after weeks of observation at home, school and outings, my 4 year old was diagnosed with adhd w/ the emphasis on hyperactivity/impulsive disorder. She started today on focalin 5mgs.
After talking to family members who see who once a years at best I feel like I did something wrong. I feel like a bad parent. They all say she's to young to be labeled like that and so on...
Has anyone else had a adhd child and how did you handle it. Thanks! Before putting her on medication, did anyone suggest trying to put her on a special diet?
http://www.familiesonline.co.uk/article/... I have a 2 yr. old son recently dx with ADHD and even asked a question about it. The neurologist suggested medicating him with clonidine. We are not medicating him at this point.
Medication for ADHD in young children is a personal decision that should be considered when all other intervention has been exhausted.
Medication for ADHD can be a very good thing for those children that need it. Some children are completely not functional when not on medication.
Agree that precaution should be taken when giving a stimulant to a person dx with ADHD as this is the wrong medication for most dx bipolar and bipolar in children does look like ADHD.
As far as family members making you feel bad about your decision, this is what I say:
Until you have all those letters behind your name we will continue to follow the advice of the specialists trained to do so. I haven't had a child with ADHD but my cousin was a couple of years younger than me and also got diagnosed with it at around the age of 4. He was on Ritalin and of course it helped, but medication is not a "cure." Kids are going to be kids, hyper, impulsive, inattentive, etc. As long as your daughter is on it temporarily, I don't see the problem, but just remember that the majority of kids grow out of this. Personally, I see it as being a kid, not some disorder. It labels a child like there is something wrong with them. Also, it's just a way for pharmaceutical companies to make money. are you sure shes adhd? how much physical activity does she get? I know that I was supposedly adhd when I was young, but I had a high activity level, I could out run everyone in my class, and could hold my breath longer than most, but now I'm perfectly normal and still have a nice metabolism that keeps me active. She just needs to be stimulated more physically than mentally, some teachers don't like children that can't sit for long periods of time too so they would rather have a drugged up kid. In the olden days they didn't have these drugs because it wasn't necessary they just sent the kids out to play and run around, that's what they should be doing, in my house my children have at least 3 hours of fresh air a day, regardless of weather. Well my brother who is 7 has ADHD. Hyperactivity is not caused by parenting or parents. In fact, it has nothing to do with it. I believe my brother was diagnosed around your daughters age. trust me, you are certainly NOT a bad parent and you should be proud of your daughter with or without ADHD. ;) my mother is ADHD, i am ADHD, and so far, two of my three daughters are ADHD.
we don't use any drugs to control it, even though life can get really complicated at times.
honestly, unless your daughter is endangering herself with her impulsiveness, i wouldn't do the drug thing. i told the school - who threatened to suspend my daughter if she wasn't put on drugs - that it was her right to receive an education and their job to provide it and if they refused, we'd see what the courts had to say.
nik never did graduate but she owns two home businesses and is an up and coming rave DJ - she and her husband are thinking of selling their house in alberta and moving to the netherlands because most of the companies for whom she spins are in europe. When my son was young, I knew he had something going on. He was very young, but he cried a lot, had a lot of colic, was active and eventually had problems with ADHD. I did not put him on medication: it was not prescribed so often at that time. I finally found a book called: "Allergies and the Hyperactive Child", by Dr. Doris Rapp. I could definitely see the relation to the foods he ate and the various things that were happening. Do what seems best for your daughter, but: try to eliminate sugar and possibly milk. Watch peanut products, since they can be very difficult for some ADHD kids. If you can get the book, it may help you with this (used online booksites). doctors aare drug pushers ..they get kick backs for every script they fill. Kids dont need amphetamines. Kids are hyper ..becaus ethey are kids..look at baby leopards and kittens and puppies..they are HYPER..its all a crock of crap to have a drug deppendent nation that is passive like zombies I was in the same boat as you and this method really turned my daughter around. It was a godsend!
Proven Methods For Treating ADHD:
http://www.hearts-and-kisses.com/attenti... well im not sayn dat yhu hav adhd but sumtimez it iz n ya genes sumtimez it skipz a generation or mayb yur child jus has to much energy drugs cause other problems. take him outside. You did nothing wrong. ADHD is an inborn disorder, you did nothing to cause it. It is just as impossible to control as the color of your babies hair or eyes or how tall they are.
She is not too young to be diagnosed with this condition as it is an inborn condition, children have it right from birth so 4 is definatly not too young.
It is rare to have a 4 year old diagnosed for a few reasons first of all because they are not yet in formal schooling they are not yet in an environement where they have to concentrate or sit still, or behave in large groups and are not being as frequently compared to kids the same age. It is not that the problems arent there it is just that they are less obvious. But for those kids with more severe ADHD it can be obvious, so just because most are not diagnosed so young it does not mean that many are.
You will hear a lot of people say "but little kids are just like that". And thats true they are, the brain immaturities of little kids are similar to ADHD. The difference is most little kids will grow out of it, while those with ADHD wont. A skilled doctor will be easily able to tell the difference between normal immature 4 year old behavior and true ADHD which will be more developmentally appropriate to a toddler trather than a 4 year old.
