how young is too young?

[sharonka]

I believe my ds has adhd. His brother, 11 and his father both have it, he is in 1st grade and is in trouble every stinking day, for not paying attentin, can't sit still can't be distracted...any suggestions?

[LisainMN]

I'd get him checked out. I wish I'd been smarter and intervened before my son was in 4th grade. Things would have been so much smoother.

[citylights]

My ds is ADD. My dh is not. But, we think my dad is (he's never been checked).

The doctor told us ADD or ADHD is passed down through the father, or grandfather, etc.

Your ds is really at the perfect age right now for testing for this, I think. My ds was suspected of having ADD in 2nd gr., but looking back, we see as early as kindergarten & even age 4, that he displayed some symptoms.

When ds & I would attend BSF, his teacher told me he often did not pay attention. In kindergarten, ds's teacher told me she felt ds was distracted a lot, altho he certainly wasn't missing out (bc he is very smart he never fell behind). In 1st grade, same thing.... ds is very smart, but the teacher was concerned about his lack of (seeming to) pay attention. But it was in 2nd gr. that ds began "just sitting there" and would then ask for instructions to be repeated. His handwriting also was immature (the psychologist we took ds to claimed this as a developmental symptom common with ADD kids). And at home, ds wasn't sitting still for his homework. The older ds was getting the more pronounced or obvious his symtoms were becoming.

The schools will test your son. We allowed the school to do preliminary testing but we took ds to a pvt. child psychologist & our ped. for a diagnosis. We've been successfully treating ds with Adderall XR, and the child psych. recommended we have ds repeat 2nd gr. (this was last yr). Making the decision was very very hard, but it's proven to be BEST for ds. Last yr. was an excellent catch up/maturing year for ds. His handwriting is beautiful now (I believe the meds help bc it helps the child to stay focused & to do what they are to do), he pays attention, he LOVES school, and having that extra yr. took the pressure off of him bc it was repeat yr. for him. 3rd gr. challenges the kids... more independent learning. Ds is doing so very well... I'm so proud of him.... AND, he has no problem taking his meds. He recognizes the difference it has made for him. Gosh, on the days when I don't give him the meds we can now tell the difference, and I think it's because as the child ages, the symptoms/behavior is more obvious.

If cost is a problem, the schools will test your child for free. Also, if you qualify for state ins. coverage for your child, you should be able to take him to a good child psych. (as we were able to). The schools tend to have a schedule that is backed up MONTHS. Initially you can ask the school for a questionnaire (that they will complete), complete one yourself also, and ask your pediatrician to evaluate it for you. That's how we started.