Do you have more than one child with ADHD? How common is it in families?

[Plucky]

My 11 yos has ADHD. He has done wonderfully since medication and holding him back a grade. It's like night and day.

 

Now my youngest, a girl, in 4th grade is struggling. She is forgetful, has problems processing things, and thinking. Some of this is normal for her age, but there are other things that are not.

 

I think she may also have ADHD, but can't believe it. I never even believed in ADHD until it was pointed out to me by a psychologist about my son. My dh has adhd, too, and I suspect my dad and sister had it.

 

Anyone here have more than 1 child with adhd?

[Cortana]

ADHD is very common in families. My dh has adult ADD, our son w/autism also has ADHD symptoms, my brother has ADHD and his dd has ADHD, I've not been officially dx but believe I have it as well. I know several families that have more than 1 child with ADHD/ADD and additional family members with it as well.

 

So far we only have the 1 child that has been dx with the symptoms (autism and ADHD/ADD tend to go hand in hand, plus many ADHD symptoms are typical autism symptoms, too). Our dd is too young but we will be watching her closely.

[Misty]

Yes, if you have one child with ADHD or other related issues, then your other children will likely have similar issues.. Very common.

[elise1mds]

Definitely very common. One of the doctors I work for is a pediatric psychiatrist, and he is constantly seeing siblings. My MIL and two of her sons (thankfully not my husband, though my son has it) have it.

[MariannNOVA]

Very common. And, in multiples (twins, triplets) the child psychiatrist told me that if one has it, it's pretty much a given that they all do.

 

My twins have it.

[Plucky]

Thank you all. I did some reading that it is more common for siblings to have it. I scheduled an appt. with our pediatrician. She's been great handling ds's adhd. So time for an evaluation.

[ondreeuh]

Yes. Well, my youngest (2 years old!) is way too young to be diagnosed, but all signs point to it and it's only a matter of time. My MIL jokingly apologizes frequently. She has ADHD and passed it on to my husband, who is more ADD and copes really well. Our middle child (8 yrs old) is severely affected. In a nutshell, he is BANANAS. :lol: Thankfully medication works well for him and during the hours it is in effect, things are great.

 

We actually visited my BIL and SIL today. Their toddler is a little younger than Noel and very calm and shy. Noel was in full-on hyper mode and after the third time crashing into his cousin and making him cry, we had to leave :(

[Renee in NC]

It's the running joke in my family! Both of my parents are obviously ADD. My oldest ds is the only one officially diagnosed, but there are several others (including me!) with the same traits. We call it "having lots of squirrels in your life." Kind of like this:

 

The steps to finding the simple subject are to find the simple...hey, look! A squirrel!

 

:lol:

 

We deal with it with humor. What else can you do?

[ondreeuh]

we aren't having anymore because we know how much we can handle and we don't want to push our luck.

 

This is why there is a 6.5 year gap between my middle child and my youngest. It took me that long to recover from the unmedicated early years! I do think it is easier this time around though, because a) my oldest can watch the toddler while I go on errands, and b) I don't have any illusions of being able to take him to a restaurant or anywhere else he would need to sit still and stay quiet for any length of time.

[cillakat]

 

Anyone here have more than 1 child with adhd?

 

Four in our family; four have ADHD.

 

K

[TravelingChris]

Two kids diagnosed. I have it too. I do think that both my dh and my other kid have ADD without the H and mildly.