ADHD/ASD similarities (near incoherent ramblings)

[Brightsy]

I have two kids, both boys ages 6 and 3 (he'll be 4 in Nov.).
My older DS has ADHD and is on meds for that. He's doing pretty well. YOunger DS is HF ASD and possibly gifted.
Here's the thing, I was wondering if any of you out there have a similar family dynamic? I mean older kid with one kind of thing and younger w/ ASD.
I've been noticing of late that my older DS seems to have more sensory issues than my younger. He's got his own routines and if they're messed with he can really be thrown for a loop.
Some of his reactions are a side-effect of the meds I think, they can highten emotional sensitivity and he's a pretty sensitive kid to begin with. HE can have tantrums and meltdowns at 6 that make my younger DSs look tame.
Older DS has some fine motor problems. He used to have a problem w/ eye contact, sometimes still does. No verbal delays or anything like that for him. I used to wonder if my elder DS had some other problem than ADHD but his Dr. assures me that this isn't the case. Both his Dr.s I should say. (My boys ped. Dr. is an adult w/ ADHD and really knows his stuff).
Oh gosh, I'm rambling...I really did have a point to all this when I started.

So, do any of you out there have a similar thing going on? How do you deal with it? It can be tough trying to explain to my elder DS why he gets treated differently than his younger brother. And sometimes I have a really tough time being patient with him. I don't know how many allowances to make for my older DS. I mean, I have a hard time sometimes differentaiting between his behaviors as a result of ADHD and his meds vs. what might be "normal." It's easier with his baby brother. It doesn't help that I'm ADHD too I think. (I'm going to see about being re-evaluted on this one, I was diagnoes at 5 yrs. old with what they called Kinetic Hyperactive Disorder waaaaayyyy back in the 70's. I spent several years on Ritalin and then was taken off of it cold turkey when I hit puberty. I just want to see where I stand these days.)

Oh heck, any kind of talk on this might be helpful to me. Esp. since I can't seem to focus my thoughts this morning!!!

Sara

 

[roseprincess]

Hi Sara(Brightsy), I deal with alot of issues myself with my twins, 8 yr. old special needs. I have boy/girl twins. My ds is h.f. autistic, has ADHD as well. He is actually easier to handle for me the past 3 yrs, than handling my dd. My ds does have his meltdowns once in awhile b/c of the autism.But overall, he is a wonderful kid. He is going into the Gifted program in school this fall! He tested extremely well in non-verbal visual/spacial stuff.
On the other hand, my dd has a complex congenital heart defect, she has had 3 open heart surgeries so far since she was an infant. She also has Di George syndrome, which correlates with the heart condition. Di George syndrome seems to affect my dd with dev. delays( mild delays right now). Plus there are other things as well with DiGeorge, ie. calcium uptake in her body. There are other things w/DiGeorge I can't remember off hand.
My dd also has ADHD as well. She has a short attention span. My dd also is very,very strong-willed and has lots of tantrums at home if she doesn't get what she wants. Like I said earlier, it has been a lot harder to deal with my dd b/c of her tantrums.And I mean she has MAJOR tantrums at home, ie. screaming, hitting me, telling me she hates me, etc. We give her time-outs when appropriate. It really has been a struggle dealing with her. I try to model after the Supernanny/ Nanny 911 approach to disciplining her. I tend to not have much patience, either with my dd.
As of ADHD of both my kids, they are on generic Ritalin, the short-acting pills. Give it 2 times/day, at breakfast time and at lunch. Would love to get them on Concerta, but it is very expensive for us as of insurance covering it. The generic ritalin is much less expensive for us.

I seem to deal with all this by going on the Disboards- seems to be my outlet!
And can't wait til my kids start school, which will be about 10 days from now.
I also pray for my kids, that God will settle my dd down with her tantrums.

Also, my dh and I don't have alot of positive emotional support from both sides of our families, unfortunately. Our kids' grandparents, aunts, and uncles just don't seem to "get it" as of my kids' disabilities and understanding what my dh and I go thru on a daily basis.
We do get more emotional support from different support groups dh and I have attended, and at my dkids' school. Their SST( special service teacher) is a wonderful support for my kids and my dh and I. Also the DISabilities boards here has been a wonderful support to me and dh.

Sara, I don't know if any of my story helps you, but that you know you are not alone in dealing with special needs kids.


Rosemarie

 

[roseprincess]

Forgot to mention,my dd has SID(sensory integration disorder). She has not been officially diagnosed with it. I can tell she is extremely afraid of dogs, cats, any animal that is not in a cage. She just screams and freaks out when a dog is around. We don't have pets at our home. The only pets we have had are goldfish. We live in a condo community, so we do have neighbors that walk their dog on a leash. At school, they have this traveling zoo program, that reptile animals get traveled around to each classroom,sometime during the school yr. The kids learn to take care of the animal, learn about it's habitat, etc. My dd does somewhat ok with the program, if she sees other kids petting the animal and the animal doesn't move or jump.

