I'm posting here to get some feedback from parents who have "inattentive-type" kids. I have ADD myself, primarily inattentive, and I'm seeing some of my own traits in my 5-y.o. son.

He's absent-minded, and gets frustrated very easily. It's not easy to keep him interested in finishing tasks. OTOH, he can hyperfocus while watching TV. I could lead a herd of sheep through the room when SpongeBob is on, and he'd never know.
;)

He's quiet and obedient in Kindergarten, but isn't learning as quickly as he should. The teacher told me that he listens to her while she describes assignments, but then asks other children at his table what he's supposed to be doing. (My first thought was that he wasn't necessarily hearing her, just because he happened to be looking at her. Even on meds, I still tune out sometimes when people are talking to me. And I've noticed that others usually can't tell when I've "checked out.") If I make sure I have his attention before explaining things to him at home, he does understand me.

He has a pretty significant speech delay, including phonological problems. He also has fine motor problems that make handwriting difficult, and sensory integration issues. He displays some "stimming" behaviors like slapping his ears while running in place, or repeating nonsense words over and over. His docs don't think he fits on the autistic spectrum, but he does have some similar issues!

So, does any of this sound familiar to any of you? And if so, how did you go about getting the diagnosis?

This sounds like it is worth checking into.

There are a lot of ways to do this unfortunately. Your pediatrician, a psychiatrist, a psychologist are all options.

I personally would go to the person who you trust the most and make sure they have studied / read / have experience with ADD. If they are trying to diagnose it or treat it without detailed knowledge of it, that will be a recipe for disaster.

And welcome to the forums.

If you were in Australia, I'd suggest going to see a paediatrician for further investigation. We thought that something was wrong with my son and got shafted around until he was 8, when we found out that he has high functioning autism. My suggestion in to go to a private specialist (not sure what it's like where you are) and get the whole package tested (psychologial assessment, epilepsy tests, the whole lot). Maybe it's a developmental problem but there is a chance that it could be something physical (my friend has a daughter who is deaf and they initially thought it was ADD). Goodluck - It's good that you are trying to see to it while the child is still young as it's hard to make adjustments when you find out later.

Thanks for the replies! I'm not satisfied with the feedback I've gotten from doctors thus far ... I want to meet with someone that will really examine the problems. I was given the name of a good child psych, and I will probably start with her and a developmental ped. If he inherited some of these traits from me, the least I can do is try to help him learn to deal with them...

BTW, I still can't quite rule out HFA in my own mind. He's probably too social for that dx, but the stimming and babbling still make me wonder.

Originally posted by krisp
I still can't quite rule out HFA in my own mind. He's probably too social for that dx, but the stimming and babbling still make me wonder.

Being sociable doesn't rule out a dx of autism. My son is sociable when he is comfortable. I teach two other autistic kids in karate and quite frankly - they never shut up! What I try to do is get them all started on a topic of conversation which they all enjoy and leave them to it so I don't have to hear about how a car motor works or something like that.

I think the social impairments they are looking for are more in the context of their communication and whether it is appropriate for the time and the place.

Some of the things you have said made me think of autism too, particularly as you asked about inattentive ADD as that is what I thought was wrong with my son.

There is a really good book called "Aspergers Syndrome" by Tony Attwood. See if you can get a copy. When you go to see the doctors, have all your info already written out in chronogical order. They will ask you for his life history, developmental milestones etc.

I will check into that! When I got my ADD dx a couple of years ago, the doc commented that there were a lot of Aspergers traits (along with rampant ADD traits) in my family. Lots of smart, funny (but slightly odd) bookworms and technogeeks. If I were a child today I'd probably get the Aspergers dx. I had a lot of the signs.