ADHD Mom Concerned With Asd

[warriersm]

Hi my 7 year old son has many troubles. We’ve tried multiple medicines with no prevail. Even recently switching to adderall. His behavior and outbursts have not gotten better. He also has trouble sleeping at night. Most nights he’s up all throughout the night. But he still wets the bed. He also elopes when we are out. He’s tried to even leave the house without permission. I got him two evaluations with psychologists they wrote it off as all adhd symptoms. I believe he is on the spectrum but they say he is too social. Even though it’s extremely hard for him to make friends. He’s scared to try to make friends. Has anyone else had issues getting an asd spectrum diagnosis? Do your adhd only children do these things? He also make repetitive noise throughout the day.

[MomofBells]

hi warriersm.

Ask your doctor for a more formal evaluation for asd. My daughter is ADHD and HF autism. She is 14 now, but when she was 7 she was ‘social’ too. She would make friends, talk to other kids, etc. but she had a really hard time KEEPING friends. Her behavior etc. drove them away, due to her adhd and autism. They want to make friends but find the social piece confusing and mask all day long. That is not something that should prohibit a diagnosis if they display many other traits.

Also for sleep, ask the pediatrician for guanficine or clonodine as this will help. My daughter often takes a tiny bit of melatonin some nights when she is really hyped up. Lack of sleep exacerbates symptoms and reduces the resources they have to manage their behaviors. My daughter finally got on Adzenys and it was a game changer for a daytime med.

Rooting for you!

[warriersm in reply to MomofBells]

He’s taken clonidine I never tried the other medication though. With clonidine and melatonin he still is able to be up most of the night. It’s very hard for him to even make a friend, honestly and keeping one is near impossible. The psychologist said he has symptoms but the social aspect is kinda keeping them from confirming the diagnosis. Thank you for insight. Hopefully I have better luck with a neurologist. It’s great to hear that your daughter is doing better now. Best of luck!!

[ychp in reply to warriersm]

Good morning, have you tried an ABA in school settings? That was the provider that diagnosed my son with ASD , follow to that , we did psycho educational evaluation and she just diagnosed ADHD , confusing…. But you might try ABA and be able to get an answer. Wishing you the best

[Littleme2000]

My son has combined type ADHD and displayed some ASD traits when diagnosed, but they didn’t give him a full diagnosis of ASD, because of his motivation to be social. We did the ASD panel in addition to ADHD. The more experts I talk to and the more I read about it, ASD and ADHD have blurred lines. If you’re interested in exploring the functional medicine route, I’d recommend reading, nutrient power, by Dr. Walsh. We started the process of supplements with my son, in addition to ADHD meds, and the combo has really been helping. I’m not sure if this happened with your son, but with mine, it felt like his ADHD was getting more severe the older he got, like it was slipping into ASD. And every time he would get sick, symptoms would skyrocket. So that’s what led me to the functional approach. Good luck and sending you positive thoughts!

[warriersm in reply to Littleme2000]

Thank you I will read up on that!! Yes as he gets older the symptoms have been worsening so I’ll be sure to look into it. Best of luck to you all!

[MomofADHDBoy6]

I don't have advice, but my son who is 6 seems to display asd symptoms, but is also social at school, so we haven't gone in for an evaluation at this point. It is obvious to me that his interactions with strangers seem to be strained and difficult for him. I hear the lines can be pretty blurred between asd and adhd so its been hard to determine. Just to say, you are not alone in the struggle of it all. I hope you are able to get the help and support you are looking for from the medical community.

[warriersm in reply to MomofADHDBoy6]

I wish you and your son the best!!! It’s hard trying to figure out exactly what’s going on and what help our little ones need. Good luck to you guys!! Thank you

[MomofADHDBoy6 in reply to warriersm]

You too! Thank you

[Mommywarrior4LC]

my son is exactly the same way. When he was 4 a neurologist said was on the autism spectrum with ADHD. We were able to get ABA therapy with the diagnosis. However the ABA therapist that has been treating him for almost a year also said they didn’t think he had autism either. The therapist even said he behaves when they are with them so they don’t see his aggressive behavior.

