how to tell a 6 year old he has add? - ADD / ADHD Message Board

ladyobanion · 03-13-2002, 10:40 AM

I have a six year old son who has just been diagnosed with ADD, and he knows that something is wrong with him since we have seen the doctor so many times here lately, but I am at a loss on how to tell him that he has ADD and needs to take his Adderrol. He also will be going to child Psychologist, and I am not for sure how to tell him about this either. I have done everything I can think of to tell him that he is normal, and that he just needs some extra attention, but he stills does not understand. HELP please.

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DawnP · 03-13-2002, 06:17 PM

I have two boys with ADHD. Both of my boys had told me things trying to explain to me their ADHD feelings. My first son told me(at 6 yrs old) that he had an alarm clock that the hands just kept going around. My 2nd son told me that his brain kept telling him to do bad things and that he couldn't control it. When we took each of them to the psychologist at 6 years old we explained that we wanted to help with that problem(alarm clock,brain)and that the medication would help. Has your son expressed to you how he is feeling? You could use this as an avenue to explain it to him. I really think these children know how they feel and that something isn't right. I hope this helps!

DawnP

mlgable · 03-14-2002, 07:12 AM

I have always believed in being honest with my kids since they were preschoolers. If he has been to the doctors a lot lately for testing he should have already been told what they were trying to find out and in simple terms what it is that he has. If he has plain ADD then tell him and if it is ADHD then let him know that all of the problems he has been having now have a name and the medication will hopefully help that. Let him know that the psychologist will be someone he can talk to about all of his problems (be specific if you can) and will help him find ways to make those things better. The more informed he is (even at 6 years old) the more compliant and cooperative he will hopefully be with all of his treatment.

James_A · 03-18-2002, 02:54 AM

Probably the most important factor when dealing with this type of situation is to make it the matter seem trivial. Rather than telling him he's different, or special, etc. Tell him like it is. Just say his brain produce a certain chemical, and that the "supplement" fix the problem. If you present it in a casual fasion he's less likely to see it as something "wrong" with him, and that he's "different", rather he'll see it more of just a nusiance that he has to take a pill every day. Of course i could be wrong, but you get what you pay for

ladyobanion · 03-18-2002, 06:22 AM

A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE!!! MY SON HAS TOLD ME THAT HE JUST CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHY HIS MIND SAYS TO DO THE BAD THINGS, AND WHEN I TELL HIM HE NEEDS TO CALM DOWN, HE TELLS ME"IT'S MY BRAIN MOMMY, NOT ME!" WHICH I HAVE TO JUST SMILE AT, BECAUSE HE IS BEING SO HONEST. HE HAS BEEN ON HIS MEDICINE NOW FOR ALMOST A WEEK, AND HE HAS SLOWED DOWN, BUT THE BAD BEHAVIOR IS STILL THERE. HOPEFULLY WHEN WE START THERAPY NEXT WEEK, THINGS WILL CALM DOWN. THANK YOU AGAIN TO EVERYONE FOR GIVING ME IDEAS.

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