggest you lookup serotonin syndrome online to see what happens to many kids on these drugs).
We started him on a gluten free, milk free , sugar free diet. We got him on 500 mg magnesium and b complex, and also removed the melatonin prescribed and switched over to valarian. We have him on a metal chelator called NCD Zeolite, and we have him on anti fungals including caprylic acid, olive leaf, garlic, and Threelac.
In three days the child is showing dramatic improvement in his ability to control his temper.. His constipation went from having a BM once every 12 days to going daily.

Please look for alternatives and do not use SSRI's.

ps...the reason Milk can be a culprit in ADD tendencies is because milk causes a calcium and magnesium deficiency. Milk has 8 times the calcium to magneisum ratio. You body NEEDs an equal amount of magnesium to absorb the calcium. Without the magnesium, the calcium does not get absorbed. Then the body senses low blood calcium, and pulls the calcium out of the bone. What finally happns is a state of hypercalcemia.

Give magnesium citrate daily. try 200 mg and work your way up. Once he gets loose stool, you have gotten to the threshhold amount to give and back it down just a little.

I am an excellent piano player and believe it or not I didn't want to practise very much or at all (especially NOT IN SUMMER) until one day I realized I played something that actually sounded like a song. So how ADHD comes in there, I do not know. Funny, but I was also unable to do Math very well, still can't focus that well and although I worked as a substitute teacher, I and the teachers (yes-the actual teachers do this) we relied on the answers for Math in the teacher section. So far I am not coming up with ADHD. IN my life anyway and I have similarities to your son. However, pleeeeeeeeeeeze....
Thank your second grade teacher for giving the gift of reading to your child and please encourage it. That is something my children do not like to do and I love, love, love to read.
So, if there is a test and you think he should take it, then by all means go for it if it means extra help in the future.
I do have a brother who was diagnosed with this. They medicated him and he was a zombie. Sometimes people are bouncy and excited about life. Again if you are worried about your son seek out help, to me he sounds very normal.

My 7 1/2 year old son was screened by the second half of preschool, age 5, but already the teachers were asking me to have it done while he was still 4. I had a few separate psyciatrists screen him & first settled on the probable diagnosis of hypothymic temperment but the diagnosis was changed and determined to be ADHD in January of this year, just at age 7. I went through many different trials of trying to change diet, reward/punishment systems, omega & vitamin supplements, behavior modifications etc etc, always working with his teachers, sitters, etc. I agree completely with CAWritermom! I couldn't have said it better or agree more with her advice. Riley has some encouraging words too. Shame on those who discredit this as a "different personality" or allergy to milk! MILK DOES NOT, HAS NOT CAUSED ADHD! In fact, it has no known or proven cause, just like autism, but hereditary links have been seen. Rely on credible, reviewed research, it's difficult to sometimes know when you are not reading proven research & methods so be diligent & find a psyciatrist that you and your son feel comfortable & confident in. I also get emails from Empowering Parents Newsletter which also aides in behavioral strengthening for the challenges of all children, especially ADHD kiddos, I suggest checking it out to see if it is helpful to you also.
I know & can relate to your frustration & wanting to do the best thing for your son & getting the help he needs to help him succeed, whether it becomes clear that medication will help or if it's not necessary. It's only fair to do what it takes so that your son can manage his growing brain & learn effectively! Good luck to you & your son! Keep up the hard work & diligent questions & seeking help!

Getting frustrated with math and not wanting to practice piano seem like normal 8 yr old traits to me.

I'd say before just jumping to the conclusion that there is something "wrong" with your child look at other options.

A Lot of not being able to focus on school work has nothing to do with a "disease"
Why don't you see if he understands what it is that he's trying to do. A lot of kids, and adults can't focus on things because they don't understand them.

You ever try reading a book and Notice you don't know what you just read? Then you realize that there was a word or phrase that you really didn't know the meaning to??

Happens all the time.

Don't just assume he has an "illness" Try other routes first.