Inmaturity or ADHD in 6 year old boy?

[CVsMom]

We are taking our oldest son, Caden, for an Add evaluation this coming Monday. He had a routine physical last week and we were given the evaluation forms to fill out. My husband has been saying for over a year he believed our son had it. My husband was diagnosed around a year ago, but we all believe he had it as a child as well. He is on Straterra and it has really helped him. He is a lot like our son in that he does not appear hyper. But its like their brain is hyper. Caden is so easily distracted. He has not had the first behavior issue in school other than having to be told to finish his work. At home the main behavior problem we have is that he is always worried about whats next. He cant enjoy or concentrate on what is at hand bc his mind is already on whatever is coming after that. Even when he is at football practice or soccer practice-or anything where his job is to listen-he is always the only one staring off at something else. We are finding it very difficult to find anything that motivates him. Another worry is he seems to not be very socially aware. He has friends and is not a loner but he does nto seem to remember kids. I know that is normal at a younger age but not at 6. Other children walk by him constantly, saying "hey Caden' and he just stares at them or barely acknowledges them. He says he doesnt remember them. There is more but these are some of our concerns. We have a 4 year old son as well who seems to have no problem focusing or to self motivate. Any comments would be appreciated greatly. Thank You.

[krisp]

With those symptoms, he could well be an "inattentive type" ADD kid. (In fact, he sounds a lot like my own 6-y.o., who doesn't have the official dx yet either!) My own impression is that the self-motivating problems might be related to immaturity, but the staring off into space and not noticing his friends is probably something else.
Has he has a good, comprehensive vision exam? Sometimes vision problems can exacerbate or mimic ADD. (It's not unusual for a child to have both vision problems and ADD.)

Let us know what you find out!

[Trooper Keith]

ADHD implies behavior at a level different than the developmental level of the child. So while those symptoms are present, and fall very much in line with the symptoms of ADHD Inattentive Type, they could very well just be because of the child's age. The DSM-IV says:

"... symptoms ... have persisted for at least six months to a degree that is maladaptive and inconsistent with developmental level" and "Some hyperactive, impulsive, or inattentive symptoms that caused impairment were present before age 7 years"

If the symptoms are present before age 7, and it's considered maladaptive or inconsistent, it could be ADHD. Also, the genetic history of ADHD makes it very possible.

[mctavish23]

Welcome to the Forum.When you get a chance, please check out............Driven To Distraction by Lee Hallowell and Taking Charge of ADHD by Russell Barkely. By the way, Dr Barkley is currently at the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston.

Good luck.

[JillK]

I have a 6 yr old too and he was just diagnosed with ADD. I'm having a hard time with it because he is so well behaved, he daydreams all the time and although he seems to have friends he is picky or doesn't want friends, I don't know. he was given straterra too, but I haven't given it to him I was hoping I could find other ways of coping with it. But he is starting to have self esteem issues because he can't get his work done like the other kids. although academically he is where he needs to be right now. Jill