What does OCD look like in a 7yo?

[Jennefer@SSA]

We know that our ds7 has very severe ADHD and mild to moderate sensory issues. There is lots of spectrum disorder "stuff" going on and we are in the process of getting him tested (been on waiting list to get tested for 5 months now). All that just for background.

 

What is driving me crazy is how he just HAS to do something that enters his mind. No matter what, if it crosses his mind it's like he is powerless to stop it. Most people just think he is out of control and/or defiant but I know that is not the case. Still though it is making me nuts.

 

He does things like stick his hand in his drink and then stick his hand in his mouth. He knows this is impolite and germy and every time he does it now, he gets his drink removed until after he is finished eating. Yet he does it at almost every meal. He knows I hate to be tickled, yet at least 2x a day when he reaches out to hug me, it ends with a tickle. I could give a million more examples like this - it goes on all the time and all day long. I keep hoping that with loving and consistent discipline he will get the idea but it's not working!!!!!

 

Dh mentioned tonight that he wondered what OCD might look like in a child. Could the reason he can't stop his behavior be due to this. I know it can be a characteristic of ADHD as well but this is so far beyond "normal" (if there can be any such thing) ADHD it's not even funny.

 

I would appreciate any advice or help anyone has. I have read up on OCD in children on the web but there is nothing like hearing from moms who have been there and done that.

[Damselfly]

Jennefer~ I just had to write when I read your post. We are going through a very similar time with our DS5. As of yet, he has not "officially" been diagnosed with ADHD, but at his appointment last month his doctor (who has known us since DS's birth and has referred us to many a specialist) gave me a handful of information pamphlets regarding ADHD and basically told me to "be prepared" for the diagnosis.

 

ANYWAY, I am also wondering about my DS and OCD. Two years ago he went to a neurologist because we were concerned that he may have Tourette Syndrome. That doctor said it was most likely 'transient tics of childhood' (blinking, clearing throat, licking fingers, touching upper lip). As the years have passed, what used to seem like tics has since morphed into what seems like OCD behaviors. Most recently (as in, right now) he has to touch every corner he sees. Tables, books (while I'm reading aloud), the tv stand, etc. He is also extremely intense, strong willed and one-track-minded. Like your son, if he gets something in his mind, it HAS to be done. Immediately. His doctor passed it off as lack of impulse control. I feel as though it may be more than that, but it all gets very muddled when it comes to ADHD/Tourettes/OCD/ODD.

 

I have no advice, but wanted to know you are not alone. It's very exhausting and frustrating at times, isn't it?? :confused:

[Pam H]

My ds9, one that I don't post about here :confused:, has very OCD-like symptoms. They are, as of now, not very noticable to anybody else. His quirks are walking by somebody on the correct side, knowing what time it is all the time and saying something twice. The last one drives my dh crazy; I guess I just tone it all out. He would never qualify for ADHD, maybe Aspergers. He is very one-track minded. He is kind of socially naive, but a favorite.

 

ETA: The repeating thing is not like echolalia (sp?) it's more like saying it twice in different ways.

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

OCD in Children

[Geo]

It may be possible that it is an "Asperger" or "PDD" type trait and not OCD, specifically. My son is also ADHD and is showing signs of of Asperger/PDD type behaviors (loud speech, clumsy, difficulty with handwriting,VERY easily frustrated-leading to outbursts, etc). The behaviors have always been there, I am just becoming more informed. I have not yet taken the step toward testing, for no other reason than fear and grief. Anyway, there are AS behaviors that may seem at first to be OCD but are not, or he may have OCD as a

co-morbid to the ADHD or AS. I've read alot about these but I am struggling emotionally with what it all means. I'm getting sad now, I must go.

 

Geo

[Laurie]

You might want to read Change Your Brain Change Your Life by Daniel Amen MD.

 

PBS just had a program featuring Dr. Amen. He's a psychiatrist and has many of years of clinical experience with adults and children with ADD, etc. His approach to behavioral and emotional problems is to first find out if/where there's an area of the brain that is dysfunctional and correct that. His book includes information on drug therapies, but also other things like how diet can influence mood. Some people (like those with OCD's) might need more serotonin (from simple carbs) to calm overactive areas of their brain, while those with ADD might need less because their brains need to be stimulated, not quieted. He describes how the right foods and other things like exercise and music can help with mood and behavior issues.

 

I'm trying some of his recommendations with my dc (both have autism spectrum disorders, but one has some OCD symptoms while the other has more ADD behaviors). For example, I'm boosting the carbs to see if that helps with the mild OCD's, and for my other child I'm cutting back on the carbs and boosting protein to see if that helps with focus.

 

Anyway, I thought the tv show and the book had a lot of good information and suggestions about diet, etc. that would be easy to try.

