I s anyone here a child psychiatrist? My son needs help. I think he has ADHD.?

Question

My son is 6 yrs old. He is super energetic. He's intelligent too. He can pass his exams without studying. The problem is he is noisy,bossy and bully his classmates everyday. His teacher keep on complaining about his manners. As Parents we too discipline him at hone. His father spank him on the butt if he make his classmates cry because of his mischievousness. That's their agreement. after that we will explain that what he did was wrong so he has to be discipline and reminded him not to do it again. The problem is he forgot all these and the next day he does another thing to his classmates. again. These bothers us much . We are afraid that we can"t contol him anymore. We had stopped the spanking since then., and just try to talk to him and busy him at home with little things like mopping the floor or cooking his own hotdogs. We Try to make him busy by including him in our chores. He Too is fond of lying especially if caught by his mistakes. Please help me!!!!!!

Answer 1

Well, the first thing I would suggest is a diet change! My nephew was thought to be ADHD and my sister wouldn't have it...there was NO WAY she was giving him meds! Those meds are SO SO SO bad for children...First she removed sugar and processed foods from his diet (from the whole families diet). They now only use raw sugar, and only when they really need to. The next step was my sister taking the time to sit down and really work with him to find out why he was acting this way. She took him out of school for two weeks, and when she put him back in she put him in a different school. He need things to keep him busy, to keep his mind busy! He need to learn, to read, to run, to use the computer, and maybe even play some games. Also, his anger toward the other kids has to be coming from somewhere, you should try to find out where.
I know you said that your husband stopped spanking, but just to mention on that, you should not use physical punishments like that, as well as you should try to avoid yelling.
I hope this advice is of some help, and feel free to click on my name and contact me with any questions or if you just need to talk.

Answer 2

My son was diagnosed with ADHD and OCD by the time he was 5. He is now 18. He also had the problem you describe - being disciplined for a mistake but then seeming to forget that discipline and behaving the same way the next day. The way we helped with that is by using sticker charts at school and home, rewarding good behavior. If he could go out for recess and not get into a fight, the teacher would put a sticker on his chart. This way, he could visually see how well he was doing - instead of him thinking he was doing pretty well in school when actually he was getting into fights on a regular basis. We used these charts at home for rewards for chores, etc. also. The reward charts worked a lot better than discipline and talking - which he seemed to forget quickly.

My son was on medication from age 5-10 and then again in high school, age 16-17 when coursework became harder and he was having more trouble with his OCD. He had no side effects. He eats like a horse and sleeps just fine. He is over 6' tall now and has just been accepted into college for next fall. You need to find a good psychiatrist who will monitor the dose and his overall health. The medication should only help focus his energy to help the child control his own behavior. We always told our son that it was up to him to control himself, the medication was not in control.

Answer 3

Take him to the doctor. There is a form you can ask for about ADHD and see if he matches the questions. If so you can have him evaluated and see if he may need a low dose medication to calm him down a notch. There are many types out there and they start out at 5mg. Medication has helped my son tremendously in school. I wish you luck.

* Many people will argue that ADHD doesn't exist, but it does and my son's diet is well and I do not feed him caffine or candy. I have spanked him and that BS about hitting teaches them how to act.. crap. I was spanked as a child and I learned to stop what I was doing wrong. I do not spank now.. it doesn't make much since. I know that he is ADHD and that he can not help. He takes the medicine in the AM and while at school it helps him to concentrate on what he needs to be doing.. while by the time he gets home from school the medicine is wearing off and he cuts up. I have found that games with stradegies help him to calm down. He is competitive and likes to be challenged and I try to make sure there is something everyday. I can understand your concern about your son. My son is 5 yrs old.

Answer 4

Ask the teachers if that's what they think. There is a whole process that they go through to determine that. You have to fill out a form called a Conner Scale about how your child behaves. Then the teachers fill one out as well. The answers are evaluated and the school psychologist will examine the child and confer with the teachers. So are you observing that he is always restless at home? Does he always grab things when he is given a task to do, like homework? Anything to distract from the task at hand? If they think he has it, you might have to take him to a specialist for evaluation. Then if they say he has it, they give some drugs like Strattera to calm him down. This is what happened with my kid. Once they're on the meds the problem is not so bad.

