Is son's behavior indicative of ADHD?

My son will be 5 at the end of Sept.  My brother-in-law has ADHD, and his son has sensory processing disorder.  I think my husband may also have ADHD (undiagnosed).  My son is a sweet, loving child, however he is fidgety, easily distracted, and has a hard time sitting still.  When we went to see a movie recently, he was constantly wiggling and bouncing in the chair. When at the dentist's office in the exam chair, his legs were moving pretty much the whole time.  He also puts things in his mouth.  I often tell him that toys are not for chewing on.   He covers his ears at times, around really loud noises, like fireworks, and loud roller coasters.  He has a difficult time following directions.  During his swimming lessons, the teacher had to redirect him often, especially when waiting in line for the diving board.  He'd wait in line for a minute or so and then try to get in the pool.  They'd tell him to go get back in line w/ the other kids; he'd do it, but then be back to trying to get in the pool shortly thereafter.  He is also obsessed with bugs and critters, like frogs and crawdads.  We live in a wooded area, and he wants to go outside and catch bugs EVERY day.  He picks out books from the library on bugs, and if we are walking somewhere and he sees a bug, he will try to catch it.  His speech is great.  He is learning his letters and sounds, and numbers.  Should I be concerned?  Should I have him evaluated by the early intervention with our school district?    

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Since your son is only five, you don't want to rush too quickly to a diagnosis of ADHD. His motoric behavior does sound like it is outside the norm, but he is very young. The family history would certainly place him in an at-risk category to display ADHD, that's for sure. He may also display some sensitivity to sound, though it's not unusual for young children who have no sensory integration problems to be bothered by loud noises. In sum, your son might display ADHD; he might display some problem in the arena of sensory integration. But the fact that he is so young needs to be considered. Here's how you might proceed. Permit him to go ahead into whatever school program is planned for September, and see how he does over the first 6-8 weeks. If his activity level is interfering with his school performance, then it would certainly make sense to arrange an evaluation. He's too old for Early Intervention, but other resources will be available to him.

[Cleveland Mom]

I very much agree with Dr. Kennedy's assessment.  While your son may be more at risk for having attentional problems or sensory intergration problems based on family history it is not wish to jump to conclusions.  As pointed out by Dr. Kennedy your son is quite young in the scheme of things.

In addition to this your son's interest in critters as you put it should not be a cause for concern.  My 5 year old spent 30 minutes looking for frogs in our back yard over the weekend. He becomes very excited any time he sees critters bugs etc., he usually tries to catch them and chase them.  He is fascinated by the animals at our nearby nature center.  He talks daily about a mink that he has only seen once there.  I am trying to capitalize on my son's interest in critters by going to the library and finding books about his favorite animals.  He loves to hear stories about animals.  While he is enjoying these stories, I am helping him to develop crucial pre-literacy skills, language skills, attentional skills.  Most importantly he gathering a love for learning.  Best wishes...

[Cleveland Mom]

typo, in second paragraph of my response should read: "You do not wish to jump to conclusions".

[jd1419]

Your sounds just fine.  There are times my almost five year old will not sit still either. And he is always looking for bugs or sticks or anything to cathc or pick up when outside.  If bugs are his love right now not a problem--let him enjoy them.  Probably next month it may be leaves or blocks or soemthing else.  Sometimes as parents we expect so much from our young kids, we need to remeber that they a lot of times fly by the seat of their pants.  If diving into the pool was so much fun wouldn't you want to get into as fast as possible and not wait in line.  I think your son is just fine.  I just read a very interesting article in time magazine on how schools are now built to cater to girls and their learning styles--isn;t that a shame that we are labeling our boys so early that they need medicine or criticized for not sitting still.  I think a lot of boys learn from being involved in discovery--not just looking in a book or at the blackboard.  Give your little guy a little more time to understand about waiting your turn and being quiet in certain situations.
I am not ADHD, and I think I am very tolerant to the dentist--but I always twitch my legs in the office--I think that is just a nervous reaction.  

[Cleveland Mom]

I agree with the previous poster.  Regarding your son's fear of loud noises, its not unusual and by itself not indicative of a sensory processing problem.  As Dr. Kennedy has stated to parents here numerous times, one "sign" does not mean a child has a particular problem or condition.  Honestly, I read your original post yesterday and what prompted me to respond is that while eating breakfast, my 5 year old son told me he was "scared" by the sound of the toaster popping up his toast.  Then he told me he is scared of the toilets at the local park restroom because of their terrifically loud flushing sound. Again, best wishes to you and your family...

[cnhgilbert]

I appreciate everyone's comments.  My son really is a sweet boy; i just pay very close attention to his behavior due to the family history.  One thing that no one commented on is the fact that he is almost 5 years old and still puts things in his mouth.  I thought by now that he would not be putting things in his mouth, like legos, blocks, pencils, his fingers, etc.  He tends to chew on things a lot.  Thank you all!