Please Help. My 9 year old keeps zoning out/ADHD symptoms

Describe each physical complaint/associated set of symptoms in detail. Please include the following when doing this:

1. Appearance - appearance is normal, he’s considered normal for height and weight.
2. Sensation or pain – No pain reported
3. Situations/events/triggers for making it worse - allergies or colds make him worse
4. Situations/events/triggers for making it better - cutting back on snacks
5. Event that seemed to start the complaint - Turning 1 and starting to walk; he started having tantrums when he could not get his way.
6. Other sensory features – smell, sound, taste, tactile etc - all seems normal.

Make sure each complaint is done separately. Do not group them together. This is for physical complaints/diseases.


MENTAL STATE OF THE CHILD (IMPORTANT)

1. When the physical complaint is active, what is his/her emotional state like? What does he/she do? What does she/he want you to do? When he’s zoning out he is usually at a calm state. When he has issues with concentration, he is frustrated because he does not understand or want to do the work. He will cry and complain. He wants to just play and not take responsibility for his assignments.

2. Does he/she describe any unusual sensation or pain in the body, especially when they are complaining of something? No unusual sensations or pain reported

3. What fears does he/she have? How does she/he react? He fears dark rooms or being upstairs alone.

4. Was there any incident in the past that had a great impact? What happened at the time? Is there any ongoing reaction to this event? How does he/she talk about it? Disciplining him when he started with the tantrums may have had an impact. The spankings, instead or redirection, could have contributed or made it worse. Last few years, it mainly been talking to him or fussing when he does wrong. He does not talk about it.

5. Is there any story (book, fairytale, cartoon, movie etc) that seems to really resonate with her/him? What does he/she say about it? He loves the Lego movie, toys, and books. He loves to sit and play with small toys. He hates for any parts to get lost but he moves to different action figures every few years.

6. What kind of fantasies does she/he describe to you? How does this translate down into play, games, toys? Does he/she tend to draw particular things over and over? If so what are they? If you point to these images, what does she/he say about them? He does not describe fantasies to me, but he will play in his own word with his toys. He will make up fantasies and events while playing with them. I normally just listen or watch. He will play with the same group of toys or just one toy over and over. He likes to take them everywhere. If you point to his toys and ask about them, he will tell you all about the figure and what powers it has.

7. Does he/she describe any dreams or nightmares to you, and what are they? How does she/he react on waking from them? He rarely tells us about dreams. I don’t believe he has them much. He will have a nightmare every once and awhile. He will call us and let us know that he had a nightmare. The nightmares are usually about a monster or something he saw on a video or television. We normally tell him it’s okay and to go back to sleep. It usually ends there.

8. How is he/she when interacting with other children? What about sports or games? How about obeying rules or social conventions? He plays okay with others kids. He plays with his brother’s fine. He also seems to enjoy playing alone. He plays with others but he does not like to play very long. He obeys rules pretty well now. When he was younger he struggled with rules. He would throw fits if he could not have his way. He normally has one person, whom he considers his best friend. He plays sports well. He’s really good at soccer and football. He enjoys video games.

9. How is she/he when interacting with older people? Is there any difference between family or friends and strangers in terms of reactions and behavior? He is kind of shy when it comes to older people. When younger he did not really care for strangers. He seems to enjoy family, he’s friendly with strangers. He does not like being at other people’s home for too long. He enjoys the comforts of home.

10. What kind of activities does he/she enjoy doing? Which of these do she/he spend the most time at? He enjoys playing with his toys, watching videos on Youtube and his favorite television shows. He spends most of his time playing with his toys.

11. What qualities seem to make your child different from other children? He likes to get in his own world and he seems content with that. He’s more sensitive than my other kids. Feelings are easily hurt.

12. How does your child cope with school, school work, study, deadlines, speaking in front of others, following directions etc? He seems to not like school because of his attention issues. He hates doing homework. He always remembers when his school projects are due. He likes to do well on those and have them in on time. He does not care to speak in front of others. He has a hard time following directions on assignments if he can’t comprehend it. Or he will just do something on his assignment without reading the instructions. At home we have to tell him over and over again to do cleaning tasks at times.

