Aa
4 year old son
my son is 4 and his doctor told me he needs to be seen by a child psychiatrist to check him for adad and i dont understand why he needs to see a psychiatrist,and why his doctor cant just treat him,he's not crazy just overly hyper,and on top of it all i can not find a psychiatrist anywhere who takes 4 years old or soonercare anywhere in the oklahoma city ok metro,Do you have any insight thanks
You have specialized training that would alert you to a problem, even if you could not solve the problem yourself. Because of my close association with the medical profession, so do I. But mothers who do not have our advantages can fall prey to bad medicine. And if they are inexperienced mothers, as well, or come from very small families, they are without a yardstick. Whenever I answer some of these posts I try to get the person, when applicable, to be aware of what other conditions could mimic ADD.
Your child had a problem and you knew enough to get proper help. In my case they believed that one of my children had ADD, and I knew enough to know they were wrong. I applaud your treating your son sans medication. That is the path I would have taken.
Your child had a problem and you knew enough to get proper help. In my case they believed that one of my children had ADD, and I knew enough to know they were wrong. I applaud your treating your son sans medication. That is the path I would have taken.
Sorry for hijacking your thread mhedrick. If you'd like any ideas on ways to slow the nervous system down and calm a child, let me know. I've spent a lot of time doing just that for my son. good luck
allmymarbles, many things are categorized as add/adhd that are not----- to that I agree. However, I think thebabyalex has an agenda that does not include helping families but to say that add/adhd does not exist at all.
I agree that at 4 a child should not be diagnosed with add/adhd in most cases------- that is why the usual standard of care is 6. That is still young in my opinion but it becomes clearer at that age and beyond.
But . . . and this is a big but--------- where would my child have been had I not acted to help him? I am beyond thankful that we were set on the path to help our child. If I were a mother of a 4 year old and I thought nothing was going on with my child and no inner warning bells were going off at all-------- I'd be inclined to do my own thing. If I saw that my child was having issues (and being different, too hyper to sit through anything, bugging peers to the point that they don't want to play with you, etc.------- will make a child feel unhappy)------ at 4 I would look into what was going on. I'd go ahead and seek an evaluation. I wouldn't jump to medicating my child but I would try to see what kinds of things could help. Perhaps a strict routine would benefit him, perhaps some social skills games would help, perhaps a particular way of phrasing things would make sense to a 4 year old to help him along, maybe a "story book" that they use in autism (my son doesn't have autism but I use these to help explain things to him at times . . .), maybe there is an activity that is helpful to calming the nervous system , etc. I'd start doing those things to see if it helped. Many kids with add/adhd have a hard time sleeping. Sensory kids do to. So I've learned that the nervous system will respond often to deep pressure. There are some easy things you can do for a child right before bed that slow down that nervous system----------- as a mother of a child of 4 that was being called "hyper"------ I'd look into things like that. I wouldn't fear add/adhd as if it is some horrible thing but rather just problem solve to help my kid.
That is what I don't get about people like ba------ they aren't trying to help and offer ideas on things a family can try but just say a disorder doesn't exist. I find it offensive to be honest.
Of anywhere I go, this forum scares me the most with the amount of misinformation I see here.
I've had a lot of luck helping my child along and things are going pretty darn good, so I come here to offer ideas that might help others. Then I see posts like some that are here and I just feel bad for those who are still seeking ideas and answers.
But allmymarbles, I do agree with you. We are our children's advocate and going straight to a diagnosis wouldn't be something I wish on anyone. But it is there when parents need it to take some direction and I'm not just talking about medication. There is a lot of literature out there on how to help that does not include drugs.
And with a 4 year old, I'd offer up add/adhd's look alike cousin sensory integration disorder to investigate because they look similar and sensory is treatable. Not with drugs. And the earlier you jump on helping a child with nervous system problems, the better the outcome will be.
My child has never been medicated. I say that because this often becomes a pro med or against med forum. That isn't what I'm talking about. I'm pro kid and helping when you can. But that is just me and this is just my opinion.
I agree that at 4 a child should not be diagnosed with add/adhd in most cases------- that is why the usual standard of care is 6. That is still young in my opinion but it becomes clearer at that age and beyond.
