Should I Have My Son Tested?

I think he is too young to be tested. Plus, I would not warn his teachers of any issues. He might settle right in.

He's an active boy -- that does not necessarily mean ADD or ADHD, and neither diagnosis means medication. There are alternatives. You might want to spend some time "practicing" what paying attention is like at home, but chances are that his kindergarten teacher will teach them that in class. They are specialized teachers of 5 year olds -- the good ones know how to manage a class and teach them about sitting still and paying attention. They also know that kids need to run off the energy. And, from what I understand, he's still too young for ADD or ADHD assessments.

First -- you may have few misperceptions about testing and about ADD/ADHD. Testing does not automatically translate into medicating a child -- I get the impression that maybe you're afraid it does. You also say "he has a lot of features of ADD/ADHD but he is smart... he taught himself to read." Well, the two --ADD/ADHD and intelligence -- do go together much of the time, so don't assume that because he's intelligent, that somehow would rule out his having one of those conditions.

However, it's very, very typical for a child this young simply to BE this immature. They get fixated on topics they just love at the moment (tornadoes or volcanoes or whatever) and must tell you all about it. They don't stay on topic in conversations. They express themselves with their bodies rather than with words (so he rolls on the floor while waiting, instead of saying "I'm bored"). These are all pretty normal behaviors for four and a half. You may be too quick to fear he has ADD or ADHD. It cannot hurt to have him tested for these other "features" you mention but don't detail here. Ask your pediatrician first if what you see is really symptoms or just normal lack of maturity for his age.

It may be best -- even if he does NOT have ADD or ADHD or anything at all -- to let him start kindergarten next year, not this year. It is always better to have a child be a little more ready and mature before starting school, because once they're in the system, it's much harder to repeat a grade than to start a year later than your birth date allows. If you think starting a year later is a bad idea, just search here on Mamapedia for the topic and you will find tons of discussion about it; most answers from both parents and students were to have kids wait a year if they just weren't ready for K.

Talk about your concerns with his pediatrician. A pediatrician isn't qualified to diagnose ADHD -- you want a specialist like a child psychiatrist or neuropsychologist to do that -- but can give you input and refer you to a specialist, if needed.

Kids with ADHD tend to be quite smart, so that doesn't mean anything as far as the odds. Kids can be gifted and have ADHD. Kids can be gifted and not have ADHD.

No one starts off wanting to medicate their children. That's a huge myth. So is the fact that doctors will somehow force you to do that against your wishes. The reason medication comes up is because it has such a high success rate in really helping kids with ADHD lead normal lives. Keep an open mind as you go in for an assessment and talk to the medical professionals. Bring up any concerns and questions with the experts. If you are dealing with ADHD, odds are you'll be looking at therapy first and then consider medication as a supplement to therapy.

A couple of useful resources should you get an ADHD diagnosis are CHADD and ADDitude magazine.

Best of luck as you start the process.

ETA: For what it's worth, the American Academy of Pediatrics recently came out and said it supports diagnosing kids with ADHD as young as four, since the signs are often crystal clear by that age (There's a huge difference between an active child without the condition and one who has it). Age is not an issue in getting the evaluation done.

Add/Adhd does not mean instant medication. I will stop there because I am not in a good mood and will only become rude.

IF you feel your child may need some additional assistance have them evaluated - that is for everyone, I am done now.

As a mother of five and a pediatric specialist, I have a few thoughts. Have a pediatric neuropsychologist evaluate him. Find the best one, and that is who will tell you if he is ready for KG or may have ADHD. The pediatrician can be a good start though. Good luck!

Well... most ADHD kids are gifted. And when they turn their hyperfocus onto an academic subject (reading, math, biplanes... whatever) they will RUN with that. In fact, teaching himself to read is actually more of a sign of having ADHD than struggling with reading. So strike that one off your list !

((Giftedness is a disorder, wherein the brain processes and stores information differently... it's quite different from "bright", ADHD brains process and store information differently, and both giftedness and "spd" are typical byproducts / aka facets of ADHD. Not every gifted child is ADHD, but nearly every ADHD child is gifted.))

Many people make the huge mistake of thinking that an ADHD kiddo ISN'T smart for a number of reasons.

