6 Yr Old with ADD and Possibly BiPolar

Love and Logic has a book for kids with special needs. I haven't read it, but their other stuff is so wonderful--written by a child psychologist and a former teacher/principal. I think it would be worth looking at! www.loveandlogic.com

It is hard to diagnose.... An MRI can detect ADD and Bi Polar because they are both chemical imbalances..... Have them check for Asberger's syndrome too....

Hi, my name is S. and I am a single mom of 2 boys, both of which are ADHD with the youngest also being Bi-polar. I went to a seminar when my 23ty old was in kidergarten about ADHD an swore there were cameras in my house. They were so discribing my son. I tried for years to get help with him and constantly got the run around. It wasn't until my 15 yr old was diagnosed at 3 1/2 with ADHD and Bi-polar that they kinda threw in as an after thought "Oh, by the way, your oldest son is ADHD too." By then my oldest was almost 12 and so fed up with scholl that I couldn't help him and felt useless. The only advice I can give is to check out every avenue of help there is. Find counseling, support groups and yes, medication if necessary. If you don't like the answers you get, keep asking until you find something that works for your child. I wish I could tell you the right meds, doctors or groups but unfortunatly it is different in every situation. A make sure you BUG THE HECK out of the schools. ADD children have brains like tornados, they pull in so much so fast that it is hard for them to process it all. I have learned that the more I can keep my son metally challenged, the better his behavior is. At 2nd grade, my son already had an IQ oe 155 - most adults don't have an IQ that high. During grade school I was able to keep him in excellerated classes but I have found that the school system up here isn't as helpful as hey could be. They don't listen to the parent, we don't know anything. I have had my son in charter schools the last few years and have found that to be very helpful due to smaller class sizes and more one on one. I'm sorry if this seem like rambling, but I too am ADD and my fingers can't keep up with my brain. If you or your sister has more specific questions that I can answer, please feel free to contact me. The best advice again, is don't stop asking, it took me years to figure that out. I hope this helps and wish you the best of luck.

Hi - I am a mom to three special needs children. My four year old daughter is bipolar. Fun isn't it? The best thing for me was to find some support groups local and on the internet. They are great to turn to when you are having a hard time. Meds are a fun roller coster. If she is lucky that can find out what works for him easy. We have been working on meds for a year now. And have gotten them to "help". My best advice is for her to take it one day at a time and pick your battles. If you are local it would be awsome if you can help watch him and give her a break. If not if you can help her find someone who is willing to watch a child with bipolar. My dh was deployed for a year and I went through eight babysiters, most people would watch her once and never again. If you don't get a break you run down your reserves and bipolar and ADD/ADHD kids require a lot more energy. Looking into other dx's isn't a bad idea. I also have a son with Asperger's/ADD and although the rages are differant I could see how they could be confused. Some of the best books on Bipolar is The Bipolar Child and The Explosive child. Some good ones on Asperger's are Asperger Syndrom by Tony Attwood and The OASIS guide to Asperger's. Hope this helped some.

Take him to an allergist. My friends cousin in law had gone to get tested for bipolar. It turned out she is allergic to wheat and dairy. When she would eat those things, her body would flip out. Now that she is off of them, she's a completely different person. There are people that truly need the medication. But I would try that before going the medication route... especially with how doctors seem to try to meet a quota on Rx.

I have worked a child care center for five years and have also worked on our special needs program. One thing that stricks me as odd is that they would look into Bipolar at such a young age. One of the biggest things I can say is it is not easy but stay consistant. Medication will help and changing his diet can also do great things. Is he just ADD or ADHD, thi sis an important question a lotof people dont know but there is a differance. In my experiance children that have ADD/ADHD need patiance and to know that there is a simple and clear out line as to how things will go.

Tell your sister it is not her fault and it is not this horrible thing, this can be managed. It may not be what any one wanted but it is not about the ADD it is about a child People deal with this every day and it offten gets better as you get older so sick in there.

D.

Hello, I am a grandmother who has grandchildren labled as add, am also a alternative practioner. I am a Reiki Master practioner. I would suggest that you do a search on Indgo Children and see if this might not answer some of your questions and maybe help you. As a teacher you may have heard of these children. Also try the Monasoriy schools system. Hope this helps.Blessings

HI!!! There is an awesome support internet group through yahoo. I think its called parents of bipolarkids...if that isn't it then email me or reply back and I will find it for you. Its very educational and can help with issues that arise re bipolar or similar imbalances. I know several other moms that belong and its very eye opening.

Best of luck to your family!! H.

