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3 yr old possible Bipolar?
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<blockquote data-quote="SRL" data-source="post: 312384" data-attributes="member: 701"><p>Hi kkenley. Welcome to our forum.</p><p></p><p>I would really urge you to get a full multidisciplinary evaluation on your little guy to get a fuller picture of what is going on. It sounds like the professionals you are dealing with are jumping to medications fairly quickly without having done a complete evaluation (at least I'm not seeing any signs of that).</p><p></p><p>For instance what looks like ADHD can just as well be something called Sensory Integration Dysfunction. Motion, sensitivity to tags, some mood problems, and sleeping problems can be attibuted to Sensory Integration Disorder (SID). If this article below rings a bell at all then check out the book "The Out of Sync Child" by Carol Kranowitz.</p><p></p><p>Does he have trouble with loud sounds, bright lights, crowds, or food textures (ie very picky eater)?</p><p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100820130047/http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/fall97/sensory.htm" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20100820130047/http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/fall97/sensory.htm</a></p><p></p><p>Sleep issues can also be caused by issues such as Restless Leg Syndrome that can only be diagnosed through a sleep study.</p><p></p><p>The sorts of mood swings that you are seeing can be attributed to any number of issues including bipolar, ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome, Tourette's, etc. so it's really important to cover all the evaluation bases and not just jump to medications unless it's severely indicated, such as with safety issues. We do see a lot of undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome or High Functioning Autism so we suggest that parents always do their research and make sure that is included in the child's assessment. FYI--resistance to change, anxiety, and sensory sensitivity are red flags for Asperger's Syndrome. Doctors often miss it, especially at young ages.</p><p></p><p>For an initial round of evaluations, we suggest at minimum speech/language, occuptional therapy for motor skills and sensory issues, and for this age seeing a developmental pediatrician or pediatric neuropsychologist. That combination will yield some initial data to draw some conclusions from. For this age group we generally do not recommend just being seen by a behavioral therapist or child psychiatrist without getting the fuller picture because often there will be missing pieces of the puzzle. I know you're doing what your doctors have guided you to, but I feel really strongly about not medicating kids in this young age group without evaluating them first because medications and medication reactions can make things worse or cloud the picture.</p><p></p><p>Are his speech patterns and vocabulary more adult-like than that of a typical 3 year old?</p><p>Does he have any quirky behaviors or unusual interests for his age group?</p><p></p><p>Until you know what's really going on here, I'd suggest laying low on discipline. If you can get him to pick up toys, fine, but don't make a big issue out of it. You might want to check out the thread at the top of this board about The Explosive Child.</p><p></p><p>Hope this helps.</p><p>SRL</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SRL, post: 312384, member: 701"] Hi kkenley. Welcome to our forum. I would really urge you to get a full multidisciplinary evaluation on your little guy to get a fuller picture of what is going on. It sounds like the professionals you are dealing with are jumping to medications fairly quickly without having done a complete evaluation (at least I'm not seeing any signs of that). For instance what looks like ADHD can just as well be something called Sensory Integration Dysfunction. Motion, sensitivity to tags, some mood problems, and sleeping problems can be attibuted to Sensory Integration Disorder (SID). If this article below rings a bell at all then check out the book "The Out of Sync Child" by Carol Kranowitz. Does he have trouble with loud sounds, bright lights, crowds, or food textures (ie very picky eater)? [url]https://web.archive.org/web/20100820130047/http://www.tsbvi.edu/Outreach/seehear/fall97/sensory.htm[/url] Sleep issues can also be caused by issues such as Restless Leg Syndrome that can only be diagnosed through a sleep study. The sorts of mood swings that you are seeing can be attributed to any number of issues including bipolar, ADHD, Asperger's Syndrome, Tourette's, etc. so it's really important to cover all the evaluation bases and not just jump to medications unless it's severely indicated, such as with safety issues. We do see a lot of undiagnosed Asperger's Syndrome or High Functioning Autism so we suggest that parents always do their research and make sure that is included in the child's assessment. FYI--resistance to change, anxiety, and sensory sensitivity are red flags for Asperger's Syndrome. Doctors often miss it, especially at young ages. For an initial round of evaluations, we suggest at minimum speech/language, occuptional therapy for motor skills and sensory issues, and for this age seeing a developmental pediatrician or pediatric neuropsychologist. That combination will yield some initial data to draw some conclusions from. For this age group we generally do not recommend just being seen by a behavioral therapist or child psychiatrist without getting the fuller picture because often there will be missing pieces of the puzzle. I know you're doing what your doctors have guided you to, but I feel really strongly about not medicating kids in this young age group without evaluating them first because medications and medication reactions can make things worse or cloud the picture. Are his speech patterns and vocabulary more adult-like than that of a typical 3 year old? Does he have any quirky behaviors or unusual interests for his age group? Until you know what's really going on here, I'd suggest laying low on discipline. If you can get him to pick up toys, fine, but don't make a big issue out of it. You might want to check out the thread at the top of this board about The Explosive Child. Hope this helps. SRL [/QUOTE]
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