13. What kind of questions does he/she tend to ask you or other adults? He will ask questions about animals,

14. What makes her/him laugh? What makes him/her cry? He laughs when he’s hanging out with his brothers watching funny shows and videos or just playing. He cries when he is irritated or if someone irritates him.

15. What makes him/her angry or irritable? He gets angry when he loses one of his favorite toys or he is restricted from doing things he likes to do. If we tell him to put his things away and do homework, he gets upset.

16. What does your child do when alone? When alone he’s plays with toys.

17. Is there a particular person or type of person that he/she reacts to, and what kind of reaction? He does get excited when dad comes home from work.


GENERAL STATE OF YOUR CHILD

1. What position does he/she sleep in? He sleeps on his back mostly.
2. Is there any position he/she seems unable to sleep in? No position that I can think of.
3. Any unusual behavior during sleep? No
4. Any problems with sleep? Lately he’s been falling asleep late, even after school and football practice.
5. What foods are craved (cravings are strong desires) What foods are hated? He love snack food and apples. He seems to hate vegetables.
6. What drinks are craved? What drinks are hated? He is a big water drinker. No known hated drinks.
7. How does he/she react when hungry, or hunger is prolonged? He will whine if he is hungry or get frustrated.
8. How does the weather affect? He does not seem to have issues with weather or changes.
9. How does the temperature affect? He does not like the extreme hot days.
10. Are there any other environmental influences negative or positive (season, noise, music, moon, light, dark, day, night, time, smells etc.) No problems with environmental influences. He likes certain songs.
11. Problems with stool or bowel habit? He’s always been pretty regular
Problems with urine or bladder habit? He urinates a lot and sometimes wets the bed. But lately bedwetting has not been a problem.
12. Where does he/she sweat most? Does it stain or smell unusual? He sweats the most on his head. No unusual smells.

PREGNANCY AND BIRTH

1. What kind of health problems occurred while you were pregnant with your child? No health problems during pregnancy

2. Were there any other stresses or traumas that occurred? I was stressed at times, due to transitioning from working mom to at home mom. There was some marital strain during that time as well.

3. Did the birth itself have any problems? The birth was difficult for the baby and a Caesarean Section was performed. The baby went into distress and it did not improve. Also, he did poop in the womb. He was taken to neo-natal care but doctors did not find anything serious due to delivery.

4. Do you remember if any symptoms occurred suddenly during pregnancy that then vanished after your child was born? Especially important are any emotional or mental changes during this time. No changes.

Sorry, about that, but yes, the problems listed are correct.

Thanks for your time.

Camphor has been ordered. I will provide results at end of 7 days.

Thanks for your time.

Hi, I gave my son the Camphor last Sunday. It has been 7 days. During that time, he did have more intense crying over small matters. His daydreaming has lessened in frequency and length of time.

Please advise if we should give him any more doses.

Thanks

Lack of concentration - Better 20%
Can't sit still - Same
Not completing/understanding assignments - Better 30%
Impulsive - Better 20%
Not understanding directions - Better 50%
Not retaining skills learned - Better 20%
Zoning out - Better 50%, they were less frequent and lasted less time.
Crying and complaining - Got worse 50%
Fear of the dark - Same
Fear of being alone - Same
Being in his own world - Same
Feelings easily hurt - Same
Speaking in front of others - Same
Angry when losing a toy - Same
Angry when restricted from doing things - Same

Falling asleep late - Worse 40%
Desire for apples - less/worse 50%
Aversion to vegetables - Same
Whining if hungry - Same
Sweating on head - Better 50%

The crying and complaining has gotten a better (50%). We noticed that lately he's acting a little more mature and is doing better completing his homework alone.
I forgot to mention his handwriting in my original post. It was below grade level and overnight it has changed. It is neat now. We praise him for it, to keep him motivated to keep it up.

I really appreciate your help with my son.