Our 24 year old daughter and her 5 year old son have always lived with us. Our daughter was diagnosed as an adult with ADD. Our grandson is an only child and generally well behaved and spends alot of quiet time desiging and building creations using lego or whatever is available. I never suspected our grandson had ADD until we enrolled him in organized sports this past year then the realization that he might have it hit me like a brick wall.

In organized sports he is extremely inattentive and pays very little attention to the coach. He enjoys participating but is quick to fall away from the group and amuse himself.

Ice Hockey has been the biggest challenge. He rarely pays attention to the coaches but does not misbehave and enjoys participating. He gets through the drills by observing the other kids once the drill has started. During an actual game all the players are swarming around the puck except my grandson who is amusing himself doing balancing tricks, practicing jumping or scraping the ice with his blades. If the puck happens to come his way, and if he happens to notice it, he will slap it down the ice then carry on amusing himself.

We keep wondering if he will out grow this or if he has ADD.

We tried to discuss this with his kindergarten teacher but she blew it off, perhaps because he does not misbehave in class and she has other male students who are problematic; plus, perhaps she does not know much about ADD.

Do you have any comments on our situation? We have decided to discuss the situation with our daughter's ADD Dr.

cheers,
Concerned Grandma

Kinda sounds to me like maybe he just isn't interested in the sport. Or not interested in the aspects of it you expect him to be interested in.
You say he shows not other signs of ADD in his life.
In my personal experience with doctors diagnosing children with ADD, they can be awfully quick to diagnose them with no testing whatsoever. If you do take him in for testing, I advice that you make sure they do a real test, and not just ask him (or you or his parents) a few questions.
Sounds like a pretty attentive little boy to me :)

You just described my 8yo ADDer when he was 5.

At that time, there was no way to know that ADD was a problem. In kindergarten, when he would work sluggishly, a talk with him would do the trick and keep him chugging along for a couple of months.

It wasn't until 1st grade that he really started to have cognitive problems.

I think it's wise to keep an eye on kids if you are suspicious, but I don't think you've got cause to worry yet.

I thought my 5yo was showing signs of OCD, but he seems to be growing out of the fears that triggered my worry.

Good luck!

I think it's awesome that the kid can ice skate at 5. If he can do it without his ankles scraping the ice, I'll really be impressed. :)

I think being inattentive at 5 is pretty normal. It's when attention doesn't develop apace with peers that you have to worry.

Let me preface the following with the disclaimer that I am just a layperson.

In order to qualify for an ADHD diagnosis, the person must be impaired in at least two major life domains. For a kid, that might be school and friends, or school and home. If your grandson is doing well at school, doing well at home, and has no major problems with friendships/peers, then even if he is more inattentive than his peers, he wouldn't be considered for an ADHD dx.

But I think it's great that you're giving so much "attention" to your grandson's upbringing. :)

Thanks for your responses. We will continue to monitor him and set age-appropriate goals, with positive reinforcement.

Uminchu - can I ask you to expand on your information, in an effort for me to better understand ADHD. Why is it that in some cases children with ADHD have difficulties with peer relationships? I can see why they would struggle with learning, when their minds cannot stay focused during lessons, but I dont understand why ADHD would include issues with behaviour and peers.

Thanks in advance.

dogbones,

ADHD is primarily (80%) inherited/genetic.

The other 20% would be thru traumatic brain injuries, ingestion of toxic substances, like lead paint.

In addition, Risk Factors involving pre and peri-natal care such as premature birth, cigarette smoking during pregnancy, or birth complications like hypoxia (lack of oxygen) are positively correalated with ADHD.

Why is it that in some cases children with ADHD have difficulties with peer relationships? I can see why they would struggle with learning, when their minds cannot stay focused during lessons, but I dont understand why ADHD would include issues with behaviour and peers.
Children with ADHD are often rejected by their peers. I think I have seen a statistic that said 50% were "totally rejected." Why? In general, they are selfish, talk too much, are immature, blurt out innaproprite things...

Remember when you were a kid? Remember these "types"?

The spazz
The bad kid
The budding arsonist
The dweeb
The lazy loser
Chances are, a lot of those kids had ADHD.

One of the main reasons for ADHD children having problems with peer relationships, has to do with the Executive Function deficit associated with Monitoring (work & behavior).

On the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF), an excellent diagnostic checklist, one of the Clinical Scales listed within the Metacognition Index (MI) is the Monitor Scale.

The Monitor Scale assess a child's work checking habits (via self-directed speech) in determining the successful completion of a task or activity.

It also assesses a personal monitoring function, in terms of an ADHD child's ability to recognize the impact of their behavior on other people.