Post by Amtram on Mar 3, 2014 18:10:30 GMT -5
I had taken an informal survey of a number of people with ADHD and parents of children with ADHD to see if there were any common threads between infant and toddler behavior and eventual ADHD diagnoses. This is by no means scientific. There are some scientific studies that may indicate early markers. Health Central has a list:
In Russell Barkley's book. "Taking Charge of ADHD," he lists some temperamental indicators of potential ADHD. Scroll up a bit to the top of page 82, where he starts with the family, then moves on to pregnancy (complications comprise only a small risk compared to heritability) then infancy (motor development delays, being excessively active, short attention span to objects in their visual field, intense reactions to overstimulation, high degree of dependence upon interaction with caregivers. . .) and then some of the signs in early years that you may already be familiar with.
These were the signs my mother saw in me, and some I remember:
Shortly after birth: did not like being held or swaddled. Would track objects and respond to faces, but not for long - after a shorter period than normal, would twist and turn away from stimulus and begin to fuss. Slept poorly in short spurts - the house had to be absolutely silent, because the slightest noise would wake me up.
Toddlerhood: curiosity that was obsessive. My mother didn't even have any other children yet, and I was fast enough to destroy almost anything before she noticed I was gone. Uprooted her flower garden, picking all the dirt off the plants onto the sofa so I could see the roots so often that she gave up on it. Covered myself in tar from driveway repairs, and stuck an entire roll of toilet paper onto the tar. Broke sculptural decorative plates (a wedding gift) to see what was inside, fascinated that the color and texture was different from the outside. Played with buttons, knobs, dials, switches, and doors until they broke.
Childhood: into everything, leaving a trail of disasters in my wake. Terrible insomnia, still hypersensitive to noise. Telling me not to do something invariably led to a trip to the doctor or the emergency room because I had to find out for myself why I was not supposed to do it. Got banned from several friends' houses because I wouldn't leave their things alone until they were broken. Got up and wandered around the classroom, "helping" other students after I'd finished my work, because I couldn't sit still and wait, often would simply leave because I was bored or didn't understand things.
My older daughter showed many of the signs - very active in the womb, terrible sleeper after she was born, didn't much care for being held closely, but didn't want to be alone, hated lying on her stomach, very easily bored but also very easily overstimulated, and reacted in the extreme to any negative sensory stimulation.
______
When I asked this question of others, these responses were overwhelming:
They or their children were consistently poor sleepers, in getting to sleep, staying asleep, or both.
They or their children were very demanding of attention, but did not like being hugged or held or otherwise confined.
They or their children overreacted to sensations they didn't like. All kids will get irritated by scratchy clothes or a food they don't like or noises, but ADHD kids went ballistic. These sensations were intolerable to them.
They or their children became less difficult after they were able to walk, and often spent very little time in the crawling stage between lying on the floor and cruising the furniture. Walking was very often followed by climbing. Lots of climbing. Lots of accidents caused by climbing.
They or their children had a great deal of difficulty learning to not touch (or break) things despite repeated reminders, discipline, and even injuries.
_____
Obviously, these things in and of themselves are not indicators of ADHD. However, since ADHD is a highly heritable condition, they could be early signs if you already have it in a family member, especially one parent or the other. The reason it's important to be aware is that there are ways that you can help your ADHD child and keep yourself sane if you are prepared and start early.
If you have ADHD or have a child who's been diagnosed, do these seem familiar to you? Was there anything else you noticed very early on that turned out to be a red flag for ADHD?
According to ADDResources, some of the signs are:
More squirmy
Less able to cuddle
More impatient
More easily frustrated
Require more attention
Have more colic
Have a more difficult temperament
It is important to remember that babies with some or all of these signs do not necessarily have ADHD. Many children are fussier and require a great deal of attention but show no signs of ADHD in later years. Additionally, many children that are later diagnosed with ADHD do not have any problems early in life.
In previous support groups for parents, some also indicated their children, later diagnosed with ADHD, slept less or took only short catnaps in comparison to children that were not diagnosed with ADHD.
More squirmy
Less able to cuddle
More impatient
More easily frustrated
Require more attention
Have more colic
Have a more difficult temperament
It is important to remember that babies with some or all of these signs do not necessarily have ADHD. Many children are fussier and require a great deal of attention but show no signs of ADHD in later years. Additionally, many children that are later diagnosed with ADHD do not have any problems early in life.
In previous support groups for parents, some also indicated their children, later diagnosed with ADHD, slept less or took only short catnaps in comparison to children that were not diagnosed with ADHD.
In Russell Barkley's book. "Taking Charge of ADHD," he lists some temperamental indicators of potential ADHD. Scroll up a bit to the top of page 82, where he starts with the family, then moves on to pregnancy (complications comprise only a small risk compared to heritability) then infancy (motor development delays, being excessively active, short attention span to objects in their visual field, intense reactions to overstimulation, high degree of dependence upon interaction with caregivers. . .) and then some of the signs in early years that you may already be familiar with.
These were the signs my mother saw in me, and some I remember:
Shortly after birth: did not like being held or swaddled. Would track objects and respond to faces, but not for long - after a shorter period than normal, would twist and turn away from stimulus and begin to fuss. Slept poorly in short spurts - the house had to be absolutely silent, because the slightest noise would wake me up.
Toddlerhood: curiosity that was obsessive. My mother didn't even have any other children yet, and I was fast enough to destroy almost anything before she noticed I was gone. Uprooted her flower garden, picking all the dirt off the plants onto the sofa so I could see the roots so often that she gave up on it. Covered myself in tar from driveway repairs, and stuck an entire roll of toilet paper onto the tar. Broke sculptural decorative plates (a wedding gift) to see what was inside, fascinated that the color and texture was different from the outside. Played with buttons, knobs, dials, switches, and doors until they broke.
Childhood: into everything, leaving a trail of disasters in my wake. Terrible insomnia, still hypersensitive to noise. Telling me not to do something invariably led to a trip to the doctor or the emergency room because I had to find out for myself why I was not supposed to do it. Got banned from several friends' houses because I wouldn't leave their things alone until they were broken. Got up and wandered around the classroom, "helping" other students after I'd finished my work, because I couldn't sit still and wait, often would simply leave because I was bored or didn't understand things.
My older daughter showed many of the signs - very active in the womb, terrible sleeper after she was born, didn't much care for being held closely, but didn't want to be alone, hated lying on her stomach, very easily bored but also very easily overstimulated, and reacted in the extreme to any negative sensory stimulation.
______
When I asked this question of others, these responses were overwhelming:
They or their children were consistently poor sleepers, in getting to sleep, staying asleep, or both.
They or their children were very demanding of attention, but did not like being hugged or held or otherwise confined.
They or their children overreacted to sensations they didn't like. All kids will get irritated by scratchy clothes or a food they don't like or noises, but ADHD kids went ballistic. These sensations were intolerable to them.
They or their children became less difficult after they were able to walk, and often spent very little time in the crawling stage between lying on the floor and cruising the furniture. Walking was very often followed by climbing. Lots of climbing. Lots of accidents caused by climbing.
They or their children had a great deal of difficulty learning to not touch (or break) things despite repeated reminders, discipline, and even injuries.
_____
Obviously, these things in and of themselves are not indicators of ADHD. However, since ADHD is a highly heritable condition, they could be early signs if you already have it in a family member, especially one parent or the other. The reason it's important to be aware is that there are ways that you can help your ADHD child and keep yourself sane if you are prepared and start early.
If you have ADHD or have a child who's been diagnosed, do these seem familiar to you? Was there anything else you noticed very early on that turned out to be a red flag for ADHD?