[Misty]

My 7yo daughter has OCD. She's not been diagnosed, but her older sister has. All 3 of my daughters are in the "syndrome mix". My oldest daughter (10yo) has Tourette's, OCD, and I believe ADD. She also has Synesthesia, which is more of a phenomenon than a condition. Oh, she also has a gifted IQ, so we have a nice mix of neurological craziness going on here. My 7yo daughter has OCD, but she has not yet seen a doctor for this simply because there is nothing that a diagnosis would do for us at this point. She counts everything and everything has to *feel* even for her... For example, if she bumps her leg on the couch, she has to turn around, go back, and bump her other leg in exactly the same way.

 

What you have described sounds more like impulse control, which would be more on the ADHD side of things. That's not to say that he doesn't have OCD (he very well could). People with OCD have rituals or obsessions. For example, all of my girls have had a spitting obsession at some point. My 7yo was doing it about two years ago. She obsessed that there was dirt (or something) in her mouth so she constantly had to spit and would spit into her shirt. My 10yo currently has a spitting obsession when she's outside. She argues that it's a tic from her Tourette's, but I know it's an obsession because she only does it outside. She CONSTANTLY spits while she is outside because she feels like there is something in her mouth (bugs, dirt, etc.) so she refuses to swallow her saliva. I did the same thing when I was a kid, so I know exactly why she does it! Another example would be what Shannon (damselfly) described with her son.. The way he has to touch every corner he sees. That is DEFINITELY an OCD thing. I saw on tv an OCD patient who touched every corner she saw because she felt that if she didn't then her mother would die. This was on True Life (an MTV show).

 

So that's what OCD looks like in our house!

Hope this helps!

~Misty

3 girls & 1 boy

[Jennefer@SSA]

I wrote this long reply the other day and then somehow lost it. Sigh! I am just now getting back on to respond. Currently we are only treating the ADHD with Omega Britz and the GFCF diet. We have seen very little results with either. We will most likely continue the fish oil but after another month of so, we will most likely reintroduce wheat and dairy. I guess at that time we'll truly see how much, if any, the diet helped. My thought is that even if it has helped a tiny bit, it's not enough to justify the cost, time and effort it takes to maintain such a specialized diet. I was truly hoping it would be our "magic pill" I am probably naive to hope one existed.

 

We did meds from the time he was 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 but the side effects became too severe. At the time he weighed so little so our options were very limited in what meds they would allow us to try. We are seriously considering trying meds again. His lack of impulse control could be due to simply ADHD but it makes us wonder since it is soooo severe. Much beyond anything I ever saw in 7 years teaching ps and having a special ed degree. Much beyond.

 

I like your word picture of "peeling away the layers". I may borrow that if you do not mind. It really is what it feels like but I have never heard it described that way.

 

Thanks for your input. :)

[Jennefer@SSA]

Thank you for sharing and you are so right that it truly is exhausting and frustrating. It's good to know you are not alone!

[Jennefer@SSA]

Oh my gosh, ds7 does that exact same thing where he says the same thing repeatedly but in different ways. It is a hoot but can get really annoying at times, too. I have never heard anyone else do this. I guess when I stop to think he has a lot of those tendencies. Is that just the autism causing him to fixate on certain behaviors/things of OCD and where is that line?

 

My son is also very socially naive. He cannot figure people out, though he really wants friends. He just can't make it happen- with any amount of support even.

 

Anyway, thanks for your comments. It's been so helpful to read all the responses.

[Jennefer@SSA]

Geo,

 

I am sorry you got sad. I know how you feel though. It get sad a lot. Sad for ds and how hard he has to work to do things that come so easily to others, sad for my other boys who lose so much mommy time b/c their older brother has such great needs and honestly (no tomato throwing please!) sad for my lost dreams of the family I might of had. I get envious of friends who seem to have it so much easier. Not productive thinking at all, I know. It's just where I go on hard days.

 

Thanks for sharing and for you (((((((Geo)))))))!

[Jennefer@SSA]

Mommy2BeautifulGirls,

 

Thanks for the link!

 

Cadam and Laurie,

 

Thanks for the book recommendations! I will add them to my summer reading list for sure!!

[Jennefer@SSA]

We saw that same show on MTV. Dh saw a lot of himself in some of those kids. He is not OCD but he realized that he had a lot of those characteristics. The balance thing is one that he really identified with for sure. That is what got us thinking along those lines in the first place. I myself most likely have ADHD - or at least did as a child - and dh has all these OCD tendencies. No wonder our son is struggling. Lol!

 

Our ds has more of the obsessions than the rituals for sure. Once he gets onto something it's all he thinks or talks about. It started when he was a baby when we think back. He was obsessed with lights and would stare at them all day. He would cry if we turned them off. Then it was keys. He had to have keys with him at all times or he would go nuts! It moved onto matchbox cars and automatic doors.

 

The more I read, the more I think he just has OCD tendencies but not full-blown OCD. I am eager to get to the Developmental Pedi and see what they think. Thanks for sharing your experience.