Questions about ADD/ADHD

I personally think that a 2 yo is a little too young to really have evaluated for add/adhd. It sounds to me like actually just very typical 2 yo behavior. They like to test the boundries and become somewhat familiar with independence. Just like alot of 2 yo's start biting, and being aggressive. Very typical. If she is not having any problems at her toddler program, maybe ask them what they are doing differently? I find that being consistant in discipline and setting very firm boundries seem to work for me. I have fostered many many children and all of them have responded well to this. Maybe ask your pediatrician for help too. Good luck! Renee

Hi Sylvester, I was told that doctors don't like to evaluate for ADHD until a child is about 6 and beyond kindergarten. This is because a lot of behavior is normal for a young child that isn't normal when they are a little older. A young child should be supervised well whether or not they have ADHD. Like you, I recognized differences in my children at a young age and began asking questions. I waited to "label" them and am OK with that. My son was officially diagnosed at 10 and my daughter at 6. After a lot of praying that I was wrong and that it would go away, I did a lot of research to learn ways to help them including medication options. There are a number of good books out there and web sites with info. It will really help you to understand that she isn't trying to misbehave. Understanding what they are going thru gave me hope and insight. I wish you peace of mind at least since I know there is no rest for you on the horizon. Enjoy her. She will not be a follower in life! Nicki

Sylvester, My son was like what you are describing when he was 2, and the sitter he had at the time recognized it as being ADHD because her son was diagnosed with it. When she suggested this to me it made me angry, and I didn't want to have anything to do with it especially since he was so young. Well, once he was 4 and was being kicked out of daycares due to his behaviors I broke and went to his physician and she referred us to a neurologists that performed a 3 hours assessment and sure enough he was diag with it. He is now 10 and his medications really help him alot. I'm not saying that it is absolutely this, but very possible. You will know and your doctor will know better when she is older like 4. The thing with your daycare not having problems is most likely because of the structure. Children w/ ADHD do much better in a structured environment. Also I found that my son did better on Monday at daycare if we didn't do too much running around on the weekend. They can get stressed when there is a lot of change. Also, try to keep things that are loud or very stimulating to a minimum. If I think of anything else that I did when my son was 2 to get through it with my sanity intact I will post again. Hang in There !!

I was feeling the same way you do a few months ago and asked the same kind of question. [url]http://forums.adoption.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=130415[/url] We have contacted our local public school and asked for an "Early Intervention" evaluation. This is a FEDERAL program and free! We have had our little guy evaluated and he has shown enough of the signs to qualify for services! We will be finding out more about what the services are in a few weeks. Overall I am thrilled with the hlep they have offered and some of the advice and tips given to us have all ready been working!

You certainly can have a 2 year old evaluated. I am often called upon to do that. The child can be assessed for a variety of developmental issues, sensory-issues, and mental health issues. Contact a licensed mental health professional who works with children...you can find someone at [URL=http://attach.org]ATTACh[/URL] regards

Both of my kids were very hyper and constantly doing stupid things. My son constantly plugged up the bathroom toilet with army men, tennis balls, pretty much anything that he could fit into the bowl. My daughter constantly snuck into the bathroom and filled the bathtub or bathroom sink to play in the water. No amount of verbal scoldings, punishments seemed to work. My son used to wake up in the middle of the night and get into the fridge and smash eggs on the kitchen floor, dump milk or juice on the floor, throw lunch meat and other food items on the wall, we ended up having to put a velcro strip on the fridge door just to keep him out because we could not find a fridge child safety lock, he used to barely ever sleep so he did all kids of stuff to humor himself. My daughter was very similar, she did not sleep much at night and would constantly draw on everything if we left any writing tool out or anything she could draw with. She climbed on everything and had no fear of anything. Both of my kids grew out of these behaviors by the ages of 4 or 5 years old. My adopted son was diagnosed ADHD at age 5 (bio mom took him to 5 phys till one finally diagnosed him ADHD). When we got him at age 7 we had him re-evaluated and he was found normal and we stopped the meds and nearly 2 years later he is now doing great med free. With getting her evaulated, if you see enough dr's you will find one to give you the answer you want to hear. If you do decide to get he evaluated study up and don't go with what the 1rst dr diagnoses (no matter what the result), get a second opion from another dr not affiliated with the 1rst one. I believe that will give you the most honest (non-biased) answer to your question. I am not an expert but I would wait till at least age 4 or 5 (on a personal level I would wait till the 1rst or 2nd grade because that is when they start needing to focus in school and the teachers will be able to tell how well the child focus'). If she is doing good in the toddler program she may just be bored of things at home and does things to amuse herself. As she gets older she will be more able to comprehend why she gets in trouble at home for doing certain things, at age 2 I couldn't get my son to quit grabbing at the lightbulbs on the livingroom lamps (we got put away most of the lamps except the ones in the living room because they were the only source of light there and those we put up on shelves and he still climbed furniture and pillows to reach them). It took about 3 time him grabbing the lit bulb before he finally understood that it hurt and he shouldn't do it, for about the next 6 months everytime he seen a light on he pointed to it and said HOT, but he did finally learn (thank goodness because we were stressing out on how we were going to get him to stop wanting to play with lamps).

