6 Yo Son with Adhd and Is Also High Functiong Autism

I can't speak to the ADHD, but a great blog I found just in general re. autism is adiaryofamom.wordpress.com. Very supportive, all about inclusion, etc., and you can ask questions on their "support page". I have a 6 year old on the spectrum also. Feel free to PM me for more autism supportive info :)

We put my grandson on Ritalin at age 5. He needed it. The psychiatrist refused to write the prescription until we had a professional evaluate him and determine the diagnosis of ADHD. We had a psychologist do one eval, the ABC clinic at OU Health Science Center, and we had the psychiatrist do her own questionnaire. Every group came up with very similar answers.

We started him off with half a pill of the lowest possible dose. He did so extremely well with that dose! We added 1/2 pill at noon in a couple of weeks. It made a huge difference in his afternoon performance in kindergarten.

In first grade we have upped the dose to a whole pill of a morning and still half at noon. By the time he comes home the meds are completely out of his system.

This is one thing we entirely like about Ritalin. It does NOT stay in their system, it does NOT build up. It is completely gone in a few hours. I like that. We don't have to worry about side effects or dangerous levels of anything. He's completely med free at about 3 1/2 hours.

I think if you've had a professional that is QUALIFIED to diagnose this brain issue then you've done the right thing. Many times a family will have their pediatrician do the eval and in my opinion they are not qualified to diagnose this.

It's like this. If you have a heart condition that needs medical treatment for years to come would YOU go to an OB/GYN for your heart condition? Or would you seek out a great Cardiologist? You'd probably go to the heart doc. Most of us would. Could the OB/GYN determine there was an issue with your heart? Of course they could. BUT would they know ALL the current methods of treatment? No, would the OB/GYN know how to surgically repair any heart issues? No, only the Cardiologist would be qualified to provide that care.

So I trust a doctor who's main job is to prescribe medication for brain issues.

Start him off on the absolute lowest dose possible. See how it effects him, have the teacher keep a log of any possible side effects too. She may see more since he'd be taking the meds for the school day.

My son is also 6 (almost 7 now), but he started taking Concerta last year in Kindergarten at age 6. He also has ADHD and high functioning Autism. The Concerta made a huge difference! His academic performance improved a lot! However, he currently does not take it anymore now in 1st grade. His teacher said she thinks he can get away with not taking it this year. The difference between last year and now is that now, he eats gluten free, and I take him to the chiropractor for adjustments and acupressure. I don't know if eating GF and going to the chiropractor has helped any, but I am happy that he does not need to be on his meds this year. Next year in 2nd grade, who knows! You may want to try a gluten free diet (and possibly casein free too, but I know how hard that is) to see if it helps (I heard it can help - every kid is different). My son was GFCF (gluten free casein free) for 3 whole months. I was very strict with it. I also did it to see if his behavior improved. It did not, so I let him eat dairy again (and he is very thankful for that)! I would go ahead and allow your son to get on meds, since it will help him in school. You don't want him to fall behind. Good luck!

My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD the month before her 7th birthday. We chose to try the lowest dose (5mg) of adderall. It worked wonders! We noticed a dramatic difference the first day. She only takes it on school days. With stimulant meds, you can take "med holidays" like that. Also, the stimulants don't need time to build up in your system before they start to work and they leave the body quickly. Do I wish my daughter didn't have to take meds? Absolutely. But, at this point they are the best course of action for her.

I agree 6 is young, but others obviously do put kids on meds this age and even younger. I have two kids on the spectrum, and both diagnosed with ADHD as well. My son is 6 and my daughter is 8. We decided to go the no meds route and use wrap around services instead to teach them how to cope without meds and learn techniques to focus and deal with what their brain brains perceive as distractions. I have to say from what I have read, meds can be a quick and easy fix and it works for lots of kids. My issue with it is, that I was afraid my kids would not be able to function without the meds and would have a hard time learning to cope with this issue when they were older. It is easier for kids to learn to new coping strategies when they are young. So I opted for no meds. It is probably a more challenging road to take as the symptoms do not disappear like they can with meds, but with time, they slowly get better. My daughter can focus much better now, and is doing pretty well, but is still learning. My son is learning new strategies all the time as well, but he is definitely not as far along as my daughter. He still has problems with school which we are working on, but we found a fidget toy really, really helps him stay focused and not be disruptive. The services can either be at home or in the school wherever the kids have more problems, or can be both places if you want. It is just another option, and I would recommend it even if you decide to use meds. But I wanted to put out another option for you in case you want to try something else, or put off meds for a few years.

My son is 8 now, but we put him on ritalin, then concerta last year when he was 7. He also has high functioning autism. Concerta made all the difference in the world. Before he was on meds, he would get up in the middle of class and go to a place in the room and play/read books. Now he can focus more on his work and he is getting things done. This med is not a magic bullet, but it definitely helped him focus and stay out of trouble at school. The only side effect we see is his problems sleeping, which was solved with 1mg tabs of melatonin (a natural supplement)

How did you find someone that would see your kid so YOUNG? I started the diagnosis for my son when he was 8, and most of the psychologists I called and talked to wouldn't see him, said he was too young.

ANyway, he's 10 now and has been on the generic of Concerta for about a year now. There have been some fluctuations in his appetite, especially at first, but now everything seems to have settled down into a routine. He does well on it. It really helps him during school hours, the last couple of hours before bed can sometimes be a headache, but I'm ok with that.

He was diagnosed with Asperger's (now Autism Spectrum) and ADHD a little over a year ago.

Six actually isn't young, although I'm sure it feels that way. Our son started medication at four. He has extreme ADHD-combined type. Day one on Ritalin was "wow!" He had the same personality, same spunk, but normal behavior. It meant he could go to preschool again, it was so transformative.

At 10, he's on long-acting Ritalin, Concerta. It's no cure-all, but it has allowed him to thrive at school. He even made Principal's List last year for perfect grades. There is absolutely no way he could have done that without medication. The big side effect with stimulants is a loss of appetite, but I can tell you that we got our son through an eating disorder while continuing on Concerta, so it's not always a deal breaker.

It's an agonizing decision to make and no parent takes it lightly. We've had to try virtually all of the ADHD meds over time because what works great for a period of time doesn't always stay that way. It can take a lot of trial and error, so understand the first medication may not be a match.

A couple of resources for more information on ADHD: ADDitude magazine and CHADD, the association for families dealing with ADHD. Both have reliable information.

And just a heads-up that messages about ADHD on general boards like this one tend to bring out the "I think kids are overmedicated" and "You can magically cure your child's ADHD with diet/vitamins/exercise only/detoxing your house" folks. There's an active ADHD board on Facebook that may help you reach the right people.

Good luck! Hope the first medication try is a good match.