ADHD kids can pay attention to more than one thing at a time. Think of it like the mom-power of being able to pay attention to your kids playing AND have a conversation. Except 10 fold. We're CONSTANTLY recieving information that isn't being filtered, so every second of every day is like listening to 10 conversations simultaneously. Because ADHD kids are paying attention to more than one thing at a time... instead of staring wide eyed with wonder at a speaker... they're often assumed to not be paying any attention at all. If the speaker is boring, that might be true, but far more often... they're soaking up (and retaining) every word and gesture.

ADHD kids ask WEIRD questions. As their brains are listening to the speaker... they're ALSO chasing down rabbit holes. Very. Very. Quickly. Think of it like the word association game.

Superman
Cape
Cod
Fish n Chips

So an ADHD kid may well suddenly ask about Fish'n'chips while the speaker is talking about superman. Doesn't seem related, but it's because their minds jumped several tangents to the left. And then their mind makes connections between EACH of the tangents that just got jumped down.

Superman catching fish (use his lazer vision to cook and catch at the same time?) > what happens when you do that? > Does anyone do that? > Can it be done? > Why would we want to / not want to.

Capes and all their various definitions (the kind worn round your neck, the kind by the ocean. Capers. Bank Capers. Masks. Capes and masks. Super heros and bank robbers.

ADHD minds make connections between things. Very. Very. Very quickly. By the time a speaker has said "I saw the superman movie, and it was GREAT!" all of the above, and more, has just flashed through an ADHD brain. If they twigged on the superman part. If they twigged on the movie part.. well... that's a whole nother kettle of fish.

ADHD kids (ahem, and adults) tangent off into things that are interesting to them. (Like when I start going off on a tangent here).

To drag myself back on target:

Absolutely get him tested. And you may well want to wait a year before starting him in K, but the flipside to that coin is that learning the kind of emotional and intellectual monitoring that has to happen in school won't happen UNTIL he's in school. Meds? Eh. Diagnosis first, THEN worry about meds.

He's four. He's full of energy. He's interested in the world. I think these are all very valuable qualities for him to have!! :) It may be, however, that he simply isn't ready for K yet.

Holding off one year on enrolling him could be the best thing you could do for him. He will likely mature a lot in the next year. In fact, some states (including mine) don't count a child as truant as long as they are enrolled by the age of 7, and I do know at least one person who waited that long and found success with it (not that I recommend that for everyone.)

Sounds similar to my son. He's now in 2nd. I can not stress enough I did not listen to my gut. I knew I should have waited enrolling in kg and didn't. He has had to have tutors and now a classroom aide. He really struggles. I think waiting a year really would have helped. I asked for him to repeat kg and the school said no. I think it messes with their stats...

Call the school district to see if they have any early intervention testing. Some teachers might pickup on something, but it also could get overlooked. It may be nothing, but listen to your gut.

Sounds like a typical 4 1/2 year old boy For your own peace of mind, get
him tested. Your pediatrician should be able to refer you to someone.

Updated

Sounds like a typical 4 1/2 year old boy For your own peace of mind, get
him tested. Your pediatrician should be able to refer you to someone.

Updated

Sounds like a typical 4 1/2 year old boy For your own peace of mind, get
him tested. Your pediatrician should be able to refer you to someone.

It never hurts to test if you want an answer. Have your pediatrician recommend a psychiatrist. They are usually the best at testing around here but if it is different in your area your pediatrician should know and steer you in the right direction.

A lot of people with ADHD are very smart. As I like to say we are not MENSA type geniuses. I love having ADD but I have learned to control most of the negative traits and use the positive to my advantage.

I also know that growing up without meds was an awful experience, not something I would wish on anyone. Yes I learned to handle the disorder but it was trial by fire and very destructive on my self-esteem.

I raised my kids on medication and learning to control the negative aspects. Both of my older kids were off their meds in fifth grade yet still continued to carry GPAs of 3.5 and better. They would not have made it there without the meds. The meds give them control over their minds so that they can learn.

Has he been in any preschool or daycare type setting? If not, try starting one now to help him get used to a more structured setting. Also, the teachers there can help you evaluate whether or not to have him tested.