One of my boys is bipolar. He is 21 now, and doing reasonablly well on his own. Keep in mind that at 6 years old it is very hard to get a solid diagnosis, and not many docs are willing to diagnose really young kids as being bipolar. His first hurdle is to be diagnosed properly and find out what is going on. He needs to see a psych dr that specializes in childhood disorders to get a solid diagnosis, once you have a diagnosis, things are easier to deal with just because you know what it is.

Amy E is exactly right about how to explain this to a child, at a level they can understand but without letting them feel guilty. There is a group called bpkids.org that can give you and his parents a lot of information about bipolar disorder. With time and patience, you will be able to figure out what works for him.

A lot of people have good success with natural therapies, food allergies, and the list goes on and on, but his best bet is to figure out what he's dealing with first.

Good luck!

Hi,
I am a mother of 7, one ADD and one ADHD. I tried for many years to find answers and help. The only one answer, and yes there is one answer, that I found useful, is.... Kids with ADD or ADHD are fun, loving and have a great personality, when it is brought out in them. You must find a common ground with the child, something you both enjoy and use the heck out of it. No one said parenting was going to be easy or FUN. It's a lot of hard work and sleepless nights. I also found that a natural product called 5HTP, works wonders for the child. If the child likes fishing, then fish every other day. My ADHD child is now in the army and is my best friend. Remember, life is about choices, you must drill this into the childs head everyday, three times a day.. they will learn to use this and control their ADD or ADHD.. My ADHD was also told to be Bipolar, that's just a part of ADD or ADHD.. It's an attention getter. They will become adults with ADD or ADHD, but our jobs as parents is to make sure they become good adults. Give them the tools they need to become good adults. I use to play a game with my kids, I would start to tell them a story and not finish it. They didn't care at first but about 10 mins later, they were asking me what was that you were saying. So, I learned that if I don't say what I have to say within 30 sec, I have lost them.. The only thing that makes these children any different from the rest is they are high maintence children, you have to keep on top of them every sec of the day.
Good luck and make it fun, these kids are very smart!!

Have you had him tested for food allergies? Some doctors do and some don't. If he's eating alot of processed meats, such as hotdogs or bologna etc... he could have allergies to the dyes used in these types of foods.

My son is ADHD. It took me a lot of pushing to get what I wanted from the doc to rule out anything else (his Kindergarten teacher told me that sleep apnea can mimic the symptoms of ADD so I begged for & got a sleep study)-I got a counselor who was amazing to possibly help us escape the needs for meds (he still needed the meds but I gained coping skills, he gained understanding into the way his brain works "differently"), I got an ENT to check his hearing (maybe he wasn't hearing so he wasn't paying attention). I walked in w/a packet of his school work & the doc in 10 mins had diagnosed him ADD & said he needed meds. He's got a special needs child "& sometimes it's hard to medicate them but if it's what's needed...". I was PISSED. I pushed for my referrals, got them & found out he's not ADD, he's ADHD. We worked w/some amazing people-doctors, nurses, counselors-who got his meds tailored to his needs w/relatively little tweaking.
I went through guilt over his diagnosis too-could I have done something different during my pregnancy, did watching TV really contribute to it, what else did I do wrong. I finally decided that if I did cause it, I couldn't undo it so I had to forgive myself for whatever I might have done to cause it-if anything-& figure out how to help him cope w/it & still keep my sanity too.
I've not done any food therapy but I did cut out soda on school nights because the teacher could notice the difference in behavior the next day-even with non caffeine sodas.
My best advice for sis-she can't change him & if she did anything to cause it (which she probably didn't) she needs to forgive herself & move on. She needs to keep pushing until she gets the diagnoses she wants & they've exhausted all other possibilities. Schools-or at least the district if it's a small school-I believe are required now to have a psychologist & she needs to go to them. The school has failed him if they let him slide to the point where he was missing school. They also need to adapt to his situation-if he needs his own assistant during school they have to provide one, if he needs school-related therapy (speech, occupational, etc) our last school system provided that (don't know if they all do). There were days that my son just couldn't handle doing school work. The school he went to was AMAZING! They had programs in place for kids like that-there were days that he helped in the office for a little bit & when they felt he had enough of a mental break they'd take him back to class to try working again. The teachers there adapted school work to a child's needs if they were above or below the rest of the class. I agree w/the advice for a Montessori school-a charter school would be worth looking into too. Both are more personalized learning which he could certainly benefit from.
Good luck to sis & her son!

I can't believe that they (the school) have allowed this kid to miss most of the school year. It is their job to ensure that every child is in school and getting an education. One of my son's schools tried to pull this on me. I had to call a school meeting and we decided to put him in special education in the Behavioral Disability section. You can not believe how many times I had to go to school and talk with teachers and staff, before they finally agreed that he shouldn't be sent home every time he misbehaved. If you need someone to talk to, I am available. My e-mail is ____@____.com or my phone number is ###-###-####. Good luck and best wishes.

