Youngest age for accurate ADHD diagnosis

amother

Arcticblue

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 10:17 am

I don't know officially but I was diagnosed really young (and medicated)
Turns out I don't have it. I do have permanent brain damage from the drugs and childhood trauma from the evaluations and whatever. If my kid needed it I would hold off till probably twelve.

amother

Calendula

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 10:20 am

amother Arcticblue wrote:

What kind of permanent brain damage?????
What do you yes have???

amother

Quince

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 10:24 am

I don't think before 5 anything can be diagnosed. Children develop so much between 3 and 5. My son was always a little spacey though. There are often other struggles. My son was also delayed in speech which contributed to his struggle to learn. But I also want to emphasize that adhd doesn't indicate less intelligence. My son is bright. He does struggle to process but when it clicks, he succeeds. I also have inattentive adhd. Never officially diagnosed. My older child has combined adhd. The hyper and impulsive kind is more obvious. By 4 that can be diagnosed. It looks different than just wild. But no one should be medicated before 5 unless they are harming themselves or others. In my opinion.

amother

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 10:26 am

amother Quince wrote:

How does it look differently than wild?

amother

SandyBrown

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 10:48 am

amother OP wrote:

How does it look differently than wild?

I have both a niece and nephew with adhd (not siblings). They both were diagnosed at about 6 or 7, but it was obvious from when they were younger. I think the biggest sign was the impulsivity… randomly throwing toys, running away or into the street way past toddler age, intense tantrums and hitting when they got angry. I can’t describe it exactly because I know lots of kids can do these things, but it was next level behavior. You literally would feel drained after 5 minutes with them.

I expect that it’s not the same with kids who have the inattentive adhd. I think one of my kids has that, but the therapist thinks it’s anxiety so I don’t know.

amother

Arcticblue

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 11:24 am

amother Calendula wrote:

What kind of permanent brain damage?????
What do you yes have???

I get severe headaches caused by the medications I received at such a young age. The neurologist said there's nothing to do about it.
I don't have anything I would have had had I not been medicated at such a young age.

amother

Darkblue

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 11:43 am

amother Arcticblue wrote:

If it makes you feel better, I was never medicated for adhd and I'm suffering from severe chronic migraines for the last 30 years. Tried 20 different medicines that didn't work.
Not sure how your neurologist can tell its from meds.

amother

Darkblue

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 11:49 am

I have a few kids on adhd meds. Although you don't test or give a diagnostic until school age, it's pretty noticeable from age 3-4.
For a child with focusing issues, it's a crime to wait until 12 to medicate. he would have to catch up on a few years worth of material or be constantly tutored to be able to keep up.
My first grader couldn't learn how to read. After 1 month on medicine, he was able to. He just couldn't focus enough to read. When I occasionally skip the medicine(usually after a rushed morning) my son's rebbi can tell he didn't get it!
He's not hyperactive, no behavior issues at all. He was never wild. He's taking it strictly for attention/focusing issues.

amother

IndianRed

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 11:55 am

So many myths here.
ADHD medications do not cause permanent brain damage.
There are two types of ADHD. With hyperactivity and without hyperactivity. Usually inattentive ADHD (which used to be called ADD) is diagnosed later than ADHD with hyperactivity because the hyperactive behavior is so difficult to manage. Many kids who are hyperactive can be diagnosed under the age of 7 but generally they won't treat until the age of 7.
There are two schools of thought regarding medicating young children. One is to hold off as long as possible in the hope that they outgrow it and so that it shouldn't affect growth and sleep patterns. One is to give before the child develops social and emotional problems due to their behavior. They are both legitimate. It's the parents call usually and it can be a tough decision.
IQ and ADHD are not connected. ADHD only affects a child's learning because they are not able to focus and concentrate, not because they have a lower IQ. ADHD also does not affect processing if the child is able to focus. If the child is struggling to learn and it can't be explained by them not focusing and paying attention, you should go for another evaluation to see if there are other learning difficulties apart from the ADHD.

(FTR I'm a mother of an ADD kid, an ADHD kid and I'm an ADHD coach)

amother

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 11:57 am

amother IndianRed wrote:

1. What does hyperactivity in a young kid look like? When does wild behavior cross the line?
2. What do you do as a coach? Can you explain more what a session with a coach looks like?

amother

IndianRed

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 4:25 pm

amother OP wrote:

1. What does hyperactivity in a young kid look like? When does wild behavior cross the line?
2. What do you do as a coach? Can you explain more what a session with a coach looks like?

Hyperactive behavior really looks like energy spilling everywhere but with no focus. They aren't deliberately doing anything, it's as though the body is working without the brain. If you try and make eye contact, they can't hold it. They are actually incapable of controlling it even if you threaten them with a punishment.

An adhd coach works on helping the child and parents understand why they are struggling and build clear coping strategies that take into account their difficulties to get around problems. That might look like a clear chart for a daily routine, it might be laying out their clothes the night before, for one student I labeled all their notebooks and textbooks in sets so they couldn't get confused so Chumash was red, math was blue, science was green etc. We work on time management and sequencing. We work on self regulation. Basically all the executive functioning skills specific to ADHD>

amother

Arcticblue

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 4:34 pm

amother IndianRed wrote:

so after reading about my personal story with ADHD medication at a young age your saying it's a myth?
My life's a myth... As in not real?

amother

Snowflake

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 4:56 pm

amother Arcticblue wrote:

so after reading about my personal story with ADHD medication at a young age your saying it's a myth?
My life's a myth... As in not real?

I am not that poster, but I think what they are trying to say is that it's impossible to say for sure that medication you took as a child is the cause of brain damage and headaches as an adult. There is just no way to prove it. Correlation does not equal causation.

Your life is real, but you cannot state with certainty that the medication had any long term effects.

Also, evaluations should not be traumatic. I had an evaluation as a young child, my kids have had evaluations, and they were pleasant.

I'm sorry for what you went through, but your situation is not the norm.

amother

IndianRed

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 5:16 pm

amother Arcticblue wrote:

so after reading about my personal story with ADHD medication at a young age your saying it's a myth?
My life's a myth... As in not real?

I 100% believe you that you suffer from headaches, that you had a terrible experience with medication and feel it has affected you to this day.

I am so sorry you went through that.

But there is no proof that you have brain damage - headaches are not a sign of brain damage. Maybe you have a sinus issue? suffer from migraines? have a displaced vertebrae?

These meds do not cause brain damage. Maybe there was something else involved? there have been extensive studies including MRI scans before and after.

I am not disbelieving your experience but the conclusions you draw are not accurate and it's not fair to scare other people who may really need this help.

MrsDash

Tue, Jan 23 2024, 5:41 pm

amother Snowflake wrote:

This. So much this.

amother

Arcticblue

Wed, Jan 24 2024, 8:58 am

amother IndianRed wrote:

after getting brain scans done my doctor saw that the part of my brain that was developing at that age that I was taking the medication was not fully developed resulting in permanent brain damage.

amother

Arcticblue

Wed, Jan 24 2024, 9:04 am

Also Mabe you should do some research into what ADHD is.
It's not oh my kid is wild pills bam! All's good. ADHD is when the brain isn't functioning as it should causing the person to not be able to focus.
Why you think the medication wouldn't affect the brain is beyond me.