ADHD or Autistic (mild)

[a01751]

My 4 1/2 year old daughter was born with reflux and so they said allergic to milk (breast fed). She threw up constantly and how mucusy bowels constantly. Her butt was always irritated. Once she got big enough to crawl she was into everything. She is very hyperactive to date. She loves to be hugged, kissed and has great eye contact. She pretend plays with babies and such. Her speech and fine motor skills are delayed about 1 1/2 years. I have had her assessed by 3 different doctors that were professionals in ADHD, autism, etc. They originally diagnosed her with ADHD and learning delays about 2 years ago. She has been taking 18 mg of Strattera and it has slowed her down very little, but her speech has improved since she started taking it in February. I was just recently told that autistic children are very sensitive to taste. She will hardly eat anything. She hates pop, chocolate milk, candy, which is good, but I would think indifferent for a child. Her diet is very slim. She will only eat a few select things. For breakfast, sometimes I can get her to eat oatmeal, but other days, she doesn't want anything to do with it. She will eat chicken nuggets from McDonald's, but not Burger King, because they are shaped different. Trying to get her to eat is wearing me out. She hates change. She throws tantrums. She is very independent. She is very hyperactive, especially if there are alot of people around. If there are just a few people around, she acts very shy. My question is, does anybody think she could be autistic instead of ADHD? I have another appt. made with a child and adolescent psychiatrist, which she has never seen. I was just curious what anyone else might think. Your help is greatly appreciated.

[accountinator]

Does she tend to have a much longer attention span when the play is self-directed and have trouble "changing her channel"? You may want to Google "Asperger's Syndrome". It is on the spectrum along with ADHD. I couldn't get a diagnosis for my six year old boy with Aspergers until just recently. When I brought him in at 3 1/2, all I got was "you brought in the wrong boy."

[heartcreature]

It's possible that your child is autistic. I would look at the test results to see if they are low in social and communication but higher in self help skills. My son was always physically right on target but he is now 19 and is still delayed in social and communication skills. He has developed pretty good coping skills over the years and so he does very well, but the social and communication continue to be a barrier that is difficult to overcome.

[a01751]

Her attention span is pretty good as long as it is just her and I. Last night my husband and 7 year old were playing checkers and she was very content to read 3 Dora books and was wanting to read more. I also forgot to mention her sleep habits. She is so hard to get to sleep at night (over an hour) and she flops all over during the night. The only way I can get her to sleep is to have her sleep with me. I don't trust her to sleep by herself.

Yes, to look at her physically, you would not know that anything was wrong with her. She still can't write any letters. She can barely make a circle. Her coloring is equal to a 2 year old. I still have trouble understanding what she is saying and she gets so mad when I can't understand her. This morning she wanted to turn on the Christmas tree lights, but I told her we were leaving. She got mad and threw herself down and then got under the table and sat there until I could get her mind redirected to something else. She likes to play with her brother, or someone she knows, like if he has a friend over, she's good with that. But at daycare, she really doesn't play with the other kids. She gets really mad at them and pushes, throws toys accross the room and throws tantrums if they tell her not to do something.

Thanks for both of your input. I read about the "Asperger's Syndrome" this morning, but It just doesn't seem to fit her. She is definitely not clumsy. She can handle her bike perfect. She actually is very light on her feet and is less clumsy than myself. She never acts like she's in her own world. She has great facial expression and is hilarious with that. She does nothing repetative and actually can carry on a conversation, but her speech is so delayed it's hard to understand her sometimes.

My main concern with her, is her diet, hyperactiveness, tantrums and sleep patterns. We live in such a small community and I have been run ragged trying to find someone that can help her. I hope I am on the right track with her seeing this child and adolescent psychiatrist. If he's not, I have no other clues where to take her.

[2cutekids]

i would say to get an eval for Autism... Asperger, etc.. My son has Asperger. dx ADHD in a child this young is very hard. kids this age just don't have much of an attention span to begin with. My son is almost 6 and he is still all over the place in that.. except when it comes down to TV.

She could even have both,,, it is actually pretty common to have more than one dx.