ADHD can now be diagnosed as young as 4

[lesleyann]

I was told I had ADHD when I was in primary school... Do I have ADHD? Nope I was a naughty child who knew how to press the right buttons and wind people up something cronic, but because they could not proove I was "smarter than those trying to rule me" or that I really did have ADHD they said I did... Id rather not have kids pumped full of drugs just because someone sits there and watches if a child can sit down and read a book or not..

I know someone a parent infact who has mentord(sp?) Her children in how to "pass" these tests so she can claim disablity for them its not hard to fake. Infact she has also managed to get every single one of her children said to autistic truthly she will admit only 1 is but once she had one confirmed she new the tests etc and now gets full DLA? for all of her brood

 

[alaskagrown]

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

I don't understand what you mean by this. I think you misread my statement if you interpret me as saying, "I have seen 100% of the world's children who exhibit ADHD behavior."

What I said was 100% of the children I have personally observed with a legitimate IEP statement for ADHD at the school I am employed at complain of issues at home that may act as a root cause for their inability to manage their impulses and inattentiveness. Most of these children do not take medication, although some do. I see their disorganization as a "symptom" of the problem. Rather than attacking the symptoms with a medication, I work with these children on teaching them the proper coping mechanisms and tools overcome their unfortunate situations at home. Organization and impulse control can be taught to children who appear to lack self-control. Although it's not as quick of a fix as popping a pill everyday for the rest of your life, I believe these are life skills necessary for functioning in today's society.

 

[BlackBerry25]

Well my OH did not have a bad upbringing, my daughter hasn't and I am sure Eve's child hasn't either.

 

[LoraLoo]

I'm not sure TBH, My son was just shy of 6 years old when diagnosed, but I had suspected he had it from a very young age. I do feel 4 is a little young, seeing as some 4 year olds won't even have started school yet, and they like to assess them in school situations/other environments. Difficult one really x

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

Well my OH did not have a bad upbringing, my daughter hasn't and I am sure Eve's child hasn't either.

Like i said... not true in every case but it is a true statistic x

 

[BlackBerry25]

Well anyways, just become some people have been misdiagnosed, that does not mean others have been. Should they have to suffer or be punished for misbehaving when it is not the case?

 

[Eve]

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

I don't understand what you mean by this. I think you misread my statement if you interpret me as saying, "I have seen 100% of the world's children who exhibit ADHD behavior."

What I said was 100% of the children I have personally observed with a legitimate IEP statement for ADHD at the school I am employed at complain of issues at home that may act as a root cause for their inability to manage their impulses and inattentiveness. Most of these children do not take medication, although some do. I see their disorganization as a "symptom" of the problem. Rather than attacking the symptoms with a medication, I work with these children on teaching them the proper coping mechanisms and tools overcome their unfortunate situations at home. Organization and impulse control can be taught to children who appear to lack self-control. Although it's not as quick of a fix as popping a pill everyday for the rest of your life, I believe these are life skills necessary for functioning in today's society.

I meant, if 100% of the ADHD cases you had seen all had a shitty home life, you must not have seen many in general, as it is such a wide spread problem... all different walks of life and families have children with ADHD.

 

[Eve]

Well my OH did not have a bad upbringing, my daughter hasn't and I am sure Eve's child hasn't either.

No he didn't, thanks hun.

 

[alaskagrown]

It is rash to make the assumption that 100% if all the children I have observed in a school who exhibit ADHD behavior have grown up with issues on the home front, then 100% of the children worldwide who have ADHD also have issues at home that cause the problem.

However, it is a valid assumption that most children diagnosed have issues that stem elsewhere than an imbalance of neurological hormones.

I also believe that diagnosing a child at 4 is unfair. The child is still learning what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior. The inappropriate impulsive behavior still has time to be modified without medication. According to the leading child development theories (Piaget, Erickson, etc.), the crucial learning phase for children, the phase where children master the skills needed to "make it or break it" in society, are at their peak between the ages of 4 and 8. There are many pre-school aged children who will grow out of the phase, however there are some that will not. It is next to impossible to pre-determine who will grow out of the phase and who will not, so this is why I believe it is crucial to wait to diagnose the disorder until the child is older.

I understand why you may be emotionally fired and therefore quick to defend this subject because you have a child who is diagnosed with the disorder, but I am concerned about the wellbeing of America's future generation if it is now legal to diagnose a child as young as 4. I wish the best for you and your child.

 

[Eve]

We will have to agree to disagree here for sure and yes, of course I am more emotionally fired. I have dealt with it first hand, I have experience in raising and parenting a child who has different disorders, as well as taking care of other children. I seen my son's home life, I know how he has been brought up so far and I can honestly tell you his life was pretty darn good!

 

[mummy3]

If done by a competent doctor using recognised testing then to get the diagnosis so early is awesome!

My son has recently been diagnosed as autistic, not adhd but a developmental disorder nonetheless and hes 3 1/2. Testing was done by a developmental pedi and the help he has received has been invaluable. He now goes to a special ed programme in the school district where he gets occupational therapy and speech therapy and he will soon be getting help at home to work on his sensitivities. He is improving tremendously and he doesnt need medication. Without this early diagnosis his life would be totally different so I totally see just how much of an advance this is if used properly

I have to say though, if your child genuinely has one of these disorders then you very much know about it very early on. We knew even before our son was 2 so may argue 4 is too late!

 

[BlackBerry25]

You can actually diagnose ADHD with a brain scan and see the difference in an ADHD brain.

 

[LoraLoo]

You can actually diagnose ADHD with a brain scan and see the difference in an ADHD brain.

