Hi, It's Susan here from ADDitude. We published a comprehensive article on this topic which you can read here: http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/2488.html. The bottom line is that, although most physicians view ADHD as a disorder of school-age children, it can be diagnosed at earlier ages by skilled practitioners--the distinguishing characteristics are usually extreme behavior....it's an interesting topic and please share your experiences with the board. Many readers would like to know more. Best Susan

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Hi there:

As you work toward a diagnosis for your daughter, I thought you should also know that the American Psychological Association recommends behavior therapy as the first line of ADHD treatment for children under 5. Behavior therapy is something you can try at home right now - no doctor diagnosis or supervision needed - and it could yield some nice results over the summer.

The basic premise of behavior therapy is:

1. Choose an achievable, not-too-big goal for your child (i.e eating and sitting well-behaved at the dinner table each night)

2. Define metrics for success (i.e. 20 minutes without getting up from the table; 75% of food eaten)

3. Track her progress on a chart each day and reward her immediately with a predefined set of "carrots" that mean a lot to her (i.e. If she lasts 15 minutes and eats 50% of her food, she gets to watch 15 extra minutes of TV / if she lasts longer, she gets 30 minutes / etc.) Ignore bad behavior. In the case of horrible behavior, she loses privileges (no dessert; no play time after dinner)

4. Expand your list of target behaviors and rewards as she begins to improve and get her school in on the act - tracking and rewarding target behavior when she's not with you

ADDitude has some great articles about behavior therapy that could help you set up a system... http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/3577.html

http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/860.html

http://www.additudemag.com/adhd/article/1563.html

I hope this helps!

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