Could it be ADHD???

[rebajayne]

What are the symptons????

Ive been to my doctor with my 4 year old son before and he didnt want to know, he said most mothers would rather it be diganosed, so it's easier than having a terrible 2/3 year old.

My son is now at a school nursery and today (friday) i got called into the office when i went to pick him up, he had been throwing toys at some children not just in tempar he looked like he was wanting to hurt them, its the first time he has been in torouble as such at nursery, they have said before hes fine, no more touble than the others.

But she has asked me if i have had him tested and minded if i got him seen by someone at the school, i said yes of course.

He is a very intelligant child and she thinks its becasue he wants the attention but they have to share it out and look after the other children.

When i asked him why he did it, is answer was becasue he wanted to then he said he wanted them to be his friend, its as if he can not befriend them.

Anyone else been though this experience, or can just help me, its really upset me.

[noxlumos]

Hi,to be honest what you've said sounds fairly normal for most kids that age at some point or other, and I can't imagine why the nursery want him tested bc he chucked some toys about.From his answers it sounds to me as if he made an intially friendly gesture to the kids which for their own reasons they rebuffed in some way and then he got hurt and upset and chucked the toys. That's all quite normal, and if it was my child I'd really not be worried.I think your Dr is possibly sensibly being careful about giving a very young child a label that might haunt him for the rest of his life.Watch him a for a few months more and see how he goes, all of my kids have had issues here and there and then they've gone away but it's really to be expected so try not to worry.

[EssJay1]

In my limited experience of ADHD - seeing children in school over a period of the last 5 years - it is more than uncontrolable temper. Ask yourself - how restless is your child? How difficult to settle to things he is not particularly interested in? How reckless with regard to personal safety? Are there slight compulsive tendencies for things he is interested in? How often do you get involved in a battle of wills with him over things?
However, the nursery's comment that he is no more trouble than the others may well be double speak. If your child was good all the time, this incident would not have been mentioned to you - the fact that they are talking about having him seen suggests they are seeing behaviour which is concerning them. How concerned would you be if he was diagnosed with ADHD? Would you accept it and accept help for him?
Would you be supportive of the help the nursery offered? Parental support counts hugely with behaviour issues - if your child knows that you and the nursery communicate, he can't play you off against each other.
Please don't panic either - I don't think ADHD can be diagnosed until the child is 7 or 8.
Good luck - I don't mean to be negative, but think I probably read that way! Sorry!

[MrsJo49155]

From experience this type of behaviour can arise from many diffferent factors and many people are far too quick to label these children as ADHD. Having worked in school with children with ADHD believe me you would notice much bigger problems than the odd tantrum.

One big factor can be diet - dont take this the wrong way as I am not inferring by any means that you are not feeding him correctly! My nephew had problems up until the age of 8 with being able to sit still, keep quiet etc and has proving quite a handful in class. My sister took him to the local health food shop and had him tested for food intolerences (something she couldnt get done on the NHS as the doctor said food had no bearing on a childs behaviour). Although this cost approximately �70 she found out that he had an intolerence to wheat and sugar (as well as sweeteners which are put in sugar free products!). Having changed his diet quite drastically he is a completely different child - he still has his moments but seems a much calmer child. Might be worth a try?

Starting a behaviour chart at home to promote good behaviour is also a good way to help your child to learn that he will get more attention for being good than he will for being naughty (very important if you feel that he is doing it to get a reaction and gain attention).

Above all, try not to let it upset you too much...all children go through different stages at different times and no child is perfect! Just enjoy him whilst he's still young - they grow up so quickly!

[rebajayne]

Hi

Thanks for your comments and your help, its very hard as there is no one else to talk to about this.

On sunday we went to a birthday party, and everything started off great, he played with them nicely, then he changed he got too giddy and then started hurting the other children. One boy at the toliet said to his mum that boy is nasty he has been trying to hurt me. Then next time i saw them playing together nicely an my son had changes back nice again.

I followed him around for most of the session as i didnt want him hurting them, he was hitting out but did stop when i told him to. I really dont think it was for attention. When i took him to school this morning, ive told his teacher and she agrees with me, its not normal behaviour that he should want to hurt them. She also said he is popular. I dont want that to go becasue he hits them.

Me and the school have started with the star charts, so we shall see there.

His diet is very good, he has been off sugar for a year and a bit now, and since then i have noticed a big difference, but you only have to look at hyper kids running about with a fruit shoot in there hand to know that sugar and young children dont go together. Mrs Jo could you maybe tell me more details about the intorlance testing,ie where to get it done. Thanks

Thank you again, i hope you see this thread and can maybe give me more advice. Im going to the Doctors this week, which im dreading becasue she wont take me serious.

[MrsJo49155]

Holland & Barrett do Food Intolerence Testing as well as many local health food shops. With my nephew he is also allergic to things put in sugar free items so only completely natural fruit juices are ok. With someone else I know their child was allergic to fructose (fruit sugar) but was ok with sugar free additives so it really is a case of see what happens. I believe my sisters tests were about �70 but for the piece of mind that you aren't fuelling their behaviour by giving them a supposedly healthy diet I believe it to be well worth it!

Dont hold out too much hope of any support from your doctor but do let me know how you get on if you go for the tests. I am a teaching assistant and have seen first hand what changes can sometimes take place as a result of a changed diet, however I would stress that this is not the case for everyone.

Good luck!