Help.....its that simple

My DD turned 3 in June and has always been hyper. I am a teacher myself and this is my one and only, so I was careful not to jump the gun and diagnose her myself with ADHD. However, others, including child care providers, doctor, and her teacher at pre-pre school suggested early intervention. Nothing else seems to be wrong (speech, physically etc.) When I called to inquire about testing, I was made to feel like an idiot. I got the sense like they thought I was just an overwhelmed mom and she is 3!!!!! It is more than this though. Here are some highlights:
* no naps
* bed time ranges from 11pm to 1am (usually takes 3 to 5 hours to get her asleep)
*wakes up through out the night to play
* does not play with others (shares, but "parallel plays" )
* no pretending
* nothing holds her interest for more than 5 mins (toys, games, etc.)
* banned from library classes for 1 year
*asked back to school on a trial basis
* lost daycare provider due to behavior
* no real volunteers to babysit

I need a real plan here! I have a psychologist prescreening her over the next 3 weeks, but does anyone else have any other suggestions? I am all ears!

Re: Help.....its that simple

i am feeling your pain...

DS is 3 and sounds just like your DD...

i have been told over and over that ADHD cannot be diagnosed until he is 5 or 6, even though Autism and ADD/ADHD go hand in hand.

like you DS does not nap, goes to bed between 10-1, will wake up in the middle of the night to play, watch tv, and will stay awake for a good 2-3 hours and still be up at 7am.

good luck and i hope that the psychologist will have some insight and be able to help you.

Re: Help.....its that simple

How is the bath situation?

Have you tried "containment" or "soothing" techniques?

Message edited 8/26/2010 8:39:05 AM.

Re: Help.....its that simple

Have they suggested an OT evaluation? If she has sensory issues, they could be affecting her behavior and an OT might be able to help with that too.

Re: Help.....its that simple

Wow, you have your hands full and I definitely think you should insist on an evaluation without using the term ADHD. Lots of kids get services for behavioral issues, short attention span and lack of pretend play skills.

Would it be possible to to make a very early and consisten bedtime. Since it takes her 3-5 hours to sleep, how about 7pm start reading and bedtime routine and bedtime at 7:30. This will get her to bed at a reasonable time even if it takes 3 hrs. She may fall asleep quicker because she will not be so overtired and wound up. I find that if I miss my window of opportunity when my dd is ready for bed then it takes hours for her to get to sleep. If you can get her to sleep , you will get a break at night at least and her behavior might improve a little. (I do think that sleep issues correspond to having adhd>)

My son has a terrible sleep disorder. I suffered for one year (when he was 3)trying to get him to sleep until I finally realized I have to get my sleep. We decided we would make him stay in his room without disturbing us.lights off and him sleeping is his problem. We also put a mattress in our room for him to sleep on if he gets scared in the middle of the night. He is not allowed to wake us, but he does wake up and come to our room every night where we find him in the morning. My son is 6 and he does go to bed without any isssues anymore. Since I now get my sleep I can deal with the rest of my day way better.

GL I hope you get what your dd needs.

Re: Help.....its that simple

While I think a schedule would definitely be beneficial, unless you already have one in place already, I definitely think that you should explore the possibility that maybe she may have some senory processing difficulties going on. It may be that she doesn't know how to regulate herself in environments that are too overstimulating. I would definitely have an OT eval done as well but not by just any OT you want someone who is trained in sensory integration disorders who knows what to look for. HTH

Re: Help.....its that simple

Re: Help.....its that simple

Yeah I would hope so too....but unfortunately its been my experience that this is not always the case. You do come across OTs that are not entirley comfortable with all the SI work. You get people who like to specialize in different areas of the discipline. Just the way you can have an SLP who is comfortable treating children with fluency, artic and phonology disorders but not comfortable in working with children on the spectrum. You want to make sure that the OT evaluating your child has a strong SI background.

Message edited 8/26/2010 7:34:05 PM.

Re: Help.....its that simple

My DD is the same way. At night it use to take her over 2 hours to fall asleep and would wake up 2 or 3 times a night and be up for 2 hours a stretch each time.

DD was diagnosed with PDD-NOS but very boardline and most likely will have the diagonis taken away the next time she gets evaluated. She has severe sensory issues and I think most of her issues stem from that. You definately should look into an OT evaluation with someone that knows about Sensory Integration. Not all OTs are comfortable with sensory issues so make sure you request one that is.

We started with a new OT about 3 months ago and I have to tell you it has done wonders. She still wakes at night but 90% of the time falls right back to sleep and we started putting her in earlier at night, like 7:15ish. The later she was up the less she slept at night. You don't want them getting over tired. We also started a brushing technique and that seems to calm her down a bit as well. We do it about 3 times a day and right before she goes to bed we give her a massage with her lotion. It's suppose to calm down the body or something like that : ).

I guess long story short, it kind of sounds like she has a little sensory issue so I would request an eval with a sensory intergration OT.

Good luck!!