Aa
Body still brain manic
Hi my son is 13 years old, has Aspergers and now i`ve been told he may also have ADHD.
He has moments where he runs round literally bouncing off walls but they are few and far between, his biggest issue is with concentration, too many thoughts, what happened last week, this week, next week, tomorrow...music he`s listened to...thought overload, all crashing into his mind constantly so he cannot concentrate on any one thing, it keeps him up at night and has made school virtually impossible, he has had this for nearly 2 years and we are on a very long list for CAMHS, just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and how you deal with it, it is starting to depress him as he no longer finds any joy in anything he does.
He says he is not anxious or worrying about anything and he is not depressed although this is affecting his life so much he is starting to get depressed, he tries very hard to concentrate on one thing and push the thoughts to one side but says its impossible.
Anyone have similar issues please?
He has moments where he runs round literally bouncing off walls but they are few and far between, his biggest issue is with concentration, too many thoughts, what happened last week, this week, next week, tomorrow...music he`s listened to...thought overload, all crashing into his mind constantly so he cannot concentrate on any one thing, it keeps him up at night and has made school virtually impossible, he has had this for nearly 2 years and we are on a very long list for CAMHS, just wondering if anyone else has experienced this and how you deal with it, it is starting to depress him as he no longer finds any joy in anything he does.
He says he is not anxious or worrying about anything and he is not depressed although this is affecting his life so much he is starting to get depressed, he tries very hard to concentrate on one thing and push the thoughts to one side but says its impossible.
Anyone have similar issues please?
COMMUNITY LEADER
Oh, that's not good. The sooner a child with Aspergers gets help, the better the chances for a more normal life. The same holds true for AD/HD. To have to wait 9 months for help is ridiculous.
The school said no IEP without a diagnosis. What kind of a writeup did your old psychiatrist leave? It should be more than enough to get the ball rolling. If you got in several sessions (hopefully more) with her, you should not have to reinvent the wheel by going through the whole process again. I honestly don't know how the system works over there, but I would start shaking some trees.
If you have to do some of this on your own, then of course you need information. The book I suggested will be very helpful for the AD/HD. There is a site I recommend a lot for AD/HD, that also has quite a good section on autism. You might want to check it out. Its - http://healing-arts.org/children/ You may have to click on their "home" section and then go to their autism section. Their stuff on ADHD is also quite good. The only problem with this site is that it is almost too much info - so take your time going through it. Best wishes.
The school said no IEP without a diagnosis. What kind of a writeup did your old psychiatrist leave? It should be more than enough to get the ball rolling. If you got in several sessions (hopefully more) with her, you should not have to reinvent the wheel by going through the whole process again. I honestly don't know how the system works over there, but I would start shaking some trees.
If you have to do some of this on your own, then of course you need information. The book I suggested will be very helpful for the AD/HD. There is a site I recommend a lot for AD/HD, that also has quite a good section on autism. You might want to check it out. Its - http://healing-arts.org/children/ You may have to click on their "home" section and then go to their autism section. Their stuff on ADHD is also quite good. The only problem with this site is that it is almost too much info - so take your time going through it. Best wishes.
Hi thank you so much for your reply, i will indeed order that book, anything i can do to help him.
The school have said no IEP without diagnosis, but they have said they can see he needs help and offered to do home support, the problem with that is he is no better at home with work so sending work home is not going to help, sadly we were seeing a fantastic psychiatrist but she left and we are now on another waiting list for assessment with CAMHS that is 9 months long, i am very concerned about him as he is becoming more withdrawn and says trying to hold a conversation is very difficult as the thoughts and trying to speak make him feel worse... i am worried depression will take over if they don`t help him soon.
Kind Regards
The school have said no IEP without diagnosis, but they have said they can see he needs help and offered to do home support, the problem with that is he is no better at home with work so sending work home is not going to help, sadly we were seeing a fantastic psychiatrist but she left and we are now on another waiting list for assessment with CAMHS that is 9 months long, i am very concerned about him as he is becoming more withdrawn and says trying to hold a conversation is very difficult as the thoughts and trying to speak make him feel worse... i am worried depression will take over if they don`t help him soon.
Kind Regards
COMMUNITY LEADER
In the "The ADD/ ADHD Answer book," by Susan Ashley (you might want to buy it), she talks about kids with Aspergers and ADHD on page 57. Essentially the two together really complicate the situation. On the other hand, if he does have ADHD, that would explain the concentration problems. The are probably more techniques to help kids with ADHD, then Aspergers - just because Aspergers is fairly new. But it certainly would be worth your time to explore this situation more. And I would certainly use a pediatric psychiatrist for this.
From the book, "The ADD/ ADHD Answer book," by Susan Ashley comes the quote that 10 to 30% of children with AD/HD are thought to have depression. She goes on to say, " As the children grow from year to year, they become more aware of their differences from others and their inability to fit in. leading to an increased risk for depression." My own experience from being on this forum the last 4 years is that those kids/teens who have been undiagnosed, but actually have AD/HD - can indeed become very depressed. So I definitely think that this is worth following up.
By the way, does he have a IEP? If not, he should.
Please post if you have any more questions. Best wishes!
From the book, "The ADD/ ADHD Answer book," by Susan Ashley comes the quote that 10 to 30% of children with AD/HD are thought to have depression. She goes on to say, " As the children grow from year to year, they become more aware of their differences from others and their inability to fit in. leading to an increased risk for depression." My own experience from being on this forum the last 4 years is that those kids/teens who have been undiagnosed, but actually have AD/HD - can indeed become very depressed. So I definitely think that this is worth following up.
By the way, does he have a IEP? If not, he should.
Please post if you have any more questions. Best wishes!
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