advice on children with speech problems possible ADHD

mandac10

took my son to a specialist yesterday he is 3. well he has a speech problem and possible ADHD the docs say hes to young to be sure, anyways im against meds i see them as a last resort. was wondering if anyone had advice about ways i can help him with his problems.
also he has an appointment monday with the preschool and they will be evoluating him to see if he quilifies to start there. in hawaii he can start preschool for free if he has special needs. i dont like the idea of him being so young n starting school... it may be pregnancy hoprmones but i keep loosing it n crying thinking of my little man being away from me and with strangers all day long! whos going to take care of him? what if he gets bullied by a fat mean kid? whos going to cut up his food?!
i almost lost coby when he was born n sense then i have been very protective and hardly spend any time away from him. i wouldnt even let him stay in my parents condo overnight when the where here and visited... am i a basketcase?!

nameless

my son has a speech problem too. ..i would do schooling especially if it free! my son 4 going on 5 in Dec and school starts he will be doing a program w/special ed at the closes elementary school..

juliek77

My son has an IEP based mainly on speech and language impairments and he started special education preschool when he was 3 1/2. I was super scared and worried at first especially since he took a bus to and from school every day. He loved it, loved the bus, and has benefitted so much from the early intervention. He is now 6 1/2 and going into 2nd grade in August (he started Kindergarten when he was 4 because of where his birthday falls). He is still in special ed 60% of the time but he mainstreams in regular classes 40% of the time. I was especially worried about him picked on or bullied but he has never experienced it. He has always been like the most popular little boy on campus in general. Literally everyone knows my son. He is very outgoing and curious so that may have something to do with it. He has also always been a little ladies man. When he eats lunch with the regular classes all the girls fight over who gets to sit with Charlie.

I am not really sure about the ADHD with a child so young. I don't know when they start testing for it. We are starting the testing for it when he goes back to school. His teachers and therapists all say that they are pretty sure that he has it but it is a matter of them filling out paperwork and tests for it and I am just not sure how early they will start doing that. I would ask your doctor about it and try the special ed preschool and see how it goes. They will have to do an IEP before he even starts (if they haven't done one already) to pinpoint where any kind of problem lies and how they will address it. Like I said, my sons IEP is mainly for SLI but he receives speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy all through the school.

Good luck!

[Deleted User]

I had speech therapy from kindergarten until my junior year of high school. I've went through every blend and letter in the alphabet. It was because I had ear infections while I was learning to talk. There are mean kids out there, but honestly I can't remember anything they said.
I don't know how to respond to the rest of the post but I wanted to share my story. I hope all goes well for you. .

vtmamajuju

My son is 3 and stutters. He just started speech therapy through the public school system this summer. We have already seen SO much improvement! Trust me, the earlier the better! You will be surprised how much the speech problems and ADHD go hand in hand. His actions, speech, and stressors all go together. Im glad we're starting early with our son so hopefully we can get it all taken care of before he's too old to be made fun of. Good luck! It will be okay Momma!

camommy

My son started at 3 for the same problems. It has helped a ton.

[Deleted User]

My son had speech problems, due to his ears. Got tubes in his ears and his speech corrected itself.

I am adhd. Have been forever. My behavior wasn't an issue though, it was my attention span and the ability to focus long enough to grasp what my teachers were teaching. I started the meds and my life has been ALOT easier.

Things you can try to avoid medication is changing his diet - no sugar or red- #40, play lots of memory games with him to train his brain to concentrate to find the matching card or whatnot, PATIENCE. I cant express that enough. My teachers nor my parents had patience, hence the meds ... if you TRULY want to avoid the med route, and he is truly ADHD and not just an active lil boy, you will need to muster up all the patience you have and remember, its not his fault and he needs help to control it

mandac10

Any of u know what types of food red# 40 is typically in? I've seen u ladies mention that in more then one comment. I know to check lables but just curious what it is normally in.

mandac10

Thank you for the link