He saw 3 other doctors ( neurodevelopment dr for his IEP, psychologist and psychiatrist and they said it’s ADHD. So now we are losing ABA therapy. I’m against this because his behavior is still bad. He’s still physically aggressive at school and with us at home. We recently medicated him and the psychiatrist who diagnosed him with DMDD along with ADHD. I honestly think he is on the spectrum even though everyone else thinks different. He’s obsessed with singing Michael Jackson music and will sometimes make screeching noises for no reason. It’s repetitive singing and dancing around the house. Last year he used to make alarm sounds every morning. He doesn’t get social cues at all and it breaks my heart to see him struggle to make friends at school. I wish the neurotypical kids could understand and be empathetic with him. But unfortunately I notice they just ignore him whenever he tries to say hi or bye to them at school drop off.

I was planning to still continue therapy for him maybe PCI therapy or CBT depending whichever our insurance will cover.

I’m praying for better days and will talk to his school about trying to get him a behavioral assessment along with maybe another IEP. Is your kid currently attending public school or did he have to go to special ed?

[warriersm]

Hi I’m so sorry your aba is ending was it helping? My son does not have an iep he has a 504 plan. I am asking for a new evaluation I’m just waiting on the meeting. He goes to public school currently. I get bad reports just about every single day. Hitting, stealing, rolling on the floor, climbing things, all sorts of stuff.

[Aspen797 in reply to warriersm]

It’s great that you’re asking for an evaluation. For an evaluation to determine eligibility, the school has to evaluate all areas of suspected disability. If you haven’t already, I would submit a list of all of your concerns and desired evaluations to assess. Common ones might include a speech and language assessment to observe pragmatic language skills in both structured (class) and unstructured (recess) settings. Kids on the spectrum can often say what is socially expected of them if they have been told/taught, but they don’t know how to apply those social skills in the real world. That’s why it’s critical that an assessment also be based on observation.

Another common area is fine motor (handwriting) issues, emotional regulation difficulties and/or sensory sensitivities/food pickiness. An occupational therapy evaluation would assess these areas.

Finally a functional behavioral assessment by a behaviorist or someone trained in ABC data collection to note behaviors, possible setting off events and reinforcing behaviors of others in response to the behavior. Often anxiety, sensory issues or skill deficits result in behaviors.

Your state’s parent resource center should have more information on eligibility and diagnosis. If you haven’t connected apart, find yours here: parentcenterhub.org/find-yo...

Information specifically about requesting an evaluation is here: parentcenterhub.org/evaluation

Whether it is trying to initially qualify for services, trying to prove need for a therapy or accommodation , I have found it’s helpful to save and organize all communications (e.g., complaints about behavior=proof of need for OT/PT/ABA etc therapy), reports, and evaluations in one place so you can find the proof you’re looking for quickly when you need it. A big 3 ring binder with everything about your child in one place is the easiest. A free guide to organizing is here : wrightslaw.com/info/organiz... though there are others.

It took several years before our son was diagnosed as being on the spectrum. Hang in there and keep pushing!

[Mommywarrior4LC in reply to warriersm]

The ABA helped in the beginning but, kids with ADHD love attention so it could explain why he’s behaving with the one on one time with the ABA therapist. I’m in the position of trying to appeal his discharge or at least get a referral for another type of therapy for his ADHD. Hopefully this works out.

[Onthemove1971]

We are thankful that you have joined this group. Just want to send you a big hug for what you ate going through. As far as medication is concerned are you working with a child Psychartist? They are the most skilled at either helping to get the correct type of medication ( or if needed the right combinations of medications) have you tried 2 different types? Like a stimulant and non stimulants?

I was told that medication to stop 60% of behaviors, it sounds like that would really help a lot. If this can not be achieved, you could ask for ABA training.

For some kids it is complex to figure out what tools work for them. Also maturity can help so much which means you try your best now and hope he changes as he gets older.

Many experts say children with ADHD are about 2 years behind their peers.

Hope this helps and hope you get some relief soon.

[Mamamichl]

my step kids school tried to diagnose asd. We had 6 months until we could get in for a full neurological evaluation.

As for the medicine adverse reactions, try a gene site test. My partner has adverse reactions to all meds but one. He tried 2 of the meds before the gene site test, and the others would have taken another year to try over time. The gene site test uses a cheek swab like a paternity test and then they try it with various meds.