Many parents of children with ADHD will report that they'd taken their child to the ER more times than they care to remember. New studies coming out are now showing a correlation between early injuries and later diagnosis of ADHD.
One such study recently published in The British Medical Jour...
Accident Prone Kids and ADHD
11/13/08 6:47pm
I have a 13 year old son who was diagnosed with adhd in second grade, he had a burn injury before the age of 2, and has been to the ER more times than I can count on both hands. I never realized there was a corelation between the two but reading the article made perfect since. It been something I have really felt alot of guilt over. Now I am better able to understand why this keeps happening. Maybe even prevent some of these accidents.
11/14/08 11:23pm
As an adult who has recently been diagnosed with ADHD-Inattentive Type, this clinical study rang completely true with events in my own life.
- 6-7mos old: Walked early
- 10 months old: climbed on chair, then counter, then to the top of the fridge & ate all the 'candy' in the highest cupboard above the fridge. I ate all my mom's birth control pills and in 1963, those pills were a much higher dose than what is prescribed now - probably comparable to what might be dosed for a large animal! My parents were fairly poor and this resulted in a younger sister some months later. :-\
- 14 months of age: climbed over the railing of the exterior balcony and fell into the stairwell of the basement incinerator (2 story fall). Landed on head. Essentially unhurt except having the wind knocked out of me.
- 11 years old: began smoking cigarettes
- 12 years old: jumped off top of dump truck cab...while wearing cast that went from toes to just below the knee
...and so my life went as a tree-climbing, danger-chasing young girl until at 17 I marched my mom into the county courthouse to sign permission for me to marry. Five months later, I turned 18 on an airplane headed overseas to live on a Navy base. I finished high school in the Dept. of Defense Dependent's School on what I call 'the 5-year plan'.
Risky behavior patterns? Yes, I think that probably fits.
3/22/09 8:17pm
I can't they actually spent money on a study to find out ADHD kids have more accidents than non ADHD kids!!! Just ask anyone with a sibling or child with ADHD! My younger brother has ADHD still as an adult spends way to much time in the ER, my 9 year old son also has ADHD but after 1 broken collar bone 2 sets of stitches in the chin and stiches above his eye I make sure he is always on his meds. Children with ADHD don't think they just act! The constant motion of their bodies and brain makes it impossible to concentrate. I am lucky I only have ADD so my brain just runs at full speed constantly.
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I have a 17 year old son who is ADHD. He has been to the ER many times. Just recently, he broke his leg. He is very active but I think sometimes its the lack of focus or that he doesn't pay enough attention to his surroundings, that results in him getting hurt. He does certainly take risks too. I am not surprised to see these kids in the ER more often. April Cook