Answer 5

The first thing you need to do is make an appointment with your pediatrician and make sure they know what you want to be seen for so they allow enough time. Second, talk to your son's doctor and get his/her opinion. If the doctor agrees it is a possibility, get a referral to a good psychiatrist. If you get a referral and dont connect with the psychaitrist, don't be afraid to ask for a referral to a different one. You need someone who will help you to work with your son to get him under control and in a way you are comfortable with. The first doc we tried with my son was a jerk and it was his way or no way. The one we see now is great. My son is on adderall, not adderal xr (kept him up at night) and that has worked well. He is ADD and gifted. Bad combination. We have worked with his teachers to set a dicipline plan and he loses priveledges with bad behavior. We used to need to do preferential seating and such to keep him in line, but over time the behavior modification has worked well. Spanking doesn't work well with ADD or ADHD because they forget and move on so fast. Behavior modification works better but takes consistency and determination and time. Try some of the websites for ADHD like these and see if you get some of the info you need. Good Luck.

Answer 6

CALL YOUR PEDIATRICIAN! You do not necessarily need a Psychiatrist unless the Pediatrician thinks so. Your child could have ADHD, the best thing to do is to make a list of what he is doing at home and school that makes you concerned and bring them up with the Pediatrician. Most Pediatricians ask for the teacher to fill out a form when the child is that young but medication can sometimes help.

Answer 7

My son is almost 6 years old. He does have ADHD, and the dr. diagnosed him within the first 10 minutes of the visit. Our Dr. explained to us that most children with ADHD are very intelligent. They don't know what to do with themselves and become distracted easily. My son could not focus on 1 task for more than 2 minutes, and he was off doing something else. We had him put on low dose of Adderall and I will tell you the difference this has made. The second week after the medication started working we had a visit with the Dr. and he was amazed at the improvment and actually being able to sit for more than 2 minutes. Please have your Dr. evaluate him to see what is going on. It saved some of our sanity.

Answer 8

I have Adhd. Your son sounds like a typical 6 year old child to me ^_^. The best way to deturmine if your son might have Adhd is to talk about your concerns with a doctor. If he does have Adhd, with the right medication, he will be able to focus better(I was on a"bad" one for me for a while, and it made me aggressive0_0. I got into my first fight since High school, It was fun,and I felt good, but I think it was a good thing the doctor took me off it. ) to have Adhd isn't bad.I know alot of artists, internet coders and musicians who have add/adhd:)

Answer 9

No one can properly diagnose your child from a description given online. You need to take him in to your pediatritian and express your concerns there. The doctor may suggest additional testing.

Spanking doesn't work, in my opinion. It sounds like you're dealing with parenting issues and trying to figure out how to discipline him.

Might I suggest that you investigate parenting classes in your area. We took Parenting with Love and Logic classes and they were terrific! We learned a basic formula that has been working for us for decades.

They also have books by the same name if you don't have time for classes.

Answer 10

my daughter has adhd...she can not sit still for anything ..she is in her second yr of kindergarden because she wouldnt do anything last year except hit and run around...
if you son does have adhd they are other things you can do beside meds...take him to a counslor...they are programs to work with him on his behavior and on working with him on sitting in a classroom and what his actions does to other people..

i tried the meds with my daughter...they did more harm than good...i took her off of everything....she now has therarpy 2-3 times a week during school and 5 times a week for 6 wks in the summer...she is the top of her class and does all of her work now and making 100s on almost everything...diets dont work for every child...i took her off of sweets it made her worst....chocalte and caffennee she has to have to funiction...some kids need so much to calm them down...by not having it she would hit, yell, kick and not only to other people but to herself as well...

we still have many problems with her everyday but she is so much better than last year...she is able to understand why she does something...but still has a problem with always being able to control herself sometimes.....but she isreally working on it..

this yr she has friends for thee first time...even a boyfriend....which is very good when last yr she would hit anyone who looked at her...welll good luck with you.