Can I talk about my Son

[spring978]

DS turned 4 at the end of July, Ds was born 6-8 weeks early spent a week in NICU and has had NO medical issues since.

DS well he is a darling sweet little boy who is very very smart.

However he HAS NO impulse control he will follow you around all day long asking the same question over and over?

DS has been raised with animals he still however ignores their signals and can go from being very sweet to very rough in the blink of an eye.

From 5pm till bed time every night he is so over the top DH and I both are exhausted by 730 bedtime.

From the ages 2-3 DS would bite me leaving HUGE full mouth prints all over my arms and sometimes legs. Thank goodness he now only does it on occasion and has actually learned to stop mid bite when reminded most days

DS will only eat things a certain way.

DS refused to wear most clothing till las year and still has issues some days with wearing the clothes he likes

Outside sources TV music people can very easily send him over the top into a frenzy of activity that is almost imposable to shut down

Taking DS in public is NOT fun most days he grabs things off displays throws screaming biting fits locking him in a stroller or cart helps only long enough for me to grab and go some days. We used a carrier till he just got to BIG

Some days and some children DS does great with and then we have the days were he chases others growling and being too rough.

I need input I am exhausted!! We have 3 other children who are almost grown and DS well he is just so much MORE than they were even as a group

[Emmeline II]

My first thoughts are SPD and ADHD.
Sensory Processing Disorder Checklist



Quoting myself in another thread:

We tried a family therapist for awhile and pretty much just figured out that our discipline style did not really impact his behavior; though too lenient or strict made it worse, the middle ground did not make it better, just not worse. Ds appears to have little intrinsic motivation to "do the right thing" and lacks in empathy; though these seem to have improved with medication.

Kindergarten was hell; I'll pm you the bullet list I took to the family doctor for a referral to a developmental pediatrician. Though ds' behavior at home improved immensely after a couple months of school.

So, we went to the family therapist from February to May. In June I took my bullet list to the family doctor who diagnosed ADHD/ODD on the referral form; I sent the referral form to the local children's hospital that has a clinic with a developmental pediatrician--once an appointment is had it is a full day of interdisciplinary consults and evaluations.

While waiting on the DP we had an evaluation with an occupational therapist in July; this report was very useful in communicating what ds is like, to his teacher, therapist, and psychiatrist. The OT noted his sensory issues but also said she say signs of Asperger's but she is not qualified to diagnose that.

In August ds freaked out the family by playing with matches in a closed bathroom and we finally took him to a child psychiatrist. The psychiatrist diagnosed ADHD but is not ready to diagnose Asperger's yet; she also recommended "psychotherapy"; I found that the therapist she recommended does CBT and we're hoping that ds will benefit more from her than the last therapist, though she did mention how "unique" ds is in his issues. Ds is now taking Concerta.

Ds school experience this year is MUCH MUCH MUCH better than last year. Though he is still exhibiting the same "quirks," he is now redirectable. His new (charter) school is much smaller, he has a more understanding/flexable teacher and a special ed person who actually sees ds issues as something to be addressed with actions other than behavior charts. Ds is also gifted which complicated things with his last school (which is primarily concerned with working on grade level, anything beyond that they didn't care).