Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
I have a 3 year old diagnosed Autistic son, he will be 4 years old in October. He's non verbal, still in nappies, and ticks all the autism symptoms boxes. He's being put forward for Pathway 1 assessment towards his EHCP.
He is also incredibly hyper, not in the usual 3 year old boy type of way. He can't sit/stay still for even 60 seconds unless he is ill/sick. His mind races at 100 miles per hour at all times. It's very hard to get him to learn anything as nothing holds his attention long enough.
I'm certain he has ADHD as well as Autism, I know the two conditions often present themselves together. I know of one child in Scotland who is on ADHD medication at 4 years old. I know in the USA they prescribe it for kids at 3 years old if necessary.
I live in the South of England. In your experience what is the minimum age that you have "actually" heard of or seen (if it's your child) ADHD medication being prescribed.
Thanks,
Chris
Hi Chris, the reason to delay ADHD meds as long as possible are two fold
1) they are appetite suppressant and the younger the child the greater the risk of low appetite affecting growth. It's the commonest reason for ceasing meds
2) Even older kids struggle to give useful feedback on how they feel on medication. Observing calmer behaviour could be a good drug response or it could be a child feeling unwell on the meds.
Having said this if there's discussion about not starting meds then you need to ask for assistance on a behavioural program... totally get how exhausting a wired kid is and I'm dealing with teens! We attended a course (we are in NZ) on behaviour strategies and we are already getting benefits...and this is with teens.
With behavioural programs you need to be a bit of a detective. There will be some things that hold his attention. What are they? Use them and visual prompts in learning e.g. a poo chart with a reward for sitting after a meal on the potty with a something that interests him (e.g. a spinning toy) for a few minutes and a reward for a poo.
If he's non-verbal consider using BSL so he can connect the visual sign for a poo and the action. Likely you will have to use the sign several dozen times but with luck he will eventually use it to tell you he needs one!
Sound advice from QuirkyFriend. One thing that you can do at any age is try to work out if any foods have a positive or negative effect on his behaviour. There are some additives which are widely linked with poor behaviour (the orange colouring in some drinks) but also some other foods (e.g. green apples and other fruits) that some people are intolerant of.
If doing food eliminations only do it supervised by a dietitian. Often ASD children are already nutritionally compromised by sensory issues and elimination diets can worsen matters. I had to supervise a colleague through a serious case review when a child with autism was identified by this dietitian as developing vision loss from vitamin A deficiency at a first appointment after 5 years of unsupervised dietary interventions
Fair point, a balanced diet needs to be maintained at all times.