But . . . and this is a big but--------- where would my child have been had I not acted to help him? I am beyond thankful that we were set on the path to help our child. If I were a mother of a 4 year old and I thought nothing was going on with my child and no inner warning bells were going off at all-------- I'd be inclined to do my own thing. If I saw that my child was having issues (and being different, too hyper to sit through anything, bugging peers to the point that they don't want to play with you, etc.------- will make a child feel unhappy)------ at 4 I would look into what was going on. I'd go ahead and seek an evaluation. I wouldn't jump to medicating my child but I would try to see what kinds of things could help. Perhaps a strict routine would benefit him, perhaps some social skills games would help, perhaps a particular way of phrasing things would make sense to a 4 year old to help him along, maybe a "story book" that they use in autism (my son doesn't have autism but I use these to help explain things to him at times . . .), maybe there is an activity that is helpful to calming the nervous system , etc. I'd start doing those things to see if it helped. Many kids with add/adhd have a hard time sleeping. Sensory kids do to. So I've learned that the nervous system will respond often to deep pressure. There are some easy things you can do for a child right before bed that slow down that nervous system----------- as a mother of a child of 4 that was being called "hyper"------ I'd look into things like that. I wouldn't fear add/adhd as if it is some horrible thing but rather just problem solve to help my kid.
That is what I don't get about people like ba------ they aren't trying to help and offer ideas on things a family can try but just say a disorder doesn't exist. I find it offensive to be honest.
Of anywhere I go, this forum scares me the most with the amount of misinformation I see here.
I've had a lot of luck helping my child along and things are going pretty darn good, so I come here to offer ideas that might help others. Then I see posts like some that are here and I just feel bad for those who are still seeking ideas and answers.
But allmymarbles, I do agree with you. We are our children's advocate and going straight to a diagnosis wouldn't be something I wish on anyone. But it is there when parents need it to take some direction and I'm not just talking about medication. There is a lot of literature out there on how to help that does not include drugs.
And with a 4 year old, I'd offer up add/adhd's look alike cousin sensory integration disorder to investigate because they look similar and sensory is treatable. Not with drugs. And the earlier you jump on helping a child with nervous system problems, the better the outcome will be.
My child has never been medicated. I say that because this often becomes a pro med or against med forum. That isn't what I'm talking about. I'm pro kid and helping when you can. But that is just me and this is just my opinion.
I think that thebabyalex is concerned with the overdiagnosis of ADD. I am too. Far too many children are labeled with this condition by doctors who have not investigated diet, parenting, environment, etc. When a child is only four years old I would move very cautiously before adopting a course of action that may affect his life adversely.
Hi, First of all I feel that the babyalex poster has an agenda that does not help children and I find to be extremely disrespectful on this forum. Adhd/add is actually a developmental delay that involves the nervous system. A great number of illness/disorders (ever have a sinus infection . . . did your doctor culture you or just listen to your symptoms and pick an antibiotic based on that. I've never been cultured for an upper respirtory infection in my life other than strep throat. Depression is treated by symptoms. Anxiety. Skin infection. um, well, I could go on and on) and things such as add/adhd are treated by symptomatology vs. other testing and therefore, the comments made are irrelevant. And annoying.
Okay, back to your child mhedrick. You do not give any information on what your child's hyperactivity or issues look like. I also have a child that struggled tremendously at 3 and 4. He couldn't sit still, climbed everything in sight, couldn't keep his hands to himself in preschool, had meltdowns, sleeping was problematic, did wacky things that involved "crashing" into things, etc. It interfered in his normal functioning. Having friends was elusive to him, preschool was a nightmare (he went 2 half days (2.5hours each) a week), and our home life was consumed with him. Turns out that he also has an issue with his nervous system like adhd/add called sensory integration disorder. It involves how the brain processes things. I'd ask questions about your son's fine motor skills--------- is it easy for him to hold a pencil and write his name? and how did his speech develop?
Anyway, my son was evaluated by an occupational therapist and diagnosed. He does occupational therapy which involves "play therapy" that works directly on his nervous system to slow it down as well as behavioral things and other things like handwriting, etc. My son went from difficult to a kid that blends in and most do not know he has this issue. He's now 6.5 and I will say addressing his needs has been the smartest and best thing I've ever done.
So, please google sensory integration disorder and see what you think. It is also called sensory processing disorder. Know that all kids can look a bit different but look for key words that ring a bell for your child. If it matches, I'd have about 1000 things for you to try at home to soothe his nervous system.