I do have a question. How do you get an official diagnosis for SID? Can it be thru the pediatrician or does it have to be with a neurologist or some other kind of specialist? I am looking into possibly getting an official diagnosis for her. She is not autistic. Has her heart condition and dev. delays.
Any input would be great. thanks.

Rosemarie

 

[LisaBi]

Similar situation in my house. Older DS(15) has ADHD. OP mentioned side effect of meds. On 4-hour dosing (Ritalin), towards the end of 4 hours things were really ugly - he was worse than with no meds. We went extened release (first Ritalin, then Concerta) and things were much better.

Youngest DS(12) has Down's, and I'm wondering if ADD too.

LisaB

 

[JenJen]

I believe that ADHD and is part of the ASD now. There are a lot of similarities as my son has Aspergers and daughter has ADHD with sensory issues. I believe they are all in the same family but ASD has a profound effect on social skills where ADHD does not. I understand people venting there frustrations out on these boards as taking care of a child with ether one of this special needs can be exhausting and unrelenting.
Kids within the spectrum will take every last once of energy out of you but just when you feel you can't take it any more they will do something that will amaze you. I know both of my kids have an extremely high IQ's. One gets a 4.0 while the other struggles to get a 2.0. But they both have abilities that are way beyond what normal individuals without these conditions can obtain. I believe that being gifted can be a handicap at times. Some people are so smart with books yet they are severely stunted in social skills that they can not functions normally in the real world. But they are the ones that will find a cure for cancer not us social butterflies Good luck to all of you and know that your kids are so very special. Even when they are in the corner screaming there lungs out because you burnt the crust on there toast that morning and it is not perfect anymore LOL.

 

[Brightsy]

Hi Sara(Brightsy),
Also, my dh and I don't have alot of positive emotional support from both sides of our families, unfortunately. Our kids' grandparents, aunts, and uncles just don't seem to "get it" as of my kids' disabilities and understanding what my dh and I go thru on a daily basis.
We do get more emotional support from different support groups dh and I have attended, and at my dkids' school. Their SST( special service teacher) is a wonderful support for my kids and my dh and I. Also the DISabilities boards here has been a wonderful support to me and dh.

Sara, I don't know if any of my story helps you, but that you know you are not alone in dealing with special needs kids.


Rosemarie

(snipped a bit above for the sake of brevity)
It sure helps knowing I'm not alone! I've just not been dealing well with stress these last couple days. *sigh*
I'm lucky that my family is emotionally supportive. My DHs folks and his SIL esp. have been really great. They've done research and all that stuff on ASD so they know how to handle younger DSs issues. My only problem w/ them is that they tend to minimize my older DSs problems w/ ADHD. They don't know much about it and sometimes I think they think it's not a real problem. They're learning though, they've seen the differences between a medicated DS and a non-medicated DS and they understand a little better. But still, it's like they sometimes think that ADHD isn't a big deal and is easy to deal with.

As to this board, I love it! I always get positive answers from folks here!

SAra

 

[Brightsy]

Forgot to mention,my dd has SID(sensory integration disorder). She has not been officially diagnosed with it. I can tell she is extremely afraid of dogs, cats, any animal that is not in a cage. She just screams and freaks out when a dog is around. We don't have pets at our home. The only pets we have had are goldfish. We live in a condo community, so we do have neighbors that walk their dog on a leash. At school, they have this traveling zoo program, that reptile animals get traveled around to each classroom,sometime during the school yr. The kids learn to take care of the animal, learn about it's habitat, etc. My dd does somewhat ok with the program, if she sees other kids petting the animal and the animal doesn't move or jump.

I do have a question. How do you get an official diagnosis for SID? Can it be thru the pediatrician or does it have to be with a neurologist or some other kind of specialist? I am looking into possibly getting an official diagnosis for her. She is not autistic. Has her heart condition and dev. delays.
Any input would be great. thanks.

Rosemarie

I'd start w/ the Ped. Dr. for referalls and all. That's how we got the ball rolling for both my DSs. I told them about my concerns and they agreed and sent us on. For older DS all we did was tell his Dr. we wanted a referall for ADHD evaluation and he sent us on to a PEd. Psychologist who did all the "hard work." Took about 1 month for the official diagnosis. As for younger DS, that took a bit more work. Just tell your DDs Dr. that you're concerned about the SID and she/he should be able to help you from there.

Sara

 

[Brightsy]

Similar situation in my house. Older DS(15) has ADHD. OP mentioned side effect of meds. On 4-hour dosing (Ritalin), towards the end of 4 hours things were really ugly - he was worse than with no meds. We went extened release (first Ritalin, then Concerta) and things were much better.

Youngest DS(12) has Down's, and I'm wondering if ADD too.

