ADHD Help - Cuba,MO

I just saw that you have two questions here - this one and one asking what tablet for a 3 year old. A child who may have ADHD shouldn't have a tablet. Ask the doctor. I believe he/she will agree with that.

I think it would be hard to get a diagnosis that young from a specialist. My son was diagnosed last year at 9. The problem *I* had was finding a psychologist that would see my 8 year old. VERY few see patients as young as 8. I would think 3 would be even harder.

She's THREE, she's still a VERY young child. I would tell those teachers to stick their ADHD in their ears. Her attention span is only about 3 minutes long. To expect a young child to sit still and be quiet for hours on end is an unrealistic expectation. Shoot, my 10 and 6 year olds can't sit still, or be quiet, for more than about 5 minutes, and that's with effort.

Kids are little for such a short amount of time. LET them be little.

I seriously doubt they could do a diagnosis at this age, and why would you want to? Many of the early signs are easily confused with development and maturity, you need to give your child a chance to grow up a bit.
And parent teacher "conferences" in preschool? Is this an NAEYC accredited preschool?
Talk to your doctor, but I am sure your child is too young for accurate and reliable psychological testing.
-mom of an ADHD child

3 is too young, really. A lot of parents whose children are later diagnosed look back and think "I knew something was off way back when" and those thoughts are valid, but you really don't want someone diagnosing your child this early. Anyone diagnosing this early is, IMO, a hack and not to be trusted unless the child has severe behavioral problems bordering on psychosis that need intervention.

So many of the ADHD symptoms are just normal three-year-old behavior. You wouldn't want to medicate a child this young anyway - focus on how to help with specific behaviors at this age, not a diagnosis.

BTW "as soon as you can" is typically around age 7. Anything younger than that and the child is in the realm of age-appropriate behavior.

A normal 3 year old also has the classic ADHD symptoms.

Unless there is something very bizarre and disturbing about your kid that you haven't mentioned, your ped will probably not give you a referral right now, and tell you to come back and address it when he is 5-6-7 years old and in regular school full time, if you still have concerns. At 3 years old, it would be too easy to misdiagnose even for a specialist.

It wouldn't hurt for you to read books about parenting and ADHD child, even if he isn't ADHD, because the discipline and structure are what any 3 year old needs anyway.

Please don't jump to conclusions. Three year olds are active. My youngest was diagnosed with ADHD and it was an inaccurate diagnosis. After I removed the synthetic chemicals from my house, her behavior changed. The toxicity absorbed by a little body can cause so much to go on. At her next visit to the doctor, her diagnosis as removed. Lysol, Pledge, chlorine bleach, etc are all neurological toxins. They affect us...they truly affect little ones...and they build up and are stored in the body. Detox your home and get to a baseline of good health. I know you'll see a change.

Hope this helps!
M.

We recently had our 4 1/2 year old son tested by a behavioral, child psychologist. There were a number of things we and his teachers were concerned about, and we just needed to get an idea of what behaviors were age appropriate, which ones were things to keep an eye on, was there anything of concern.

So glad we did this!!! He really is too young to be diagnosed with ADHD, but he isn't too young to be tested. The psychologist went through a series of tests with him. He talked about a few things to work on and said to keep ADHD in mind. It's a possibility.

It's my understanding that it really is too soon to diagnose him/her with ADHD. But if you have concerns, this is a good time to mention them. It's good to "get it on the record" with your doctor. This gives your doctor something to refer to later on - a way to compare and see if progress is being made. If your doctor thinks it's time for testing, you should be referred to a behavioral psychologist. Again, it's possible no diagnosis will be made, but it will give you a baseline for the future.

Yes. BUT a pediatrician isn't really qualified to diagnose a mental health issue. Only a psychologist who is professionally trained to evaluate for ADHD should do this.

I suggest you call your insurance company and talk to the nurse on duty about who has a contract with them that does this type of evaluation.

We took our grandson to OU Health Science Center to the developmental center there where they went through many psychological tests, physical evaluations, and observed him walking, swinging, and many other physical movement activities. He was scored in many areas.

We found he was below normal in a couple of sections but was normal in others. He didn't score high in any area's. With the psychologists determination we were able to get him on meds when he turned 5. Not before. But having a diagnosis was good because we had guidance on how to deal with certain behaviors. We had more understanding and could be a lot more patient.