Now back to add/adhd. If it were my child------- I would only see a child psychiatrist for a diagnosis of add/adhd. Since add/adhd involves the brain/nervous system------ it is usually a neurologist or psychiatrist that is most qualified to evaluate and treat for it. And in my experience, psychiatrists have the best outcome. The practice of psychiatry treats many things and seeing one does not make someone crazy. In my area, the standard of care is to not diagnose for add/adhd until a child is at least 6 because all kids can have such variability in behavior.
4 is young. He could just be super energetic. Hyperactivity isn't uncommon in 4 year olds and especially boys. But our son fell outside of what I'd say was typical. It led us to seek further evaluation. I'm so thrilled we did. It has been truly successful for us.
One last thing, all kids with overactive nervous systems benefit from lots and lots of physical activity. I'm sure you are but take your boy to parks and run, jump, skip, climb, roll, swing, etc. as much as possible. Swimming is the perfect exercise with resistance and deep pressure combined. Kicking soccer balls and hitting baseballs with a bat both give needed input into the nervous system. So do as much of these types of things as you possibly can. It directly affects the nervous system.
One last thing, the idea of a "stigma" that babyalex brings up. A stigma is actually perpetuated by those like babyalex rather than educated people that have taken the time to understand a disorder. And stigmas decrease over time as awareness increases. My son has a disorder but it is not branded into his forehead. No one knows unless I choose to tell him. You are not required to wear a t shirt to the party that says "I have this". A diagnosis or label is meant to help a child get what they need to function properly. The information is confidential when it comes to school and what not. And if there is no "label" in the file------- have no doubt that a child is still labeled. He is then called weird, trouble and friendless among other things. I'd prefer a confidential label that shows I'm trying to help my child than all the other names he is called if I ignore the issue. And-------- I addressed my child's needs early on------ so his only label is the one that I choose to give him as he has not had any issues at school.
Anyway, google sensory and let me know what you think and we can go from there. good luck
Okay, back to your child mhedrick. You do not give any information on what your child's hyperactivity or issues look like. I also have a child that struggled tremendously at 3 and 4. He couldn't sit still, climbed everything in sight, couldn't keep his hands to himself in preschool, had meltdowns, sleeping was problematic, did wacky things that involved "crashing" into things, etc. It interfered in his normal functioning. Having friends was elusive to him, preschool was a nightmare (he went 2 half days (2.5hours each) a week), and our home life was consumed with him. Turns out that he also has an issue with his nervous system like adhd/add called sensory integration disorder. It involves how the brain processes things. I'd ask questions about your son's fine motor skills--------- is it easy for him to hold a pencil and write his name? and how did his speech develop?
Anyway, my son was evaluated by an occupational therapist and diagnosed. He does occupational therapy which involves "play therapy" that works directly on his nervous system to slow it down as well as behavioral things and other things like handwriting, etc. My son went from difficult to a kid that blends in and most do not know he has this issue. He's now 6.5 and I will say addressing his needs has been the smartest and best thing I've ever done.
So, please google sensory integration disorder and see what you think. It is also called sensory processing disorder. Know that all kids can look a bit different but look for key words that ring a bell for your child. If it matches, I'd have about 1000 things for you to try at home to soothe his nervous system.
Now back to add/adhd. If it were my child------- I would only see a child psychiatrist for a diagnosis of add/adhd. Since add/adhd involves the brain/nervous system------ it is usually a neurologist or psychiatrist that is most qualified to evaluate and treat for it. And in my experience, psychiatrists have the best outcome. The practice of psychiatry treats many things and seeing one does not make someone crazy. In my area, the standard of care is to not diagnose for add/adhd until a child is at least 6 because all kids can have such variability in behavior.
4 is young. He could just be super energetic. Hyperactivity isn't uncommon in 4 year olds and especially boys. But our son fell outside of what I'd say was typical. It led us to seek further evaluation. I'm so thrilled we did. It has been truly successful for us.
One last thing, all kids with overactive nervous systems benefit from lots and lots of physical activity. I'm sure you are but take your boy to parks and run, jump, skip, climb, roll, swing, etc. as much as possible. Swimming is the perfect exercise with resistance and deep pressure combined. Kicking soccer balls and hitting baseballs with a bat both give needed input into the nervous system. So do as much of these types of things as you possibly can. It directly affects the nervous system.
