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My son seems VERY active. I think its starting to seem abnormal. Is it normal for a 5 year old boy to have a pretty constant stream of chatter? Run, jump and slide a lot? Almost like its a compulsion? I am not sure how describe why it seems over the top to me but it does.
Any ideas on how to get him less active? Or how to figure out if its normal?
I agree with "When in doubt, check it out." You *know* why I feel that way. Drug exposure makes a whole host of hyperactivity a possibility, it's almost a cliche for it to hit about K-2nd grade. If you are concerned, get him evaluated. :D
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Before you book time with a pediatrician or child psychologist, invite two of his school friends over for an all-day play date some Saturday. If, after you have watched the three of them all day, you STILL think yours is more active, then call the pediatrician. I always thought Spiderman was hyper, until I spent a day with two boys. I ended up feeling much better about him and having much more respect for their teacher! LOL
I have a 5 year old that just started kindergarten. He too does not stay in his seat. He is very loveable but very active. He loves to be the center of attention. He was great the first two weeks (honeymoon period) but now has gotten to the point where the teacher is frustrated. He has become part of a group of 3 that are now dominating the class with disruptive behaviours. The teacher actually recommends that I pull him out because of his "immaturity" he will be 6 in March. She states he is at the top of his class academically but his maturity is not there. She recommends he retry kindergarten next year at 6 almost 7. unfortunately his brother who has just turned 3 will be starting kindergarten next year as he is "advanced".
Well hubby has convinced me I am just extremely inactive and irritated by noise (true) and that he is not different from the other kids his age. That's probably true. He seems the same as other kids on play dates. I just think those kids go home and sit still. Mine continues running and jumping.
SPD is another possibility to consider. I knew something was different with my son when other kids came home from the playground and seemed calmer, but he never slowed down. There are checklists for ADHD and SPD that you can find online and see if any of the other "symptoms" are present besides the movement.
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MamaS
Before you book time with a pediatrician or child psychologist, invite two of his school friends over for an all-day play date some Saturday. If, after you have watched the three of them all day, you STILL think yours is more active, then call the pediatrician. I always thought Spiderman was hyper, until I spent a day with two boys. I ended up feeling much better about him and having much more respect for their teacher! LOL
Excellent idea! My son's teacher doesn't think he presents as ADHD. I feel so sorry for her with a room full of second grade boys if he's "normal"!
I have seen those check lists somewhere. I will have to look them up. I guess I will just wait for the parent teacher conference. Tonight he was trying to climb the walls. Literally. He saw someone do it on TV and is desperate to figure it out. He was in a show this week and I have to say, he may have something going on but he seemed downright slow compared to one of the boys (not your scrapmonkey). I swear they should show the tape of that show as an example of an adHd kid. Whoa!
He can focus fine. He is not at all impulsive for a child his age. He is super responsible and safety conscious. He is just crazy hyper/active. The more I think about it, sensory issues sounds more likely.
You piqued my interest with the noise issue during our conversation this weekend but... honestly... compare him and L. I think you're fine! That said, when in doubt...
My boys get crazy at home, sometimes I just have to let them because your hubby could have been descibing ME above. :)
Drug exposure. It does crazy things and NONE OF IT is our poor kids' fault yet they have to deal with all the fallout. Crap!!
Jen - understand that ALL humans have sensory issues. It's to what extent that it becomes SPD. Here is the checklist for SPD [URL="http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-processing-disorder-checklist.html"]http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/sensory-processing-disorder-checklist.html.[/URL]
My son is a sensory monkey! He' craves the input. I have never seen a child who begs to be tickled. Not a light touch tickle either, a deep in your ribs, reach up and tickle your heart kinda tickle. He love bear hugs, joint compression, brushing. I tried the brushing myself (I'm a bit of a sensory junkie) and wanted to jump out of my skin - it's a boars bristle brush and he loves it - the harder the better. It set my teeth on edge.
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TheFoxx
Jen - understand that ALL humans have sensory issues. It's to what extent that it becomes SPD.
An excellent point! All humans have attachment issues, too. It's to what extent that ANYTHING becomes a "disorder".
As someone who teaches 5-year-olds, I would say that it MAY really be normal behavior. At his age, kids are wired to MOVE. I have a chairs-optional rule in my classroom. A lot of my kids (especially the boys!) work better if they are standing and bouncing while doing their work rather than trying to sit. Most of the boys have a devil of a time sitting for lessons at circle time. It actually takes more focus and energy for small children to sit still than it does for them to move around. (This is literally true.) They outgrow that quality at different ages, but I'll tell you that a lot of them haven't outgrown it by age 5! (My very active son, who is almost 3, tries to climb the walls too. And I have no clue where he got that idea. But he will announce, "I climbing up the walls!") That said, if you are concerned, it never hurts to check things out.
