Toddler Behavior How Do You Know If It Is ADHD or Autism

There is a great book called, Is This My Child? By Dr. Dorris Rapp, www.drrapp.com and talks about signs and symptoms of all you are talking about. She also discusses food allergies/food sensitivities in relation to the mentioned signs and symptoms you are talking about. It is a great book and a must on parent's bookshelves. If he get's diagnosed with ADD or autism, they definitely want to look into these food sensitivities and plenty of docs that will test for them.

Good Luck!
J. W. MPH
Maternal and Child Health Educator
Chicago Family Health Examiner
http://www.examiner.com/x-7158-Chicago-Family-Health-Exam...

I would suggest that in addition to a visit to his doctor, also contact the school distrcit. he sounds like a great candidate for an early childhood program. Request a preschool screening in writing.

I don't know about ADHD (and I have similar questions myself), but I have had friends who had kids with autism diagnosed at 3. Please keep me posted if you learn anything about ADHD diagnosis at this stage. My feeling has been that the treatment if my boy were diagnosed would still be behavioral, much like we are already doing, so I've been avoiding any potentially prejudicing diagnosis until I get alerted from someone's school... But I would be very interested in the outcomes of other approaches.

Thanks in advance!

Don't jump to the conclusion of add or ADHD without first cracking down with some serious parenting. Nobody said it is supposed to be all fun. I think people are too quick to use ADD as an excuse for bad behavior. 3 1/2 is old enough to understand consequenses and expectations for behavior. Cut out all tv, junk food , movies, sugar, etc... Until behavior improves. Those things are priveledges, not rights and should be given only as rewards for acceptable bahavior. You can even take away some toys, especially and electronic ones. Kids that age are so easily overstimulated. Hurting siblings should not be tolerated at all. It's not fair, and what's going to happen when the kid goes to school. Only until you have read a bunch of patenting books and tried everything, should you investigate if there's something else going on. Good luck , it's not an easy thing.

I am currently finishing my masters in special education. My first suggestion is to talk to a pediatrician that you like & that listens to your concerns. My second suggestion is to talk to look into having the child see an allergist to rule out food allergies which can cause some of the described behaviors. My son's pediatrician was able to order a basic food allergy panel. Not sleeping will cause a child to become hyper active because they are over tired. Sleep is a huge factor in growth and development. The first issue to address is the sleep problem.

If you seriously think an evaluation is needed, they need to speak to his peditician first. They will refer him to the right place/doctors to have this done. Peditricians are not fully educated to make that kind of a diagnosis but they can get you to someone who is. However, he may just be a very strong willed child that isn't being developed properly and who doesn't necessarily have a medical problem. For instance, maybe he wasn't sleep trained from an early age which would make him uncooperative at bedtime current day. It's also easy for parents to be worn down by dealing with a child like this day after day, and who maybe isn't putting in the large amount of effort it takes to redirect these types of kids. I know this from personal experience. My 2.5 year old is just like this. Nothing is medically wrong with him, he's just a very very demanding little boy. We have to put in double duty to work with him, mentor his personality and help foster his positive attributes and not the negative. Yelling at him, putting him in timeouts, etc, does nothing for him. We actually sought family counseling so we as parents could learn the skills to help him.

They should talk to their pediatrician, who may have an idea what the best resources are locally. Some school districts may be very helpful; others may not be so helpful.

We had our son evaluated by a pediatric neuropsychologist at Loyola Maywood. They did a half-day series of tests, which insurance covered. (the cost would have been about $3000 without insurance.) I do not recommend just picking a psychologist out of the phone book, which we also tried first - getting random (incorrect) diagnoses is almost less helpful than nothing at all. You want someone who sees a lot of kids. Find out what tests they use to make their evaluations, and what their reports are going to include. We received a multiple-page report with results and about 10 specific recommendations for actions we could take for different areas of needs/weaknesses.

Actually, he sounds like a lot of 3.5 year old boys I know. 3 is a very hard age for many boys. Both my boys were very difficult at this age. My older son was particularly like this. He would constantly hurt his little brother, even hit random kids at the part or at school. He got MUCH better when he turned 4. My younger son is slightly less violent (he is 3 now), but he whines and throws temper tantrums all the time. The lack of sleep can certainly exacerbate the behavior. I wouldn't jump to conclusions that it is anything serious just yet, but it certainly can't hurt to have him evaluated. My older son has slight sensory integration issues, so that is another thing you may want to look into. Kids with sensory integration issues have trouble integrating all of the senses around them and can act up like this especially when their surroundings are chaotic (a lot of noise and people) because they get overwhelmed and have trouble calming themselves down. Anyway, don't be too quick to judge the kid, 3 can be a very challenging age for boys.

One thing they can do is restrict any sugar, especially fructose corn syrup from his diet.
My son was sensitive to sugar & any products that contained sugar~especially juices that contain high fructose corn syrup. It was a little challenging but we made sure everything he ate had no sugar or processed sweeteners and his behavior totally changed. He outgrew the sensitivity but to this day (he's 20) prefers to eat less sugar than his siblings.