It sounds like the diagnosis was very thourough, but if you have any doubts there is noithing to stop you from getting a second opinion. Most clever parents do this when their child is diagnosed to make sure they have the most correct diagnosis.
There are many, many advantages to having your child diagnosed and treated young. Kids who are diagnosed later (say 7 or 8 years of age) will first have to go throough several years of school before their problems are understood, in this time they may fail to learn which will put them behind for many, many years. they may get into lots of trouble and their self esteem can be permanatly damaged. By being diagnosed young your child will get a better education.
Also research has shown that the earlier a child's ADHD is diagnosed and recognised the better the outcome for the child. The more likely they will go on to complete high school and even college and go on to lead successful adult lives.
Finally labelling your child can be a very positive thing. As ADHD kids get older they become more and more aware of how different they are to other kids. If they are not labelled with the correct label (in this case ADHD) then people will think of plenty of other labels to attach top them like naughty, lazy, defiant, and so on. these labels can be extremely hurtful and carried for the rest of their lives.
Anyone who hasn't lived with and dealt closely with an ADHD child can't understand what a challenge it is. You did the right thing. I am 27 years old. I have a 7 year old daughter, a soon to be 3 year
old daughter and also a 1 year old daughter.
When my oldest child was 3 years old she started showing behavioral
issues, she would get so mad about simple things, even me asking her
to pick up her toys, that she would scratch, bite, kick, scream,
punch and throw things at me. When she was in a good mood, she was
very loving and liked to show me alot of affection. When she would
get into an impulsive streak.... WATCH OUT!
I am the oldest of 5 kids, so i knew that this was not normal
behavior in a child, i tried everything i knew to get her to stop.
NOTHING worked. I went to an agency, got my child a psycological
evaluation and got help in the form of a tss worker, a bsc(behavioral
shaping consultant) and mt( mobil therapist).
My child's first diagnosis was disruptive behavior disorder, NOS. I'm
fine with that, she was 3 years old, and i didn't want them to give
her a "name" unless they knew what it was that she really had.
As time went on, the tss workers taught me how to do different
methods of behavorial modification with her. I did them, consistantly
and was always told that i needed to be consistant with her... I KNOW
AND I AM. After about 2 months of time outs that were horrible to say
the least ( she even bit, scratched, and kicked her workers and
called one of them a *****) she did finally settle down and started
listening to what she was told, and he behavior was getting even
better..... 6 months later, it was horrible again, she was right back
to being impulsive and disrespectful, and defiant. She was then
diagnosed w/ ODD and RAD, I argued the point on the rad, the way they
explained it to me was not even right. I told them that yeah i am
spending less time with her now, as i have just had another child and
i am recovering from a c-section, and there is an adjustment time
there for all people involved, why in the hell would you think that
she has RAD, you see that she has no kind of attachment disorder
towards me then they take off the RAD, they said i have a point... We
went back to having more tss workers, and so on. IT helped again,
they taught me new methods of behavior modification. Once again for
about 6 months it stopped....
Now, we move into our new apartment, i am pregnant with my 3rd child
and my second child is almost 2 years old. She is crying one night in
her room, so i go to see what's wrong with her. She tells me she's
having bad thoughts...I say what kind of bad thoughts are you having.
My 5 year old tells me that she is having thoughts of killing other
people with knives, pillows and also of killing herself. I ask her if
she would do any of these things and she assures me that she wouldn't
because she would never want to hurt anyone. I tell her ok, make
shure you come to mommy when you have these thoughts, and mommy is
going to get you some more help. Once again i take her to get an
evaluation done, this time they tell me they think that it is adhd
and no one addresses the thoughts of hurting others or her self. THey
tell me that they will have their psychatrist work on that one. I say
ok, get me in there asap... We get a tss worker once again because
you have to have one to have a mt. The tss worker can not even take
my kids' behaviors, i'm pregnant w/ my third child and am telling her
how to do HER job! IT takes a month and a half for them to find her a
MT.
In that month and a half this is what's going on....
My daughter is having more thoughts of hurting and killing others,
she strangles a little boy at a play ground for cutting in line, she
puts a blanket over her sisters face while i'm in the bathroom, i
call the crisis hotline for her and they come out here to talk to her
and recommend i get into contact with a psychatrist, i get an intake
apointment to see the psychiatrist, i get an apointment to see the
psychiatrist, and then when i get to the apointment the secretary
comes out and tells me that the dr. does not take patients under the
age of 6, and with everything going on she recommends me going to
childrens hospital in pittsburgh. I live about 90 miles north of it,
but the thing is.... THEY DON'T OFFER PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES, ONLY
PSYC. EVALUATIONS, I'VE ALREADY HAD SEVERAL OF THESE DONE ON HER. I
am now pissed, i'm trying to get my child help and no one is
listening... I CALL CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES... I tell them what
is going on they tell me they will find out what they can do. THey
call me back and tell me the only thing that they have found i can do
is to put her in a children's psych ward the youngest they can do it
is at 5. NOW I'M REALLY PISSED.... I call around every where, i get
her an apointment with the base services unit for my county... they
set me up an apointment for 2 months later.... I"m like can i get in
a little earlier, my child is falling down a damn pit pretty fast...
We'll put you on a waiting list. |