So don't worry about it, do make an appointment with a psychologist that does testing for this.

He is 3 years old. They are notoriously wild creatures lol. Too young to diag ose. Just let him have fun being a kid. Discipline him when needed and make sure you follow thru with consequences. Be consistent.

Don't let the general public discourage you. You can get help at three. It's not too young. Anyone who's lived through ADHD will tell you they knew something was wrong much earlier than three. It's not the same as normal three-year-old behavior.

The earlier you can help your child, the better. I've been there. Our now 10-year-old son was three when we first pursued medical help for his ADHD. The pediatrician referred us to a child psychologist for some tips for managing his out of control behavior. We tried those tips, which didn't work, then got referred to a behavioral therapist. More tips that didn't work. (Of course they didn't work ... our son couldn't control his behavior due to the ADHD.) By then, our son was kicked out of preschool. That opened the door to the child psychiatrist, who is a doctor qualified to make a diagnosis.

Our son wasn't diagnosed with ADHD at three (it took almost 2 years for that), but he began treatment for the strong symptoms. He had every ADHD symptom in the book. He was a threat to others (he was beating me up, hurting teachers and hurting classmates). We continued with behavioral therapy and began trying some mild non-ADHD medications that didn't work. At four, the psychiatrist recommended Ritalin. Day one was a total transformation. Life changing difference. It's like the dots connected in our son's brain and we got to see the real him. Same personality, same spunk, just normal behavior.

We agonized over the medication decision, but it was the best thing we ever did for our son.

You're going to have to jump through hoops to get people to take you seriously at three. Be clear and firm in your description of the symptoms. Write it all down so you don't forget to tell the doctors everything you're seeing. It may be ADHD, it may not be. But you deserve to have your concerns addressed.

Good luck!
ETA: The American Academy of Pediatrics recently said kids as young as four can be diagnosed with ADHD. Here's what they had to say:
http://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/pag...

What Gidget said.

You are probably not going to get a diagnosis and you are definitely not going to get meds, but it is good to know what the likelihood of getting that diagnosis in later years will be. Our son is 7 and was diagnosed when he was 6 years old because he literally could not learn. It wasn't a behavior issue in the sense that he is kind and listens and tries really hard. We get constant compliments on his manners, but he can't focus to save his life. He can't keep his eyes on a paper WHILE coloring it. He can't keep his eyes on a book WHILE reading a word. He is so creative and imaginative but his brain is just all over the place.

On the up side (and it really is an up side) you can walk away from the testing with a lot of good strategies for coping. You can still get counseling for your child and your child can be involved in thera-play. You can start teaching your child how to take a minute to center and focus. You can put in to place a very structured schedule at home. When a kid has ADHD, upending the routine can be a nightmare and not having a routine at all is an invitation to heartache for all involved.

Just because you can't get the diagnosis doesn't mean you can't get interventions that will be amazingly useful and helpful in creating a dynamic that results in a much more successful experience for you child and a much more peaceful life.

In addition to the testing for ADHD you should also consider.
-Having hearing checked
-Having vision checked
-Testing for food allergies (it can be a blood draw, doesn't have to be a million pricks and could help you eliminate foods that are having a negative affect on behavior)

Hope this helps and feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

L.

You know, even if she does have ADHD, I'd have some concerns about medicating a child this young. It's certainly possible she has something that will *develop* into ADHD, but it's just as possible that she'll outgrow it. Or, she could wind up being somewhere in the middle, a bit on the "wild side" -- RIP, Lou Reed :'( -- but not to the point where she needs Ritalin.

What I really, really recommend you do, starting now, is look for natural ways to manage her symptoms. First and foremost (per your other post) that means NO tablet for Christmas. No electronic games, few if any videos/TV, ever. That may be a hard transition for your family, but really, truly, I promise you, you will wind up with a calmer kid who can self-entertain through imaginative play, and who will learn the alphabet and numbers the same way every past generation did: through books.

I would also recommend really, really watching her diet. Nothing, count 'em, nothing, with artificial food dyes. Really, seriously, limit the refined sugar.

An electronics-free, dye-free, sugar-free lifestyle is nature's Ritalin. But with only positive side effects. :)

do these teachers have children of their own? what is concerning these days, lots of children are medicated and those who are not, stand out. scary!