Before you take the child for an evaluation please consider other contributory factors of such behaviour. Does this child has a daily schedule, is he eating well and appropriate foods, does he have enough time to play, does he have a structured time during his day to learn? Is he always like that or only with sertain people or in sertain situations? Is he bored most of the time and forsed to entertaine himself for a long time?
Many times parents/relatives are consearned with the child and when the family dinamics are evaluated the picture becomes quite clear that the child is responding to poor parenting, or poor discipline, or to complete lack of structure in his life.

I believe that children should be medicated only in clear/severe cases, many things can be corrected at home with proper diet, activity, and attention.

Good luck.

It wouldn't hurt to have him tested but that seems like a pretty big leap to jump to the conclusion of ADD or Autism. Evertyhing you described sounds like the average 31/2 year old to me. Both of me kids were the most difficult between 3-4. The terrible 2's were a breeze in comparison. If you have a gut feeling something is wrong then pursue it, but they are just kids, don't expect perfection.

You need to see a Dr. but there is definite signs when a child has autism. I would see your Dr. and as for a referral to get your child checked out.

Absolutely speak with your grandson's pediatrician. It's tempting to say, "oh, all kids that age are like that," but if his mother's gut instinct is that something's not developing properly, by all means get that kiddo an eval.

I also don't know what insurance your grandson has, if any. Some of the better plans (mostly PPOs) will cover the evals; others will cover the initial eval but not the services.

One more thing: this is just my personal opinion based on parenting experience and not anything scientific...once you get his sleep regulated you might be surprised at how much his behavior improves. My daughter is impossible on all fronts if she doesn't sleep well.

Sounds like he just being 3 1/2.

Could it be Sensory Processing Dysfunction (aka Sensory Integration Disorder)? This can be treated with a Occupational Therapist. It makes me think more of that since it is inconsistent. Check out:

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-proces...

I have a son with autism and we started with our peditrician. Since your grandson is over the age of 2 and would not qualify for Early Intervention services, you could also take him to see a psycholgoist. You didn't mention anything about his speech, is he verbal?
You could also consider taking him to Little Friends in Naperville for an evaluation. This can be very expensive so check with your insurance company FIRST!
Good luck! I understand how frustruating it can be when you don't know how to help your child/grandchild!!

D. L.

If the child isn't sleeping, I would suggest going to a sleep specialist. They can do a sleep study to see if there is something causing him not to sleep. If they find something, this could be what is leading to his behavior. I have read alot and there are sleep issues that cause behavioral problems. Good luck!! K.

It's hard to tell from the brief description what's going on, but I would also recommend talking to the pediatrician and asking about physiological and sleep evaluation. From what I've read 3.5 is too young to be diagnosed ADD. Many children are very active at this age and then slow down and learn to concentrate after 5 or 6. Sleep can be a real issue. Some children experience sleep apnea that causes behavior issues. Snoring, nightmares or waking often can be a symptom of this. If your grandson is in preschool, have they experienced problems? If the child has developmental delays also, he may be able to get testing and help from the school district preschool special education program.

My daughter was very active, moody and aggressive at that age. I did notice that some preservatives like sodium nitrate (meats), BHT (meats and fried fast food) and calcium propionate (bread) seem to make things worse. I'm not really sure about the connection, but it may be helpful to try eliminating some preservative and colors one by one to see if you notice anything.

One book helped me with my daughter. "What your explosive child is trying to tell you" by Douglas A. Riley. It is a bit for older kids but it might be helpful. Some folks swear by 1,2,3 magic or Love and Logic for parenting techniques.

Definitely talk with a doctor. I'm not sure what "never sleeps" means, but children do need enough sleep. I love the book "The no-cry sleep solution for toddlers and preschoolers", it gives TONS of tips for all situations.

As for discipline, I like the On Becoming Babywise series (On Becoming Childwise is best for 3 year old) and "Parenting with Love and Logic".

Good luck!

His parents can have him go to their school district's preschool screening. He may be eligible for some services, like speech or preschool. He won't get a medical diagnosis, but may be referred for educational testing. Have they talked to their pediatrician, too?

I would get a referal from your pediatrition. But from what you wrote its not every day and he has trouble sleeping. I would get some sort of good sleeping plan in place. Its amazing what lack of sleep does on a childs behavior.

Does his school district have a preschool? You can have a preschool screening done.

Your grandson needs to be evaluated. You need to contact the school district he lives in and request an evaluation. They will direct you to either the district psychologist or the early intervention program. This should be done asap. I would also suggest making an appointment with a child psychologist or a developmental pediatrician - those are the only 2 doctors that can give a diagnosis and it takes months to get an appointment. It sounds like he is frustrated and misunderstood and really needs some help. In the meantime, you can take him to an Occupational Therapist for an evaluation for sensory issues.

My son is 5 and is autistic. I've been through all the loops and hoops - if you need additional infomation, feel free to email me.

K.

At 3 1/2, the best person to differentiate between the two diagnoses would be a neurologist.

Please consider that your grandson may have food allergies is his behavior if not bad every day. There may be triggers that are setting him off. Ask his parents to get referrals for allergy testing and a nutritionist. There are so many reasons why kids act up, please don't be too quick in assuming it is ADHD.

The child's pediatrician can write a script for an occupational therapy evaluation. They look at all aspects of the child and can help develop some approaches to helping your grandson.