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Hi, I have a 5 year old.boy who is so difficult to.manage. Im.wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what I could.look into.

Since he.was 7 months old I have been.saying to professionals that.something.isn't right.with.him. He was always difficult before this and would constantly moan going huuuuu huuuuu huuuuu all the time no matter what we did. From 7 months he would scream high pitched randomly and we could never settle him.

Aged 2 he only said 2 words and I had a huge battle to get him into speech therapy type sessions at sure start. When we did get in he was referred to proper speech therapy. I tried to start him at nursery at 2 & a half but he put up that much of a performance I gave up until he'd turned 3 & went one session a week building up to 15hrs at 3& a half. We also had a nursery nurse support worker but that was stopped when he went pre school.

He's hit teachers in school, he has hurt other children although.I have to say usually unintentionally. Example he went to.kick his football and kicked another child in the face who'd gone to pick it up as its like he's blinkered and.only sees the ball. He can be clumsy, he can be very hyper bouncing on.my.couches always.on the go. He.lacks an understanding.of.boundaries, you tell him not.to.do.something.and why.and he.just.does.it anyway. Send him to his room and he'll come out goading you.


He can be over affectionate, yesterday he saw one of his classmates and repeatedly hugged and.kissed him to the.point of the other boy who.is very docile becoming fed up.and.pushing him away. His sleep is poor, he always ends up with.me after he finally goes off about 11pm then he's up between 7-8am

His.mood.flips like a switch so I avoid going places a lot as he's so unpredictable. Things like crowds clearly set him off and change ie non uniform day provoked a huge meltdown and I couldn't get him out the.door.so gave up as he'd likely hit someone.


His.sister seems.to be his.punchbag, she's.4 but we have absolutely no issues with her or my eldest. At the.moment he's stood next to.me saying he's going to break his fingers.


His birth was difficult.and he.was ventouse. He.has a known reaction to aspartame and a speech.and.social development delay. He does line things.up and has done since he could.move.

The pediatrician discounted AS because he's affectionate (i know!) & the.speech.delay but something is.not right with him and I want.to help him but he's getting a reputation in school so hardly ever gets invites.

I have a formal Dx of.aspergers and adhd but I dont think he quite fits either.

Any ideas. Im really.at my.wits.end.with.lack.of.sleep!

Welcome, it sounds like you've come to the right place. I pulled out the above comment because I wanted to let you know that every kiddo has different characteristics, some might meet several of the DSM criteria and some might only meet a few. I think it is especially difficult to tell at the age of 5 because it is still hard to say what is just typical little kid behavior and what is actually part of his disability. So, I wouldn't worry so much about how well the diagnosis fits as just finding what works for him and you.

For sleep, several folks here use melatonin though I believe this is recommended for short term use not for extended time periods. We have used it, but my son is extremely sensitive to it. I gave him 1/2 mg sub-lingual and it put him right out. The only problem is that is can have a side effect of irritability the next day for some folks and my DS is one of those. We are now using Calms Forte for kids which is a really mild herbal calming remedy. Do you have a set bedtime routine? If not that is probably the first place to start.

IMHO the over-affectionate behavior with peers is due to a lack of understanding about how to appropriately interact with other kids and perhaps some serious anxiety about it as well. We had a stint last year where DS was kissing all the kids in his kindergarten class even when they told him directly that they did not want him to do that. It took a while to stop that one.

Where are you located? Do you have respite care available to you?

As far as changing routine and him getting upset in crowds, a visual schedule can help a lot of kids if you aren't already doing that. The school should be doing one. One common recommendation is to allow them their routine most of the time and strategically introduce new things one at a time. Plan the introduction of something new well ahead of time, warn him about it then follow through. If its a trip to the shopping mall or something like that, plan on just spending a short amount of time so he doesn't get too overwhelmed and will be willing to try it again.

Anyway, that's what I've got at the moment, read here and visit the Recommended Reading stickie at the top of the forum. There is a lot of good stuf there.

Sorry just to clarify I myself have as/adhd. Son.has no diagnosis except.speech.and.social delay