I'm an adoptee and i'm just curious but my amom describes me as behaving the same way as a child? Could there be some connection of some sort with adoptees and ADD/ADHD? Kathy

Hi, If you'd like to do some reading on the topic, I recommend 'Driven to Distraction' by Dr. Hallowell - an excellent guide. NancyNic Parent Forums Moderator

There does tend to be a link...on two fronts. First, the vast majority of children adopted through US foster care have been maltreated. A substantial portion of them have been neglected and understimulated and so a substantial portion of those children have sensory-integration disorders. SI disorders often look like ADHD; with difficulty focusing, being easily distracted, becoming over stimulated easily (hyper), etc. The cause is different and so these children do not respond to ADHD meds. A substantial portion of adopted children are misdiagnosed with ADHD when they actually have ADD. Second, there is also a higher percentage of ADHD among children who've been maltreated....to some extent it may be that maltreating parents also have a variety of mental health issues and many of these have genetic dimensions. regards

I have my own thoughts to add on this. A toddler is not too young to be evaluated but is probably too young to be diagnosed with ADHD. A child with AD(H)D cannot really be diagnosed before the age of 6 and the first grade. Normally it takes this long to make a correct diagnosis. If a child is showing signs of issues at the age of 2 then most likely there is other things going on besides ADHD. My 7-yr-old has ADHD and was diagnosed a year ago. I also have ADD. We knew something was wrong since he was about 5-months-old. He was very hyper and did a lot of naughty & annoying things. I addressed my concerns with his doctor starting at the age of 3 and nothing was done about it because he was too young. He was as bad off as an ADHD child can get. He failed first grade. However, he was not bad enough to raise eyebrows until his grades suffered beyond kindergarten. My 4-yr-old has a naughty streak and has done equally bad things as my 7-yr-old did when he was younger. The difference between them is my 4-yr-old can sit in front of the PS2 for hours and play games. He will sit and watch cartoons. He will sing along with the cartoons (like Dora). He will play with his toys and engage in imaginative play. My 7-yr-old did not know a tv existed at that age and has never really played with his toys - ever. Plus my 4-yr-old retains information better. So while a lot of young children will have behavioral issues that may or may not be appropriate for their age, the ADHD child will most likely not retain information as well and will go from pointless activity to pointless activity and not be interested in many things a normal child would. This is not always the case if the hyperactivity is not present. I retained information quite well as a child but really started to struggle in school in the third grade when things got more complicated. I was bored and stopped paying attention. The older I got and more complicated life got, the worse the ADD became because I could not cope. Generally its good to get the ball rolling at the age of 5 so when theyҒre 6 they can be diagnosed. But if the behavior is bad enough now then its good to get it checked out. If I had not kept on my sonҒs doctor since he was 3 then she probably wouldnt have listened after his school did a full evaluation that took months to complete.

You are correct, onamission. Earlier is better for diagnosis as you can then begin appropriate social interventions which will allow the child to learn self-management methods earlier. You can make the assessment in the toddler years. It is best to come to the diagnosis before the child begins school rather than have the child experience two or three difficult years and become turned off to school and feel incompetant. regards

Hello! It will take time for the doctors to know if it is ADD|ADHD. My daughter now adopted by another family had the same problems when she was 2. Hers tirned out to be ADHD but it was not until she was 6 did they do anything. She was very violent and who say she was going to chop me up with a knife. I hide everything that was sharp in my home. She would not side still in school her feet were always above her head. she sat in the chair upside down and would disrupt the whole class. She would bit herself and throw plates of food at while standing in the middle of the tabl. I had no idea what do. I ended up placing her and her brother up for adoption in there best intrest as i as a single 20 something mother was at my witts end and did not want to hurt them. My history as a child and being adopted myself left too much room for that patteren for abuse to accure. I did not want that to happen.

Don't lose hope. I would try keeping a rigid structure in the home for your 2 year old...see if that helps. I would not put a child on meds until at least the age of 5. Doctors are too quick to medicate. Time and patience are what you need right now.