T.

Hi. I am a single mom with 3 boys. One of my children is ADD. He really struggled at school. He was flunking out of the 3rd grade. His test scores were in the 90's. But he lost work, didn't put his name on it, and his teacher's were so spent from trying to get him to pay attention. His teacher used to be a counselor. Thank goodness she suggested I have him considered for ADD. I'm sure the divorce didn't help his concentration. Furthermore, his dad was livid I medicated him. BUT....
In 2 weeks his grades in math went from an F to a C. He is such a sweet little boy. The wonderful thing is that now he's not acting out in response to how he is reacted to. People have a hard time understanding these children and don't respond well to them. They can feel it and it adds to their behaviors.

I talked with my son. I told him that just as there are children with challenges in reading, math, spelling, or speech he has a challenge. Those are not his challenges. He is very intelligent. But his challenge is to take time to check if his name is on his paper. (The teacher throws them away if no name on it, resulting in a zero.) His challenge is to SLOW down his thinking. To stop and take time to think.

I tell him that his medication is to help him think. I have made it clear to the teachers that he is NOT to be referred to as ADD, hyper, or "did you take your pills today"? Especially not in front of other children. These kids know that they are different. They do NOT need to be identified by their challenges. We do not refer to other students as, "did you study your spelling last night". "Did you practice reading? Talking? Etc." They do not need to be asked, "did you take your pills'?

Anyhow, support groups are a great option. And know that as adults these children are fantastic achievers. My little brother is. And the only thing is to keep the kids from being stigmatized.

Good Luck! You're doing a great job to recognize the problem, and get information on it!

My neighbors sons is both ADD and Biplor as well. I have seen this kids grow up for 8 years he is now 12 years old. I have witness so many changes in him. For awhile my neighbor and I decided that my kids were not allowed to play with him due to certain behaviors. It has taken time but his medication has finally seemed to be at the right level that he is functioning and going to school again ( at least from my eyes). Last year was a different story. I dont think my neighbor truely search out any support groups or anything but that would be my suggestion. I hope she finds some support to help her.

I am sorry it was brought to my attention that I may not have worded thing or explained thing clearly. We care deeply for our neighbors child, it hurt when we had to stop having him over to play. I am not a mean neighbor that wont let my kids play with the special child next door. I have seen him at his worst and thank God right now I am seeing him do better. I still stand by the group support though, to have someone that knows what you are going through - in any situation - is comforting, more than a neighbor who does not know can be.

Well, dam* it to heck! I just tried to respond to this with with a really great response, but it disappeard into cyberspace just as I was about to send it through! Grrrrrrr. It's way to much to retype, so please tell your sister if she wants to hear my advice, to contact me. It will help her. It's about diets, second opinions, experiences...

Thanks.

There is a lot of help out there for her. It is very hard and overwhelming to find it sometimes. Have her call Raising Special Kids. This is a great free resource for anyone who has a child with thes types of special needs. ###-###-####

Hi L.,
Check out Dr. Mary Ann Block at The Block Center in Texas She is a mother who went to doc after doc b/c of problems her daughter was having after multiple rounds of antibiotics. She kept chasing her tail and got fed up so she put herself through med school and is a world renound Doctor of Osteopathic medicine now and her daughter is completely well. Most behavioral and mental problems like that are linked to food intolerances. She does some amazing things. Also a nutritional researcher out of Texas his name is Doug Kaufmann and has a TV program on Christian broadcasting called Know The Cause. He has linked almost every autoimmune disease as well as mental disorders also back to our food supply and overgrowth of fungus within our bodies. He is helping people get off LOTS of meds everyday with some simple diet changes and antifungal programs. My mother is undergoing some of his stuff now for cancer and the lump is shrinking.Please consider these options before the antidepressants and bi-polar meds. They are horrible drugs and can severly alter the brain chemistry of any person. You can find the facts on the antidepressants and bipolar meds on Dr. Blocke's website. Please take a few minutes and check out these 2 places. I have read several of Kaufmann's and dr Blocke's books and they make so much sense. I am a 32 year old mother of 2 and I have had my own health struggles with my chlidren. I believe in getting well from the inside out and I belive with all my heart that these two people can help you do that for him. Most of our illnesses can be traced back to our diets. My 3 year old NEVER has red food dye. The one and only time he had it he was in a psycotic rage for several hours after and his grandmother could not believe his behavior so we traced back to what he had had differently and it was the red kool aid at a birthday party....never again!!!I wish your family the very best and possible true recovery from this very difficult situation.Please feel free to contact me if I can explain this better.

Sincerely,
B.
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