A psychologist told me today that one of the key things she’s looking for in ADHD screenings is early development (infancy/toddler) signs.
She’s asking parents what was sleep like, or temperament, or nutrition, or riding a bike, etc. She said if there are currently ADHD symptoms, but those signs didn’t exist, then it’s not ADHD
What do people think about that?
interesting:
“To the surprise of many parents and even professionals, ADHD and speech/language development often go hand-in-hand. Dr. Russell Barkley, a leader in the field of ADHD, has estimated that two-thirds of children with ADHD also have a speech or language disorder, with some studies estimating up to 90% co-occurrence!”
This is interesting, ty for sharing. Ours is advanced, so I can't speak to this issue 🤷♀️
I would say looking back for myself and for my daughter, a key indicator is compulsive and repetitive habits that were “needed” far longer than is developmentally typical. Examples: thumb sucking, nose picking, nail biting, hair stroking, skin picking. Self-stimulating and self-soothing behaviors for us were subconscious and include a strong sensory regulating basis.
Hello Shannon00000,This sounds like black or white type thinking to me. When there are absolutes like that it may be a better fit to work with someone else. ADHD, although getting better and better understood, is nuanced and individual ESPECIALLY with girls as they are just uncovering how different ADHD is for them.
If you don't check the correct boxes with this person you are out of luck - that's how I read what your describe. It sounds restrictive and without flexibility and that is not the type of mindset I would like working with when dealing with the possibility of ADHD, or anything else, really.
BLC89
Full disclosure: I am an ADHD Parent Coach. I have been married to ADHD for nearly 30 years and raised two kids who have ADHD.
We passed generic screenings during infancy and toddlerhood.
Nah. My daughter passed every screening early. The categories are really broad and aren’t really targeted to ADHD. She actually does have a language processing issue, but there’s no way it would have shown up when she was a toddler. Also, the initial early childhood screens are by definition dependent on adult reporting. So if the parents and teachers don’t notice, the doctor wouldn’t know. I wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until my late forties - largely because my symptoms were missed in childhood. This take seems a little rough on older kids/teens/adults who passed early screens or whose symptoms weren’t obvious to caregivers.
Just want to echo literally everything MaudQ said — my 9-year-old has ADHD and dyslexia, and she met every early childhood milestone. She also didn’t have any textbook symptoms of dyslexia when she was little. My 7-year-old has ADHD and it’s looking like she also has a reading disability. Like her sister, she also passed all the early childhood screeners. After educating myself on ADHD in girls FOR my girls, I suspect I have it too. I’m getting tested in a few days. I’m 41. Everyone missed the signs when I was a child.
I noticed when my son was 2 that he could not sit still for the sitting part of toddler birthday parties. When he was 3 we were frequently getting “incident” reports from preschool about him fighting and causing problems. When he was 4, we went to Legoland and we started writing down the various reasons he was crying and carrying on…. Like “the syrup made his pancakes too syrupy” and we said he could only have 1, not 2 ginormous $4 cookies.
His reading and speech were on track/advanced…. He was diagnosed at 6-7, he’s 11 now. So, I dunno. At the time we had no idea his behavior was so out of the ordinary.
Now that I've had 2 more toddlers, I can definitely see that my oldest (why has ADHD) had a different toddlerhood. At the time, I didn't realize it was abnormal, though; he was my first so I figured that's just how kids are.
He was much needier/clingier/in need of constant attention as a baby/toddler. He literally could not be left alone to play independently for a single minute. In preschool, we started getting behavior reports that we now know were due to emotional dysregulation. He's always has a million unfinished projects while being able to hyperfocus on a particular few. He did have a language delay, due to refusing to speak if he couldn't pronounce a word correctly and not having enough vowel sounds to do so. It wasn't until partway through kindergarten, when a friend described her son with ADHD and sounded like she was describing my son, that I even realized his issues were symptoms of ADHD.
The ADHD diagnostic criteria are quite clear and address inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity. These are the features that have to be present. The behaviors you listed are not part of the diagnostic criteria but can, but don't have to, occur with ADHD - sleep disturbance, problems with fine and gross motor coordination.
Hello, Shannon00000,
Thank you for contacting CHADD's National Resource Center on ADHD. Everyone presents different signs when it comes to ADHD.
Here is a link that is about ADHD overview- it could help you have a better understanding. chadd.org/about-adhd/overview/
This other link talks about evaluation on childhood ADHD. d393uh8gb46l22.cloudfront.n...
It wouldn't hurt to get a second opinion. Here's a link to our professional directory just in case you need it. chadd.org/professional-dire...
If you have further questions, please let us know. We are here to help!
Liseth
Health Information Specialist
CHADD’s National Resource Center on ADHD
The signs for ADHD are easier to spot in hindsight. It wasn't a condition that developed, our son had it in the womb. He was tapping his foot in the sonogram. Other parents commented on the fact that as a baby he paid so much attention to things around him. As a toddler he would walk into a restaurant and go around high fiving strangers. If we didn't pay close attention, he would join other families and start eating their food.
There are few absolutes about any condition. Doctors always start with the most likely things first. If there are no known ADHD issues prior, then the chances are lower that it is ADHD and they will look at other things first and hopefully circle back around to ADHD as a possibility after ruling out the other more likely causes.
Maybe she meant kids with ADHD are more dysregulated in general? There’s no requirement for speech delay/differences to diagnose ADHD but I have definitely seen a higher rate of speech delays in kids with ADHD compared to unaffected kids. I think that ADHD is vastly more than an “attention” issue, as we as parents likely have already discovered. It’s a self regulation disorder. That can present with all types of dysregulation—-in physical activity, sleep, excessive talking, attention regulation, level of silliness (Eg excessive silliness when it’s inappropriate).
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