ADHD and Multiple Diagnoses

Katherine,

I sorry your son and you have to go through this difficult time. Take it one day at a time and try and stay positive. Maybe your son should try a therapist. Someone different that will listen to him and not judge but give sound advice. If he doesn't like the first therapist try someone else. I have been through some difficult times with my son and a therapist seemed to help. My thoughts are with you.

Take care,

Noreen

Hi Katherine!

It is good to meet you.  May I ask...what was the reason given by the school for sending him to the community college instead of having him remain with the other kids?  And was this a suggestion or a mandate that he have to do this?  What would your son prefer doing?  I would think that they need to have the reason substantiated in writing to make such a drastic change for your son.  You would need to talk to the school to find this out.

I am hopeful for you and your son that once he does leave high school...things may improve for him in that he will be exposed to new people who are hopefully more mature and he will have greater independence. 

One thing I was going to suggest...but if you don't have a good relationship with the school...I don't know...but to get him evaluated by the school.  Another option is to get him to see his general practitioner doctor and give him a list of concerns you might have about his behavior or difficulty in school and....see if you can get a referral to get him evaluated.

I am sorry your son is going through this.  And I am sorry you are having to witness this. 

It really might be good for you to get your son evaluated at this point so that he can get the help he needs to progress further on into the college years.

Thank you so much for writing here and reaching out.  Please feel free to write a sharepost about your experience parenting your son...I am sure a lot of other parents are in the same boat as you are.

Hi there!

Did I leave OCD out of my list?  It definitely should be there...and yes OCD can be a co-existing condition to ADHD.

I want to give you some links to some resources we have on Health Central to OCD information.

On our Anxiety site we have a guide to OCD and treatment options which you may find here.

And we have an article here about a medication used to treat OCD.

I believe that there are certain medications that can help with this.  I am thinking you may need to seek another opinion from another doctor or specialist who knows about OCD.  But too...I have to ask...has your daughter been officially diagnosed with OCD?  She may need to be evaluated to determine a cause for her behavior.

Here is a site I found which offers help and suggestions to chronic nail picking.  They seem to have some good ideas there.

I wish you the best of luck with this...I know it must be hard to watch your daughter engage in this behavior.  Thank you for reaching out here and I do hope you stay on with us here at ADHD Central.

Hi there!

Just wanted to let you know...I have written an article in response to your comment about compulsive picking at skin and also pulling out hair.

You may find that article here.

oh one more thing, she sits there with her fingernails and digs in one spot on either side of her head constantly it will scab over then she starts digging again, I have tried everything to get her to stop she won't those two spots on her head are scarred and i am afraid she will ahve permanent bald spots there if she doesn't stop. she also picks at her toes, bites her finger nails and constantly stretches out her shirts

Hi Stressed mom!

You certainly are going through a lot here.  Okay so you are telling us that your daughter's behaviors include:

*  Anger issues

*  Aggression

*  Possible OCD behaviors

*  Sensory Integration Disorder issues (this is most likely the cause of the problems with clothing, etc.)

Anything else?  Problems academically?  Problems communicating?  Social skills issues?

There is so much here to tackle...let me just give a few things to read for now.

Here is information that I wrote about Sensory Integration Disorder which may be helpful to you.

Here is information about ways to help your child with Anger Management issues.

It sounds like your daughter may not have clear or firm diagnoses to know exactly what you are dealing with here.  I think that is going to be so important in getting her the right treatment and being pro-active.

When is she at her best?  What circumstances make for her best behavior?

About the scalp picking...I am giving you the link to an organization which deals with this form of OCD behavior called Trichotillomania Learning Center which you may find here.

Please do keep writing here and reaching out.  We are here for you!

Hi there!

You are absolutely right.  Tourette's Syndrome can definitely be a co-condition to having ADHD.  And yes...it is often hard to tell which is the primary condition. Your child's ADHD symptoms might take a backseat to the symptoms of his Tourette's 

Our Eileen Bailey did write and article about Tourette's Syndrome which you may find here.

I was wondering if you might want to write a sharepost about experience parenting your son who has Tourette's.  I think so many parents here would be interested.  There is so much we do not know about this mysterious disorder.

I thank you for contributing to our discussion here and I do hope you stay on with us at ADHD Central.  Your input and insights are very valued here.

the school wanted to put my daughter in special ed also but her psychiatrist said she is to smart for that , she does not have trouble with the education part of school just the social part, she got mostly b's on her report card and 2 c's.

Hi again stressed mom

Has Asperger's syndrome ever come up in the talks with doctors?  I don't know your daughter and I am not a therapist but just putting that out there as maybe something to look into. 

Elizabeth...I homeschool my son who is now 13...and has autism.  I absolutely think it was the right decision for us.  It is a deeply personal choice to homeschool but I want you to know that it is an option if you are able to stay home and teach your son. 

If you want more information...I have tons of it.

There is a lady named Tammy Glaser that you need to meet on-line...she has been homeschooling for years and years for her daughter who is on the spectrum and she has an on-line support group called Aut-2B-home which you can find more about here.

If you need any more links to resources or information...just let me know!

Thank you so much for your comment here.

Hi there!

Thank you so much for your comment!  Sounds like you are doing some great pro-active things to help your son.  I would certainly love to hear more specifics...if you ever have time...please do write a sharepost on your experiences helping your child...I know that so many parents would care to hear what you are doing which is successful.

Nice to meet you and I hope to hear more from you on this site!

It seems that restructuring our parenting approaches and providing the proper tools were the catalysts that provided success.

I've got to say, we struggled to find the right tools for our family. It takes a great deal of research and time. Most parents don't have the time or inclination to do this as life with an ADHD child is stressful.

Since my background is in educational administration, I opted for an educational feedback based program call Play Attention. It actually allows my son to control their video games by mind alone! Kind of like Harry Potter as my son explains it. NASA inspired software and very effective.

We also tried ADHD Nanny.com. It's specifically for younger kids, but it significantly increases organization, structure, and compliance with chores around the house. Very cleverly structured site. Points are awarded for chores (Nanny keeps up with which chores need to be done each day) and can be redeemed for Nanny rewards. It was very motivational.

Hi there!

Can you tell us more about CAPD?  I know a lot of children on the autism spectrum also have this disorder.  How is your son being treated for this?

Thank you so much for sharing here.