Ollie's consultant said this too, I'm not sure why they don't do this- expense I guess? xx

 

[alaskagrown]

Doctors will not recommend a brain scan to diagnose ADHD at 4 as a first resort. That is a VERY expensive test and would potentially cost parents thousands of dollars. Imagine the parents' reaction when the doctors inform the parents the scan is inconclusive to determine their baby's level of attentiveness...because, well...their child is 4. At 4, the child's brain is still adjusting to meet the demands of his or her societal environment to sit for longer periods of time and focus on a single subject in a learning environment.

According to the article, doctors will require behavioral modification therapy until the child is 5 and is old enough to be observed in a classroom setting.

 

[Rhi_Rhi1]

You can actually diagnose ADHD with a brain scan and see the difference in an ADHD brain.

i wasn't aware of this, is it a proven method ? as far as i was aware there was no medical test for ADHD.. x

 

[Lara310809]

due to my brother's age and the era in which he was growing up, very few people believed there was such a thing as ADD or ADHD, so he wasn't diagnosed until it was too late, and until he'd already been kicked out of school, 2 weeks before his GCSEs. Talk about ruining a child's life

I think it's great that kids can be diagnosed at the age of 4; it helps parents, it helps teachers and carers. You get support once you have a diagnosis. Living without support sucks; I know all about that

 

[deafgal]

I thought children at that age naturally have short attention span

 

[alaskagrown]

Also, according to the guidelines for ADHD, children must exhibit their behavior for at least 6 months continuously. I can't imagine a parent analyzing their 3 1/2 year old as attention deficit if he or she can't sit still for long enough...

I also think about it this way. Imagine if you have a class of thirty 5 and 6 year-old children. 10% (roughly the average number of children in the U.S. diagnosed with ADHD), or 3, are taking Ritalin. One day, all the children stop taking their medication. Utter chaos breaks out in the classroom, the teacher would not be able to handle herself.

Now lets rewind to a classroom in the 1960's. Ritalin is on the market, but essentially no child takes the medication. Is the classroom utter chaos? No, in fact children were much more behaved and better disciplined due to stricter, consistent, more-involved parenting, lower divorce rates/better nuclear family stability, less instant gratifying activities (computers, television viewing, video games, etc.) for the overall for the general population. Of course there's a naughty kid or two who get sent out in the hallway for misbehaving, but that's the nature of mischievous children, ADHD or not.

Now I think that ADHD is still a very real disability, but when 10% of America's children are taking the medicine... that's complete phony. And if the mis-diagnosis rate is as high as it is now when children are being diagnosed at 8....imagine the catastrophe involved with diagnosing 4 year olds. It's actually more detrimental for a child as young as 4, during a very rapid and ever-changing stage of developmental growth, to be taking a medication that is mis-prescribed to him or her than some one older.

 

[LoraLoo]

Also, according to the guidelines for ADHD, children must exhibit their behavior for at least 6 months continuously. I can't imagine a parent analyzing their 3 1/2 year old as attention deficit if he or she can't sit still for long enough...

I also think about it this way. Imagine if you have a class of thirty 5 and 6 year-old children. 10% (roughly the average number of children in the U.S. diagnosed with ADHD), or 3, are taking Ritalin. One day, all the children stop taking their medication. Utter chaos breaks out in the classroom, the teacher would not be able to handle herself.

Now lets rewind to a classroom in the 1960's. Ritalin is on the market, but essentially no child takes the medication. Is the classroom utter chaos? No, in fact children were much more behaved and better disciplined due to stricter, consistent, more-involved parenting, lower divorce rates/better nuclear family stability, less instant gratifying activities (computers, television viewing, video games, etc.) for the overall for the general population. Of course there's a naughty kid or two who get sent out in the hallway for misbehaving, but that's the nature of mischievous children, ADHD or not.

Now I think that ADHD is still a very real disability, but when 10% of America's children are taking the medicine... that's complete phony. And if the mis-diagnosis rate is as high as it is now when children are being diagnosed at 8....imagine the catastrophe involved with diagnosing 4 year olds. It's actually more detrimental for a child as young as 4, during a very rapid and ever-changing stage of developmental growth, to be taking a medication that is mis-prescribed to him or her than some one older.

I was told by Ollie's consultant, that if an ADHD diagnosis is wrong, medication, such as Ritalin, will not have the desired effect

 

[deafgal]

Maybe the teaching method is outdated for today kids.Maybe they need to change their method

Also, according to the guidelines for ADHD, children must exhibit their behavior for at least 6 months continuously. I can't imagine a parent analyzing their 3 1/2 year old as attention deficit if he or she can't sit still for long enough...

I also think about it this way. Imagine if you have a class of thirty 5 and 6 year-old children. 10% (roughly the average number of children in the U.S. diagnosed with ADHD), or 3, are taking Ritalin. One day, all the children stop taking their medication. Utter chaos breaks out in the classroom, the teacher would not be able to handle herself.

Now lets rewind to a classroom in the 1960's. Ritalin is on the market, but essentially no child takes the medication. Is the classroom utter chaos? No, in fact children were much more behaved and better disciplined due to stricter, consistent, more-involved parenting, lower divorce rates/better nuclear family stability, less instant gratifying activities (computers, television viewing, video games, etc.) for the overall for the general population. Of course there's a naughty kid or two who get sent out in the hallway for misbehaving, but that's the nature of mischievous children, ADHD or not.

Now I think that ADHD is still a very real disability, but when 10% of America's children are taking the medicine... that's complete phony. And if the mis-diagnosis rate is as high as it is now when children are being diagnosed at 8....imagine the catastrophe involved with diagnosing 4 year olds. It's actually more detrimental for a child as young as 4, during a very rapid and ever-changing stage of developmental growth, to be taking a medication that is mis-prescribed to him or her than some one older.