Over the last 6 months, my son's behavior has been getting more and more out of control. After a very informative parent/teacher conference last week, I finally broke down and called a psychiatrist. Not to medicate my son, but to get somewhere. It's more than I can take, on an almost daily basis. We went to see the Dr. on Tuesday. Fortunately, my worries were unfounded and they did not immediately just decide to medicate my son. It is something I want to avoid if possible. I filled out about a million forms and answered many questions, some on my own and some with Kaleb's help. I had to fill out a bipolar assessment as well and then the Dr. referred us to a therapist to talk more and try to see what is going on. So I set that appointment up. The Dr. mentioned two things. Bipolar disorder and ADHD. Then he sent me on my way, with a pamphlet on ADHD.
So...to humor him, I am reading through the pamphlet, even though I have no doubts that my son DOES NOT have ADHD. As I read through it, I am more and more convinced. Here are some of the indicators that stood out to me...primarily because they do not describe my son in ANY way.
There are three groups of behavior symptoms in children with ADHD: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity.
Let's start with inattention.
Often has a hard time paying attention, daydreams. - Um...not Kaleb.
Is easily distracted from work or play. - Again, no.
Often does not seem to care about details, make careless mistakes. - No.
Is disorganized. - Ha ha ha ha - he's the most organized kid I know and our house would fall apart without his OCD tendencies. His room is ALWAYS clean and his desk at school always organized.
Frequently loses a lot of important things. - No, that's Abbey.
Frequently avoids doing things that require ongoing mental effort - Absolutely not. Video games anyone?
Next, there is hyperactivity.
Is in constant motion, as if "driven by a motor". - I don't think so.
Cannot stay seated. - Not a problem.
Frequently squirms or fidgets. - No, that's his father.
Talks too much. - Only when he's had too much caffeine.
Often runs, jumps, and climbs when this is not permitted. #1. He's a boy. #2. It's not "often".
Cannot play quietly. - Incorrect.
And lastly, impulsivity. This is the only one that he has SOME inclinations to.
Frequently acts and speaks without speaking. - Again, Abbey comes to mind.
May run into the street without looking for traffic first. - NO.
Frequently has trouble taking turns. - Not unless he's just in a bad mood and just trying to aggravate his sisters.
Cannot wait for things. - He CAN. He doesn't LIKE to, but he can.
Often calls out answers before the question is complete. Nope, I don't think so.
Frequently interrupts others. - I'll give him this one.
So, how can I tell if my child has ADHD? Intuition. :-)
It is interesting that kids can have JUST the inattentive part (ADD), or a combination of hyperactive/impulsive, or a combination of all three. But it doesn't seem that they can be classified as ADHD just based off of impulsivity.
Anyway...we have an appointment to go back to see the psychiatrist in two weeks, and also an appointment to see a child therapist in 3 weeks. The psychiatrist gave me a form for Kaleb's teacher and other specials teachers (art, music, P.E.) to fill out so I'll take those back in two weeks also. But I go back to my intuition, combined with the fact that he fits so few of the symptoms. I do not believe that Kaleb has ADHD.
Go with your gut. I think that all kids are hyper to some degree. Think about it. We make them sit at a desk for 7 hours a day where someone tells them they can't talk. They go to lunch, where again they aren't allowed to speak. They get recess...25 minutes is NOT enough time for them to socialize and burn off steam. When they come home, they are bursting with energy, and we tell them to sit down and do homework. LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteSee...Kaleb even gets all his homework done BEFORE he comes home!! And it isn't crazy, hyper behavior we see when he comes home. It's violent mood swings, belligerent, mean, etc...
ReplyDeleteI don't think he is ADHD, either. I am ADHD and don't see any of those signs in him. Sometimes they are so quick to diagnose that they can misdiagnose.. so don't give into what they say if you don't agree. -faith
ReplyDeleteThere is oppositional defiant disorder. Those sound more like those symptoms instead of ADHD. Bi-polar is characterized by extreme highs and extreme lows. Does he get that way? The worse cases can even go through that within the same hour.
ReplyDeleteI will say though...just because they can play video games consistently; doesn't mean they can hold focus. The idea behind that question is can they hold focus in something that doesn't particularly interest them. My daughter is off the charts hyperactivity and pretty high in the other two as well and she can sit all day long, multiple days in a row playing WoW and not give it a second thought. You'd never think she had ADHD if you were here and she was doing that. But it's something she REALLY likes. However, the biggest determiner of ADHD is really if they have the symptoms in more than one setting (i.e. not just at home; but at home and school. At youth group and on the sports field, etc.). It could be that he's showing the signs in places other than your home. Make sure to ask around to other places he spends a lot of time with.
When we were discussing ADHD with Michaela's pediatrician we talked about how she "could" do this or that when she really wanted to so we didn't understand why she couldn't do it all the time. He said with ADHD, sure they *can* do it but it's really hard for them consistently do it. So while Michaela sure could behave properly with a juicy carrot of reward in front of her nose, she couldn't keep it up all the time.
It's the extreme highs and lows we see ALL the time. His last three teachers have not seen signs of ADHD in him. He shows signs of bipolar disorder more than anything else. But we'll go to therapy and see where we wind up.
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