ADHD can now be diagnosed as young as 4

[alaskagrown]

In the U.S., the American Academy of Pediatrics in Boston recently changed the guidelines so that children as young as 4 can be diagnosed with ADHD. What do you think about this?

 

[Ashley8806]

Personally, I feel that too many kids are falsely getting diagnosed with ADHD and put on meds. 4 is too young IMO.

 

[Kel127]

I think its ridiculous!

 

[Eve]

I think it's amazing, great, etc...

Many children are NOT properly diagnosed and suffer through school and home life without the help they need which may include medication and some go through their adult life without the diagnosis as well. It's a shame....

ADHD is something you can see at a younger age and I sure as **** wish they had moved the age limit down BEFORE I went through utter hell with my son who was KICKED OUT of kindergarten (Yeah, they do that!) and had to be held back a year because trying to get help for him before school I was basically told tough shit...!

Fair to my son? Hell no! Fair to the many other children suffering in silence with parents who are uneducated or in denial? No!

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

i think thats silly tbh, i have quite strong opinions on ADHD... they usually upset people so i'm not going to bother cos thats not my aim, i have learnt my opinions are best kept to myself.. but i have to say this is really REALLY daft, i mean how on earth do you test the attention span ETC of a four year old ?!

 

[Eve]

Easily.

 

[alaskagrown]

Actually, it's not easy (thank GOD!) for psychiatrists to diagnose 4 year olds with ADHD. According to the news articles just released, they will have a few hoops to jump through in order to diagnose the children and it mentioned attempting cognitive-behavioral modification therapy BEFORE medication (another THANK GOD!)

But the whole thing still frightens me to say the least!

 

[Eve]

I mean, you can. It's not rocket science. I know I am and was an observant and attentive enough mother to know there was something wrong with my son. If he would have been given help, therapy and medical attention when he should have had it, he probably wouldn't be living in a group home under the care of our province and held back in school amongst many other things. I have seen many children with ADHD and many who were just rowdy kids. Milder cases obviously would be harder to diagnose but when a child as severe ADHD it's pretty obvious.

I now have the proper attention drawn to help my son, but it shouldn't have taken this long!

 

[Eve]

I was in a clinic and seen a lot of the testing first hand with my son. It took a while, and we had to do it in a few different appts as he couldn't pay attention long enough as he was a child, but watching him do the tests was a real relief as they could see what I did.

 

[alaskagrown]

I was misdiagnosed at age 15, about 6 years ago. The diagnosis process took less than 10 minutes. I filled out a questionnaire, and within days they wanted me to take Ritalin. Ritalin lasted me all but 6 months before I made the conscious decision to go cold turkey on it because I thought it was absolute nonsense.

The reason they wanted to diagnose me was because I was having VERY TYPICAL mother-daughter head-butting arguments at home and testing my "coolness" limits out at school to see how far I could go without getting in trouble (i.e., talking during class, pulling donuts in the high school parking lot with friends, smoking pot). That phase lasted me 1 year before I grew out of it.

My ex-boyfriend got diagnosed with ADHD 3 years ago. All he said to his doctor was he wanted it because he gets back grades and he now sniffs his pills at parties and sells them to friends.

 

[Eve]

You are your ex weren't kids... you were teens. Some doctors are morons, just as some people are, and everyone makes mistakes. I am talking about children, who can't speak for themselves, children who suffer. You were rebelling and diagnosed, obviously by a moron as those are not symptoms of ADHD..... I was misdiagnosed during pregnancy and suffered the loss of my son at the hands of an incompetent doctor... they are out there and will misdiagnose with many things. I know someone who suffered years, was on antidepressants etc... when she had ADD! Diagnosed in adulthood. It will always happen. Anyways, my son is living proof that children need more people on their side, and more information, studies and seriousness needs taken! If they would have looked into it in the first place, maybe he could be home with us now... but no, we had to wait until he had so much trouble at school before they would even look at him!

 

[BlackBerry25]

Ok, would you wait to medicate your child for asthma or any other disorder? This is no different!


My OH has ADHD that has not been diagnosed until now as a 27 year old adult. He has had so many missed opportunities from having no attention span or focus. I am pretty sure my 3 year old has it as well.

 

[Eve]

^Thank you!

 

[Nibblenic]

Ok, would you wait to medicate your child for asthma or any other disorder? This is no different!
.

Yes but children are also misdiagnosed with asthma. I was told I had asthma. I didnt I had a severe grass allergy it took me collapsing one day in a park.

I think diagnosing things as early as possible in any case is for the best. However the diagnoses need to be correct and re-examined on regular bases like it wasnt diagnosed in the first place.

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

there is a HUGE difference in diagnosing asthma to something like ADHD ... imo

 

[Eve]

Just out of curiosity, how many of you have children with special needs, like ADD, ADHD, ASD, ODD etc... or how many have first hand experience with children in your care who have it?

 

[alaskagrown]

I work at a school. In all of the cases that I have personally seen, when the child is acting out in the classroom he or she has a dysfunctional home life (e.g., fighting parents, alcoholic parents, parents who refuse to send the child anything for lunch but a moldy piece of bread, etc.).
I also work at an art gallery/custom framing store. I had one mother bring in her two boys, about 5 and 6 and they obviously had issues. The second they walked it she let them loose, running around glass shelves, chasing each other, screaming, jumping, shoving each other...she just blatantly ignored them and talked to my boss and I as if there were not two terrors about to destroy our store in the background. It was very awkward....I didn't have the courage to say, "Dude, lady. Restrain your children before they knock something off the wall and bust their heads open." I later found out that those kids used to go to the school I now work at, but got kicked out within the first year.

Not to say your child has a dysfunctional home life, I'm just saying it has been observed in 100% of the cases I have seen.

 

[Eve]

I must assume you don't see many people then, as 100% is a very large percent.

 

[Eve]

I have seen children who just need guidance and attention from parents, but I have also seen a poor child who from the age of 2 you could tell something wasn't right... from 3 you could clearly see ADD/ADHD behaviors, and doctors, and his own family didn't do a damn thing until the child went into kindergarten and knew next to nothing and couldn't sit in his chair, couldn't concentrate in the slightest and now finally has a formal diagnosis as ADD/ADHD and Autism! He is finally getting help and has a teachers aid to assist him in learning. Before this, all he did was get in lots of trouble and daycare and at home... poor child.

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

i have to say i find the link between ADHD and social background(poverty etc) more then a little bit circumstantial ......


btw that isn't suppose to imply that children with ADHD are poor.. or from a bad background, just well statistically ALOT are and i think that says something