HELP! Is this normal?

concerned_mom · 03-03-2004, 03:14 AM

I have a 12 year old son that still soils his pants. It is very embarassing. But doctor after doctor tell me that he will outgrow this. So I am wondering if there is a chance that he could have ADD or ADHD. His school work is also hurting as well. How do i know if i should take him in to get tested? Does anyone else have or heard of this problem and having to do with ADD? Please help me!

* Free ~ Spirit * · 03-03-2004, 04:29 AM

This is not normal, nor is this an indication of ADD. Everytime a child has a problem it seems they are just labeled as ADD and thats the end of it. They never find or treat the real problem. Sometimes children who have ADD/ADHD take a while longer to potty train. Wetting the bed at night is pretty common for all children, ADD/ADHD children tend to take a while longer to mature, so they wet the bed until an older age. They may also have daytime accidents when they are young (pre-school -1st grade)

Your son is soiling himself at age 12. This is not an ADHD problem. Has he seen a doctor about this at all? There are many things that cause ADHD like symptoms, you mentioned problems with schoolwork, well this does not mean that it is ADHD. There are tons of things that can cause problems with schoolwork. Your son needs to get a complete physical and find out whats going on.

Has he always done this or did it start after some sort of trauma or major life change?

Redhead23 · 03-03-2004, 06:13 AM

Eneuresis and Encopresis (sp?) are more frequent with AD/HD and autism spectrum kids but on their own they are not an indicator of AD/HD.

It is possible that stress and anxiety from pressure at school are playing a part in this.

May I ask where you got that idea from, that soiling his bed must mean he has AD/HD? It's one of the more, uh, *interesting* misconsceptions that I've heard so far!

* Free ~ Spirit * · 03-03-2004, 11:16 PM

Redhead, now and days everytime a child has any sort of problem everyone around them is likely to suspect ADD. (parents, teachers, relatives etc etc) This might be one of the reasons why so many people think ADD doesnt exist....

Redhead23 · 03-04-2004, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by * Free ~ Spirit *

Redhead, now and days everytime a child has any sort of problem everyone around them is likely to suspect ADD. (parents, teachers, relatives etc etc) This might be one of the reasons why so many people think ADD doesnt exist....

Yeah you have a point. You see the same on autism communities, everybody who's either aggressive, manipulative and abusive is suspect of having Asperger's, and everyone who is shy, has social phobias, is naturally introverted or feels put upon by society self-diagnoses themselves with it.