Get this - I dragged Ds#2 to an OT (the same one who worked with Ds#1) when he was almost 5 years old because I was SURE he was hyper. Nope. Totally normal. So I have been blessed with five kids, three of whom are very, very normally active. Very-very. :evilgrin: Two of my kids are what I would consider 'normally active' since they can sit still for a whole meal from start to finish. LOL
Also I noticed that my boys have ALL been very active at the 3-6 year old level. My 12 yo is now pretty calm compared to what we lived with at age 4. (Oy, VEY!) My 9 yo is still active, but not hyper. He doesn't "buzz", he's just moving. A lot. He still has trouble sitting for meals, school, church.... The 6 yo, though, still tends to buzz (like jitter at the knees when standing still) a bit, but can usually stay seated for a meal.
And speaking of climbing the walls, my 12 yo just figured out how to do a modified monkey climb up one of the support beams, with straight arms and bent knees. All the way up. :woohoo: The 6 yo was balancing on the banister of the stairs a few weeks ago saying, "I think I'm doing something dangerous...". :hippie: The 9 yo seems almost average sometimes - until I remember that he's the one who was engaged in a human catapult project at a WEDDING RECEPTION when he broke his arm. :rolleyes:
"I think I am doing something dangerous" That's about the funniest thing I ever heard! He doesn't "buzz" or anything like that. It all large motor stuff. I have been having him do push ups every morning and night to use up some of the energy in a focused stregth excersise and that seems to have calmed the night time crazies a bit.
He is definately a noise adverse kid. He did better at the uptight preschool where the kids all walked in quiet lines and there were playgroud rules about noise levels then he did at the much more pleasant (kid appropriate) preK. And his kindy class is super regimented (I guess you have to be with 30 kids and no aid!) and according to the snippets I am getting he is the class star (although the teacher did comment that he has a lot of energy). He's also eating like a horse. Like he will eat twice as much at every meal than my hubby. Maybe hes about to go through a growth spurt. But even the over eating looks a bit sensory to me. Conferences are in about a month so I will be sure to bring it up to the teacher then.
Barksum
Get this - I dragged Ds#2 to an OT (the same one who worked with Ds#1) when he was almost 5 years old because I was SURE he was hyper. Nope. Totally normal. So I have been blessed with five kids, three of whom are very, very normally active. Very-very. :evilgrin: Two of my kids are what I would consider 'normally active' since they can sit still for a whole meal from start to finish. LOL
Also I noticed that my boys have ALL been very active at the 3-6 year old level. My 12 yo is now pretty calm compared to what we lived with at age 4. (Oy, VEY!) My 9 yo is still active, but not hyper. He doesn't "buzz", he's just moving. A lot. He still has trouble sitting for meals, school, church.... The 6 yo, though, still tends to buzz (like jitter at the knees when standing still) a bit, but can usually stay seated for a meal.
And speaking of climbing the walls, my 12 yo just figured out how to do a modified monkey climb up one of the support beams, with straight arms and bent knees. All the way up. :woohoo: The 6 yo was balancing on the banister of the stairs a few weeks ago saying, "I think I'm doing something dangerous...". :hippie: The 9 yo seems almost average sometimes - until I remember that he's the one who was engaged in a human catapult project at a WEDDING RECEPTION when he broke his arm. :rolleyes:
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At night, dh takes on the role of Energy Getter Outter. That's his job, to wrestle and play rough and run around for about 30 minutes before bedtime. Your ds probably needs that, too. All boys do, I think. That's about the only thing I learned in my pre-fostering parenting class. Running around after dinner equals good sleep at bedtime. My boys NEED it. Sometimes dh takes the boys outside and does races in the backyard, literally just lets them RUN it out.
Work on that as a family or ask dh to do it if you don't think you have it in you. I *want* to participate in that fun time with the boys, hence my recent weight loss. :)
NJ,
I wanted to add, as others have said about watching your son with his peers....
My son is in a class of 40 kids on Wednesday nights. He is one of only about three children who NEED an adult to keep them in their seat paying attention and doing what they are supposed to. He is the ONLY child out of 40 who needs that adult the entire 2 hours, to redirect him and help him participate. So, in my son's case, his energy difference is abundantly clear :)
Does your sons preschool teacher comment about him needing lots of extra assistant to attend and sit still and whatnot? If not, I would not be concerned about it.