LisaB

We've got older DS on Adderall XR.
What scares me about younger DS is the idea that he could be ADHD in addition to the ASD. HE's showing some signs, but it's hard to say if he's just copying behaviors from the older DS or if it's "genuine."

So, does ADHD behavior change in any way when the child hits puberty? We've got a ways to go there, DS is 6. I'd love to know what's in store for me!

Sara (younger DS insisted on my adding some Mickey Mouses to the message)

 

[Brightsy]

Even people with ADHD have some social problems. Mostly related, in my case, to extreme fidgeting and fast incessant talking! *wry smiles*
I agree w/ you that being gifted can be a real challenge. It's esp. tough when the gifted child is "smarter" than the parents. *sigh* Those social issues are important all right. But you're also right that it's these folks who may very well save the world, as it were. (No pressure you genius kids.)

I find it odd that my ASD kid doesn't mind if I cut his sandwhich differently each day, but my older ADHD boy throws a fit if I cut his PB sandwhich anyway except into a crustless circle! *shrug*

Anyways, here's to all our kids, eccentric and special!

Sara (who oughta stop posting!)

I believe that ADHD and is part of the ASD now. There are a lot of similarities as my son has Aspergers and daughter has ADHD with sensory issues. I believe they are all in the same family but ASD has a profound effect on social skills where ADHD does not. I understand people venting there frustrations out on these boards as taking care of a child with ether one of this special needs can be exhausting and unrelenting.
Kids within the spectrum will take every last once of energy out of you but just when you feel you can't take it any more they will do something that will amaze you. I know both of my kids have an extremely high IQ's. One gets a 4.0 while the other struggles to get a 2.0. But they both have abilities that are way beyond what normal individuals without these conditions can obtain. I believe that being gifted can be a handicap at times. Some people are so smart with books yet they are severely stunted in social skills that they can not functions normally in the real world. But they are the ones that will find a cure for cancer not us social butterflies Good luck to all of you and know that your kids are so very special. Even when they are in the corner screaming there lungs out because you burnt the crust on there toast that morning and it is not perfect anymore LOL.

 

[roseprincess]

Thanks, Brightsy, about answering the SID question, getting an official diagnosis. I was thinking about going that route( going to my dd's Ped. first). Sorry, I don't know how to quote here, on the DIS boards. I'm pretty computer illiterate.


Rosemarie

 

[MomOf2DisneyKids]

Kids within the spectrum will take every last once of energy out of you but just when you feel you can't take it any more they will do something that will amaze you..

YES! (that statement has me all teary-eyed!)

 

[Brightsy]

Thanks, Brightsy, about answering the SID question, getting an official diagnosis. I was thinking about going that route( going to my dd's Ped. first). Sorry, I don't know how to quote here, on the DIS boards. I'm pretty computer illiterate.


Rosemarie

Good luck with the SID diagonosis!

And for the quote, there should be a little button on the bottom right of a message that says "quote" there is on mine.

Sara

 

[LisaBi]

So, does ADHD behavior change in any way when the child hits puberty? We've got a ways to go there, DS is 6. I'd love to know what's in store for me!

I think with my oldest (typical except the ADHD) it's getting better as he gets older. He can go without meds some days and not end up with me wanting to kill him by the end of the day.

On the other had, younger son (who has Down's, but not diagnosed with ADHD) seems to be getting more wound up as he is hitting puberty. Of course, some of it is the developmental delay and not understanding what is happening.

LisaB

 

[Brightsy]

I think with my oldest (typical except the ADHD) it's getting better as he gets older. He can go without meds some days and not end up with me wanting to kill him by the end of the day.

On the other had, younger son (who has Down's, but not diagnosed with ADHD) seems to be getting more wound up as he is hitting puberty. Of course, some of it is the developmental delay and not understanding what is happening.

LisaB

So I guess I'll just have to wait and see. :-/ Ah well...
In the meantime I'll just cope and enjoy as the situation permits!

Sara

 

[CharityLynn]

For SID you will see an Occupatinal Therapist, my son was diagnosed with this, but the insurance wouldn't cover the cost for therapy I did buy some books that were very helpful The OUt of Sync child and the out of sync child had fun..very good boos and very helpful.

 

[roseprincess]

Good luck with the SID diagonosis!

And for the quote, there should be a little button on the bottom right of a message that says "quote" there is on mine.

Sara

Thanks, Sara.
About the quote button, DUH....(to me)lol. I only used to hit the Reply button only. Now I understand the Quote button.


Rosemarie

 

[Brightsy]

Thanks, Sara.
About the quote button, DUH....(to me)lol. I only used to hit the Reply button only. Now I understand the Quote button.


Rosemarie

Anytime, hon, anytime...

 

[Ambassador]

If your child is school aged, your school district may provide occupational therapy for SID. Speak to your school principal. Remember: never take a 'no' from someone enabled to give you a 'yes'.