ADHD moms- where to start?

[danellsar]

We had an appointment today with dd's psychiatrist, and I ended up bringing ds along. David is 4, and he's ACTIVE, quite a handful!!! The psychiatrist commented repeatedly that he was a VERY VERY active boy. He was all over the place, climbing on chairs, crawling under tables, asking questions, etc. That's pretty typical for him.

He CAN focus, I know he can, because his preschool teacher tells me that when it's circle time, he sits and answers and is one of her smartest kids. He knows and remembers what he's told. He's learned his letters and is starting to sound out words. He just doesn't sit or stand still... at all... ever. Also, he talks talks talks talks a mile a minute, never ending.

So, does this sound familiar? Where would you suggest I start to get him looked at? Psychology? Pediatrician?

FWIW, he's tiny, undersized, almost 0%ile in height and weight, hardly eats (some of that's because he won't stay at the table long enough to finish his food). His sister is ASD, and he does NOT seem to me to be on the spectrum the way she is. He just never stops going and going (my own personal energizer bunny).

Thanks!
Ellen

[pepperlc]

I would start with an OT eval and rule out sensory issues. We had him evaluated for social skill issues around that age and he qualified. He was diagnosed at 5 1/2 with ADHD.

karen

[mckenziecat]

Well, active does not always equal adhd

he may just be a high energy kid. There's nothing wrong with a lot of energy - it's not a medical problem. It's like sensory issues - ALL of us have them, but only those whose issues interfere with their everyday lives need treatment. Though I will say that the whole "how long can they sit at the dinner table" thing is a flag for adhd. You may want to have him evaluated but if he is doing well in school and seems happy, you might just watch and see. Just my two cents.
beth

[Val.]

I would start by talking to his teachers to see if it's interfering at school. My son sounds the same. He's also highly gifted and has sensory processing disorder. But he NEVER stops. It wasn't until it became an issue at school (around first grade) that we had him seen by a psychologist to get a full educational and psychological evaluation (to look at the full picture). He'd had OT, PT, social skills therapy, language therapy and feeding therapy in the past, but this evaluation was really to connect all the dots and also look at emotions, ADHD, IQ, and achievement scores. Anyway, from there, we went to the school and got Tanner identified at gifted and got a 504 plan for him. At the same time we saw a psychiatrist who, based on the results of the eval., diagnosed ADHD and started him on ADHD meds. We tried several. Now he's on focalin and it has truly been a MIRACLE drug for him. He'd not been able to complete his work at school or sit still anymore. Now, he's doing much much better!!! Good luck.
Val

[Joy38]

I think we have the same life

You described pretty much what our life is like. DD with ASD.
Something similar happened with DD's psychiatrist.
We started with DS's doctor who referred us to a psychologist and we see the psychiatrist.

I have some concerns that ADHD may not be the only thing that we are dealing with and we are going to see a developmental pediatritian.


Anyhow...if you have a good ped...start there if you are comfortable.

Good luck.
Joy

We had an appointment today with dd's psychiatrist, and I ended up bringing ds along. David is 4, and he's ACTIVE, quite a handful!!! The psychiatrist commented repeatedly that he was a VERY VERY active boy. He was all over the place, climbing on chairs, crawling under tables, asking questions, etc. That's pretty typical for him.

He CAN focus, I know he can, because his preschool teacher tells me that when it's circle time, he sits and answers and is one of her smartest kids. He knows and remembers what he's told. He's learned his letters and is starting to sound out words. He just doesn't sit or stand still... at all... ever. Also, he talks talks talks talks a mile a minute, never ending.

So, does this sound familiar? Where would you suggest I start to get him looked at? Psychology? Pediatrician?

FWIW, he's tiny, undersized, almost 0%ile in height and weight, hardly eats (some of that's because he won't stay at the table long enough to finish his food). His sister is ASD, and he does NOT seem to me to be on the spectrum the way she is. He just never stops going and going (my own personal energizer bunny).

Thanks!
Ellen

[Joy38]

As a side note...I do agree with everyone else...(m)

a lot of energy doesn't always = ADHD.
For us...it is at least ADHD because it really interferes with a lot of areas in his life.

I started asking his ped about it a long time ago.

Joy

You described pretty much what our life is like. DD with ASD.
Something similar happened with DD's psychiatrist.
We started with DS's doctor who referred us to a psychologist and we see the psychiatrist.

I have some concerns that ADHD may not be the only thing that we are dealing with and we are going to see a developmental pediatritian.


Anyhow...if you have a good ped...start there if you are comfortable.

Good luck.
Joy

[trek]

My 2 cents-see what next year brings in a learning setting. Some kiddos especially boys are active and take longer to adjust to staying still. It would not hurt to have evals but maybe give him time and see how fares in kindergarten first. I think we expect a lot of 5 year old kiddos in terms of school setting and staying still IMHO. Go with your gut instinct, I believe moms have a good idea.

[danellsar]

Thanks everyone. It's always good to hear from different perspectives. Still, an eminent child psychiatrist observing him suggested that maybe he should be eval'd. I'll definitely keep it in mind.
Ellen