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Seven year old boy acting out....
My son was 'diagnosed' with ADD last August and he turned seven last November. He is a bright boy who was falling behind in reading but has made great progress since the beginning of the year. We have tried several medications and are currently having him take Adderall 5 mg. My question is about the following. He is VERY emotional and cries very easily when something does not go his way. He always wants to explain himself, and tells us all the time that it's just too frustrating. He is tired of the responsibilities that come with being seven. We were trying to get him to take his anti-biotic and he screamed at us...."I don't want to be alive." Is this attention-seeking? He was over-whelmed to say the least. I have tried telling my family doc that he is more emotional than the average boy and he keeps telling me that he will grow out of it. I just don't know what to do anymore. We are having a meltdown at least once a day and I will admit that I do NOT handle it very well. Unfortunately I believe he gets this problem honestly and I am at a loss of what to do next. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks
Thanks for your posts. Yep, the doctor did do bloodwork and a CT scan is done yearly due to my son having headaches consistently. He also had a skull fracture at a very young age and they like to keep an eye on his development. (I fell on the ice with him when he was three months old.) I have scheduled an appt. with a counselor for Thursday and hopefully this will shed some light. I agree that there could be something other than the ADD diagnosis. I am a firm believer in that being a 'catch-all' diagnosis. My son LOVES fish so he eats it at least once a week and he takes a vitamin daily soooo hopefully we can discontinue the Adderall or perhaps change to a less harmful drug. His frustration and anxiety gets the better of him and therefore myself so we all are working on this together. Thanks again for the posts.
Way22 busy I am so glad to read what you just wrote. And that you didn't put your daughter on the drugs.That you used other ways to handle things for you and for her. I only wish I had done that and also that other parents would do so.
LMac605, your son is crying out for help and you should be talking to him ,also before the doctors just put him on adderall and other drugs,did they run blood work on him check his brain that everything is normal. This is a problem the doctors don't do this because they don't think about other things that could be going on with children and there life's ,And Parents don't know to ask.
The side effects of these drugs can make children sick and then have to be put on other medicines .
Parents need to ask and find out if there are other medical problems that look like add or adhd and even bipolar.And make sure that everything is checked out by doctors before they start these drugs.The cost and risk are to high for our little ones. Many kids these days are given these drugs and the children are being misdiagnose and have to pay for it later in life.
If a child has a hard time learning or gets mad ,the easy way out for some seems to be to drug them so they get good grades and act like little angles not like children .
I pray for these children and parents to get the right help they need .
try giving your children or child Vitamin B6 and Omega 3-6-9 it has helped children and doesn't have all the bad side effects.
LMac605, your son is crying out for help and you should be talking to him ,also before the doctors just put him on adderall and other drugs,did they run blood work on him check his brain that everything is normal. This is a problem the doctors don't do this because they don't think about other things that could be going on with children and there life's ,And Parents don't know to ask.
The side effects of these drugs can make children sick and then have to be put on other medicines .
Parents need to ask and find out if there are other medical problems that look like add or adhd and even bipolar.And make sure that everything is checked out by doctors before they start these drugs.The cost and risk are to high for our little ones. Many kids these days are given these drugs and the children are being misdiagnose and have to pay for it later in life.
If a child has a hard time learning or gets mad ,the easy way out for some seems to be to drug them so they get good grades and act like little angles not like children .
I pray for these children and parents to get the right help they need .
try giving your children or child Vitamin B6 and Omega 3-6-9 it has helped children and doesn't have all the bad side effects.
I don't know if anything I can say will help...
My second child was unofficially diagnosed with ADHD when she was 18 months old. Unofficially, because the doctor said they could not label a child with this disorder at that young of an age. I was shocked. He suggested taking as many classes/training that is offered in the community. My husband and I did this immediately.
Her pediatrician wanted to put her on medication before she turned 3 years old. We didn't choose this course.
The first 5 years was filled with frustration, tears and feeling of failure.
I always made excuses for her behavior. My husband made a comment one day and after I thought it over and realized he was right things changed dramatically. This was when I stopped letting her ADHD be an excuse for her behavior. We taught her from this day forward that ADHD was not an excuse for her problems, but her challenge in life. As she matured, she realized that she would have to work harder than most children to cope with daily activities.
I put her in control of her behavior. I no longer told her that she could not have the cookies, candy, sodas etc. which caused her behavior to go out of control. She was allowed to have all these items each day as long as she maintained control of HER behavior. It worked. Sometimes letting them be control can reduce the amount of frustration the child is feeling. They can feel like they are not meeting up to the parents, teachers, etc… expectations.
She had around 10-15 tantrums every week that lasted 45 minutes long. She was allowed to have these in her room. We told her we didn't want to see or hear this type of behavior, but she could have her tantrums in her room by herself. After a few years, these also stopped.
