Hi, I'm new here and my son (7 y/o) was diagnosed with ADHD. The biggest problem was that he was daydreaming, very hyper, lack of concentration. He was constantly playing with his hands like they were the toys. And 2 months ago he started zoning out and giggle. Like the emotions on his face changes , he looks super excited about something and start laughing. He says that he just thinking about funny stuff. That's when we went to the doctor and he said he has add and prescribed an adderall XR 10 mg. He defenatly became more quiet, he can sit still. But the still zones out, gets up and giggle about something. Like all of a sudden his eyes get wider and he gets excited face. And it really scares me. I don't understand what is it. Did you see anything like this? I would appreciate any help. Thank you
Son keeps zoning out and giggle - CHADD's ADHD Pare...
Son keeps zoning out and giggle
My stepson does this alllll the time. Especially at dinner time when his meds are exiting his system. He takes a slow release stimulant so it’ll get him through school. When he’s not medicated (weekends per his moms request) this happens all day long during any meal. The hand thing is a huge too. Sometimes he starts getting into it and flinging his arms. When I ask him what’s up he says he’s pretending he’s throwing something or pretending he’s inside a video game. He is completely unaware of his surrounding and sometimes he hits me or the table or his cup of milk (sigh.) He’s lost in his video game world being a kid and is not able to be present. It can be irritating since he’s at the table not eating or participating in family time. If he was doing this on his own time I would super thrilled bc he’s using his imagination - unfortunately it’s always bad timing. Thus is life with ADHD. I have to say meds really helped him be present when appropriate and creative and goofy when appropriate - once the meds aren’t part of his chemistry it’s chaos for him. Anything under stimulating invites his brain to go off on a journey. Wish he has the ability to channel this into a drawing or story!
Thank you so much. It feels fo good knowing that we are not the only ones doing it🙏🏼
This could also be a type of seizure. I would have it looked into more thoroughly by taking him to a specialist.
Yes we have been at the doctor, we mentioned it but he didn’t say anything. Im going to ask again
He is doing it only at home. When he is busy with something he never does it. Usually when he watches a tv
Um... I'm 55 and sometimes *I* do that. OK, not the hand thing. I'm mostly ADD without the H. I definitely zone out, laugh at odd times, etc. I've met other adults who think along tangents and will laugh at things that aren't funny. When you ask them about it, they say "Never mind. You wouldn't get it".
For me it's part of the coping strategy my mind does. I'll hear something and think of an inappropriate response or comment. My mind chases it down that line of thinking and I'll chuckle about it, then return to the conversation. Far too often kids with ADHD lack the inner voice and they will just blurt out whatever goes through their head, often causing problems with others. Keeping it to an inside voice and being amused by it is the lesser of evils in my opinion. I see it as harmless.
Yes, the ADHD mind wanders when there is nothing interesting going on. Drifting off into fantasy or video games. I wouldn't hold out too many hopes about capturing it though. My son had a vivid imagination but it's like tapping into a river of thought. It's constantly moving. He had trouble getting anything down on paper because it kept changing and evolving faster than he could write and then the thought was gone. I would imagine drawing would be even harder. BTW, teaching him to type at a young age (2nd grade) was a life saver. He could type much faster than hand writing, plus it was easier to read, takes up less space and there is spell checking and sometimes grammar checking built in. Getting it into his 504 was a piece of cake as long as the school had the laptops to allow it.
Oh wow! Thank you for helping me understand my son better 🙏🏼 I really appreciate it. Do kids with ADHD need a special educational program for school? My son is in first grade but he is doing great. First grade program is so easy for him. He reads very fast, math is easy . And we just got diagnosed and didn’t inform his school yet.
The most consistent thing about ADHD is that it's always changing. It also expresses itself differently in different folks. Is all blonde hair the same?
I can tell you about "me", but I went to school a very long time ago. Testing me, I was very bright. Caught on quickly. I was good at learning. However, I had no interest in doing work. Boring... So I would just stare off at nothing. Watching dust motes. Getting nothing done. I had to go to summer school between 1st and 2nd grade. I was well on my way to failing 3rd when they finally intervened and put me in special education. I was pulled out of the classroom about once/day. They'd check in with me, make sure I was on track and understood the material. Just a little one on one time to help keep me on track. It's all I needed to succeed. No meds (ADHD wasn't a diagnoses back then). Just a little guidance.
My son was a bit better than me. He wanted to please and would work hard. Very smart. Learned quickly. Grew bored. Starting walking around disrupting other students telling them what to do. He had a hard time focusing on his own work (2nd grade) because he kept taking too much of an interest in what others were doing. He did well at absorbing information and taking test/quizes. He had a hard time completing "long" assignments. Often he would forget he had homework. Forget to write it down in his planner. Forget to bring his planner home. Forget he had a planner. A lot of management issues. 2nd grade was rough. Fall of 3rd grade, we finally got him diagnosed and started on meds. The world changed for all of us at that point. It wasn't a magic pill, but it made it *so* much easier for him to focus. It gave his brain a pause button, between thought and actions/words. It allowed him that 1/2 second beat to think "is this a good idea?" When he was off his meds, he had no inner voice. What he thought, he said. Boy was that an issue. 90% of the time that I asked him "Did you take your pill this morning?", the answer would be "no". I could tell. He was just that much louder, that much more argumentative, that much more stubborn and not listening to common facts. He was being "unreasonable". Not that he was always reasonable as a child even on meds, but there is a definite difference.
You aren't required to inform the school. However, keep your ear open for signs of trouble at school. Things teachers might report. A 504 is very flexible. It could be as simple as requiring the teacher to spend an extra minute or two reviewing the instructions with him before he starts an assignment. A "check in" is sometimes what they call it. IMO, a 504 doesn't hurt and can really help if he needs it.
I feel like you were talking about own son. Wow. They are very similar. I will definitely keep checking and if he will need 504, we will ask them. Thank you so much 🙏🏼 You have no idea how much I appreciate your help
Great comments, thank you. I would add that using voice notes on a cell phone to get your thoughts out might help. Typing was great for me back in 1969 as a summer course. My handwriting always kept me off the honor roll but my printing was good due to mechanical drawing class, although it wasn't the best in MD, the cashiers loved me when i did the deli at the A&P because they could read my numbers easily. A voice recorder separate from a cell phone could work for a younger child. Notice the jumping trains of thought. My trains of thought switch tracks a lot too.And I am guessing that the great comics probably had these issues and eventually made a career from that stream of things that made them laugh out loud.
I won't go into details with my son, his ADHD, and Adderall, except to say that your son (or anyone) should only be prescribed this by a psychiatrist and not a primary care pediatrician/physician (even if they're a great general practitioner). What you describe does point to a lot of similarities between your son's manifestations of ADHD, as well as the after-effects of taking Adderall, and my son's experiences.
My son eventually had to be taken off of Adderall, at the urging of a psychiatrist, because on the Adderall, my son was exhibiting some effects that were outliers which I did not notice and which the psychiatrist saw as red flags. I am not a doctor myself, so I don't have any professional skill in identifying red flags, or what your idea of red flags are—but the "giggling excited face that really scares me" was my red flag. So if you have the means to get your son a referral to a psychiatrist, please do so. I am sure you're doing all you can, and all the right things, and I wish you and your son luck in addressing the ADHD.
The psychiatrist prescribed him Adderall xr. It’s our first month only. We never took anything before. He started giggling one month before adderall and this is exactly why we got an appointment with the psychiatrist. We have another appointment next week, we will talk about the giggling thing again. Thank you for the reply
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