One last thing, the idea of a "stigma" that babyalex brings up. A stigma is actually perpetuated by those like babyalex rather than educated people that have taken the time to understand a disorder. And stigmas decrease over time as awareness increases. My son has a disorder but it is not branded into his forehead. No one knows unless I choose to tell him. You are not required to wear a t shirt to the party that says "I have this". A diagnosis or label is meant to help a child get what they need to function properly. The information is confidential when it comes to school and what not. And if there is no "label" in the file------- have no doubt that a child is still labeled. He is then called weird, trouble and friendless among other things. I'd prefer a confidential label that shows I'm trying to help my child than all the other names he is called if I ignore the issue. And-------- I addressed my child's needs early on------ so his only label is the one that I choose to give him as he has not had any issues at school.
Anyway, google sensory and let me know what you think and we can go from there. good luck
He is only four years old and in an early developmental stage. He will probably settle down as he gets a bit older. Make sure he gets enough sleep and that he eats a healthful diet. A lot of sugary junk (soft drinks, bottled fruit juice, cake and sweets) makes children hyper and edgy (and harms their health, of course).
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hey, I am sorry if I misunderstood. I just assumed when you said, ",he's not crazy just overly hyper." that you meant a child with ADHD was kind of crazy. that kind of reasoning is usually done by someone who doesn't understand what ADHD is - hence my recommendations.
But regardless of what he has or doesn't have, there is a lot of info out there to help parents with there kids. Drop over to the child behavior forum sometime and read the posts and answers there to see what I mean. Best wishes!
But regardless of what he has or doesn't have, there is a lot of info out there to help parents with there kids. Drop over to the child behavior forum sometime and read the posts and answers there to see what I mean. Best wishes!
thanks,but i believe i know about all that out there on ADHD..and i never said any kid was crazy maybe you should have read my question right,and no here in oklahoma they treat kids at 4,but thanks again for you insight
COMMUNITY LEADER
the reason you can't find a doctor is that ADHD isn't typically treated until about age 6. There are exceptions for extreme cases. However, you certainly should be able to get advice on how to work with your child. If a child does have ADHD, the behavior modification treatments (and I am not talking drugs here!) are somewhat different than working with a child with normal discipline problems.
As I said you really need to research what ADHD is to understand what is going on and if something different is going on.
A book I recommend a lot is, "The ADD/ ADHD Answer book," by Susan Ashley
Best wishes
As I said you really need to research what ADHD is to understand what is going on and if something different is going on.
A book I recommend a lot is, "The ADD/ ADHD Answer book," by Susan Ashley
Best wishes
The doctor is making a type 1 mistake of diagnosis. In short, a type 1 mistake is in assuming illness in someone who does not show signs of disease, but who might show "symptoms". In ADHD, which has no disease marker, say, like heart or liver disease, there are certainly "symptoms", which are tantamount to behavior that is seen to be troubling and troublesome within a specific social setting, i.e., school, work, family. As such, doctors and psychiatrists are "legitimately" "treating" a child-or adult-for his behavior. The latter is a socially contigent disease, not a medically emergent one...no matter how angry, disappointed, and distraught the child might make one feel over his behavior. That is not what diseases are. So how far are you willing to go with this medical myth? Polypharmacy? Stigmatization?
COMMUNITY LEADER
First I really thing you need to read up on ADHD. You need to realize that a kid who has it is not crazy!. Click on ADHD written in blue above the green post a question for a pretty good description. I can give you several sites with more info if you wish. I also can suggest some very good books.
Second, your doctor is doing you a favor. He is being honest. Too many times I have seen stories of a pediatrician trying to treat ADHD and screwing it up. You need to look for a pediatric psychiatrist (one specializing in ADHD is even better). In a city the size of Oklahoma City, there have got to be several. If not go with a child psychologist. You might ask your doctor for a recommendation.
Md's can tend to make a quick drug diagnosis. A pediatrician will/should make sure its an accurate diagnosis and hopefully look at all the alternatives. Best wishes.
Second, your doctor is doing you a favor. He is being honest. Too many times I have seen stories of a pediatrician trying to treat ADHD and screwing it up. You need to look for a pediatric psychiatrist (one specializing in ADHD is even better). In a city the size of Oklahoma City, there have got to be several. If not go with a child psychologist. You might ask your doctor for a recommendation.
Md's can tend to make a quick drug diagnosis. A pediatrician will/should make sure its an accurate diagnosis and hopefully look at all the alternatives. Best wishes.
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