ADHA in preschoolers and beyond...Need Some Insight

Left my Dev. Ped appointment and I am troubled. While on the one hand his opinion is that he certainly sees DS as eventually shedding his PDD-NOS/ASD diagnosis, obviously good, he definetly sees him heading towards an ADHD diagnosis in the future. he said that while it is not his practice to prescribe medication for children so young, maybe one kid a year, perhaps my son is that one. Based upon DS' teachers' notes, his recommendation is to go back to district and request a 1:1 aide to help with the constant redirection, distruption and attending. He then thinks I should consider medication. I told him that I would rather try other options before I even considered medicating my son. i suggested diet and he felt that it can help, but not to the extent that my child would likely need. He said I can also explore a behavioral pychologist? At this point, either because we were nearly out of time, or because I was adament that medicating my 4 year old was not something that I was receptive to, I felt very dismissed.

Could you share your experiences? Here or PM always welcome

Re: ADHA in preschoolers and beyond...Need Some Insight

ADHD is best treated as a 3 prong approach.

1) medication (because AdHD is due to a lack of/decrease
in a neurochemical that needs to be replaced via meds)

2) behavioral modification (the psychologist/BCBA--Board
Certified Behavioral Analyst)

3) environmental modifications (reducing distractions,
sitting the child near the teacher, allowing for movement
breaks throughout the day...)

There is a wide range in ability to function for kids with an ADHD diagnosis. If a child isn't that severe then meds might not be necessary, behavioral mods and environmental mods might be enough. But if child needs meds, they can not function well at all with out it. You have to consider functioning across different environments and across functional areas: cognition/learning, fine motor, gross motor, speech & language, self-care and social skills.

If you go back to the SD to request a 1:1 monitor, also request behavioral consult for staff with a psychologist who is a BCBA and some parent training with the same person to get everyone one the same page and provide consistency across settings/environments. Does he have 1 more year of pre-K?

Re: ADHA in preschoolers and beyond...Need Some Insight

Not sure where you live, but what about following up with the ADHD specialists at LIJ?

I posted the contact a few weeks ago.

I will bump it.

The woman I spoke with said they have an excellent doctor when it comes to anything that is medication related.

Even if you have to travel a bit, I recommend all things related with that hospital.

ADHA in preschoolers and beyond...Need Some Insight

I will say that in general, I do not believe in medicating children. I think many ADHD diagnoses are unnecessary, and medicating those children is a horrible idea. That being said...my SD was that ONE child as well, except we didn't really figure it out until 2 years ago. That was two years of her acting out in school, getting bad reports from home, her not doing well, us at our wits end. Once we put her on medication, we noticed a HUGE difference. She is STILL not where the rest of her peers are (she has a very severe case) but meds made a difference for us. We also have 504 accommodations with the school, which was much easier once we got a diagnosis (extra time on tests, a separate, quiet place to take tests, an aide to read the test to her and to write out her essay answers). In addition, we see a behaviorist who has SD on a behavior plan (although that's not quite working atm).

So, we have meds, accommodations, a psychiatrist, and a behaviorist. It took us a long time to get here, and I honestly wish we had started sooner, since it was apparent to us that she had very difficult issues to deal with. Even now, like I said, she still struggles. Maybe if we had started her sooner it wouldn't be this way, but I don't know.

I wish I knew what to tell you...4 is a little young, but once he hits 1st grade I think medication is something you will need to seriously consider if he is still struggling. Feel free to FM me with any questions you may have *hugs*

Re: ADHA in preschoolers and beyond...Need Some Insight

Re: ADHA in preschoolers and beyond...Need Some Insight

DS is 6 and it is becoming harder and harder to not medicate. Dev Ped said only if academics or social declines. Academics are fine, but he has behavioral issues related to the impulsivity. His reg ped is pushing for meds, we are holding off until we meet with his 1st grade teacher at conferences this year (as per dev ped)

the school is bringing in a behavioral consultant for him this year :(


Have you tried fish oil for 3 months...lavender oil...stimming in rice...exercise...gluten free (we could not do this one)