I had only one friend that would allow her to play at their house with their child. My other adult friends told me they just couldn’t handle her behavior and didn’t want her to come to their house to play. That really was very hurtful to me, but I did understand. I was very grateful to my very good friend.
We put her in the local soccer program and we saw a much better behaved child very quickly. She was able to get rid of the excess energy and learn how to deal with other adults and children at the same time. When she began to miss behave, we took our dogs for a long walk/run. But the exercise was really for her not our dogs. As she got older, she was able to tell us that she needed to go for a run, because she had too much energy, frustration built up inside her. She learned a very important life skill.
NOW THE GOOD NEWS….We all survived. She will be turning 17 in a couple of months. She is a wonderful person and has many friends. She has a 3.8 GPA and is planning on going to College. She has been scouted by 3 colleges for soccer scholarships. YEAH!
My second child was unofficially diagnosed with ADHD when she was 18 months old. Unofficially, because the doctor said they could not label a child with this disorder at that young of an age. I was shocked. He suggested taking as many classes/training that is offered in the community. My husband and I did this immediately.
Her pediatrician wanted to put her on medication before she turned 3 years old. We didn't choose this course.
The first 5 years was filled with frustration, tears and feeling of failure.
I always made excuses for her behavior. My husband made a comment one day and after I thought it over and realized he was right things changed dramatically. This was when I stopped letting her ADHD be an excuse for her behavior. We taught her from this day forward that ADHD was not an excuse for her problems, but her challenge in life. As she matured, she realized that she would have to work harder than most children to cope with daily activities.
I put her in control of her behavior. I no longer told her that she could not have the cookies, candy, sodas etc. which caused her behavior to go out of control. She was allowed to have all these items each day as long as she maintained control of HER behavior. It worked. Sometimes letting them be control can reduce the amount of frustration the child is feeling. They can feel like they are not meeting up to the parents, teachers, etc… expectations.
She had around 10-15 tantrums every week that lasted 45 minutes long. She was allowed to have these in her room. We told her we didn't want to see or hear this type of behavior, but she could have her tantrums in her room by herself. After a few years, these also stopped.
I had only one friend that would allow her to play at their house with their child. My other adult friends told me they just couldn’t handle her behavior and didn’t want her to come to their house to play. That really was very hurtful to me, but I did understand. I was very grateful to my very good friend.
We put her in the local soccer program and we saw a much better behaved child very quickly. She was able to get rid of the excess energy and learn how to deal with other adults and children at the same time. When she began to miss behave, we took our dogs for a long walk/run. But the exercise was really for her not our dogs. As she got older, she was able to tell us that she needed to go for a run, because she had too much energy, frustration built up inside her. She learned a very important life skill.
NOW THE GOOD NEWS….We all survived. She will be turning 17 in a couple of months. She is a wonderful person and has many friends. She has a 3.8 GPA and is planning on going to College. She has been scouted by 3 colleges for soccer scholarships. YEAH!
COMMUNITY LEADER
Frustration is a huge part of having ADHD. How you help your child handle that is very important. Knowledge is important, both for you and your child.
A book that might really help is, "The ADD &ADHD Answer Book'" by Susan Ashley. The section on Self Esteem deals exactly with what you are writing about.
Your family doctors advice sounds typical. Obviously not a psychologist. You might want to see if you have any child psychologist who specialize in ADHD in your area.
Hope this helps!
A book that might really help is, "The ADD &ADHD Answer Book'" by Susan Ashley. The section on Self Esteem deals exactly with what you are writing about.
Your family doctors advice sounds typical. Obviously not a psychologist. You might want to see if you have any child psychologist who specialize in ADHD in your area.
Hope this helps!
Not sure how long the wait will be. Thanks for the hugs! The counselor says there are two kids in front of him so we shall see. I am meeting with the other counselor Thursday so maybe he can help too. I need so much help in knowing how to handle the meltdowns because I think my reaction makes it much worse. I do have down time when he is at school and the baby is sleeping...like right now. Again, thanks a bunch.
Hugs! It's a rough road. Make sure you take time for YOU tho. It can really help to just get away for a bit. Even if it is watching a movie or grocery shopping with no kids. Waiting lists are brutal. How long of a wait do you have?
We have tried that but not recently. He is currently on a waiting list at the school for a new program this year which offers free cousenling (10 sessions) and I am going to take him to someone else local as well. They agreed to work together. I don't know what else to do. Some days I feel like we both should be commited!!! Do ya think they could give me a two for one special? Seriously, I want to get him the help he needs and do for him whatever needs to be done.
I know how you feel about having meltdowns. Somedays, I honestly think about running away. It is soooo stressful having a kid with adhd. Might I suggest counselling. or therapy. We met with a preson a few months ago about behaviours, and right away, after just one meeting, I felt a HUGE releif. THey help to put things into perspective and give you a game plan. And, it was nice to have a second opinion about the behaviours, just to assure me that it is "normal" behaviour.
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