4 year olds are spontaneous so don't stress too much. How they act for you is not usually how they would act for a teacher.

Call Dr. Bela Chopp - She is a local psychologist ###-###-#### that provides Gifted & Learning Disability testing. She is also a professor/clinical director @ Oakland University. Tell her what you've "told" us - She should be able to then advise you if testing would be appropriate at this time or not.
If you discover he is gifted - you may want to look into The Roeper School.

If you're worried have him evaluated. They probably won't make a "diagnosis" at his age, but they will be able to see some things that they keep an eye on until he's a little older. Sometimes it's not a bad thing to find out early that there may be something that's going on with him because it will ease your mind of wondering and give you some direction. But beware that ADD/ADHD is over diagnosed. You know your child the best, so don't automatically take the word of a "professional, " be it a Dr. teacher, caregiver etc...

ADD does not always mean meds. A good child psychiatrist will try behavior modification and play therapy first, and meds will be a last resort.

Just wondering H....what make you think exactly that your little one is ADHD/ADD, what are those "features"?Write them down and that may help you to think and evaluate better your decisions about your kid. I think there are little ones ready at 4 and 1/2 to attend kindergarten and many others aren't....
Little kids are full of energy,
they want and need to move,
they want to explore and ask questions,
they want to interrupt and play with their fingers,
they get easily distracted especially when they are bored or want to pay attention to something they are interested in,
they change 'conversations" easily because they are so excited all the time,
they love sit down on the floor or play on the floor on their tummies,
they feel more secure playing with something on his hands especially when there are strangers around,
they are constantly moving H. and there especially when they are bored
Kids need time to adjust to different environments form being at home to pre-school, or from home to Kindergarten. Kids need to be taught how to behave in a more structured environment, like holding a tray to get the lunch, listen to somebody who is not their mom or familiar people, tie their shoes, wait their turn...and so forth and all these thing are easily is taught by playing at home, role play is important and repetition is also very important. He will be fine, may be he needs mommy a little bit more and in the meantime play and practice with him what he will need to be successful at school. Give him a chance, he is just 4 and half.....

I would not worry about this at this point in life! No matter what his intelligence level is, you should keep him home until he's 6. Little boys are often emotionally immature compared to girls (like 2 years behind). They were not designed to sit still in a classroom like a little girl does almost naturally.

If he starts kindergarten at 6, and the teacher feels he needs to be evaluated, THEN I'd move forward with it.

Best wishes!

Talk with the pediatrician about your concerns. That is who would diagnose ADD/ADHD. As others have stated, a diagnosis doesn't automatically mean medication. There are other therapies available.

Maybe waiting a year to start kindergarten would be a good idea. Many moms think that the right time to start school is about intelligence. Intelligence has very little to do with it. It's about being socially/emotionally ready, which your son may or may not be. But, rolling on the floor at his age is a red flag for me as an educator. Most kids stop this by preschool.

Please don't confuse ADD children with dumb children. There are many extremely intelligent ADD and ADHD children, and some of them are able to self-focus on things that interest them but not on things that don't. If your son is ADD, the first step shouldn't be medication, but teaching you how to talk with and address his issues. Medication should be used only when this type of therapy fails.

Good luck.

Have him evaluated as soon as you can. I felt these concerns about my son. On one hand, I didn't think he was emotionally or socially mature enough to start kindergarten. I suspected ADD for a variety of reasons, but these things can always be attributed to the age when they are so young. On the other hand, he was advanced academicaly and I didn't want to hold him back from learning. Well, he is having a hard time at school. His work is advanced, but he is stressed out. It is really hard for him to control his emotions at school all day, and he often doesn't. That has social repercussions for him as well (even in kindergarten). I drop him off at 8:45 and pick him up at 3:25, and I never know if he is going to come out the door smiling or screaming/crying. I am in the process now of having him evaluted. I can't help thinking that I should have followed my instincts and just started him next year! Now, I can't imagine making him repeat it. But I also don't see first grade being any easier. As some of the other moms have pointed out, being gifted and ADD is very possible. I wish I would have gotten a professional opinion before making the choice to send him.