wondering about OCD

August 17, 2005

Mabel

Hello,

I have a 5 yr old son who has already been expelled from 2 schools. His only

diagnosis so far has been 'mild to moderate ADHD' and possible SID, but he does

not respond to any SID treatment, in fact he hates it and acts out if people do

it on him. For a while I thought it was Aspergers as I noted during the gym

classes only he and 2 aspergers children (out of about 50 kids in the class)

would be wandering off looking at springs or parts of objects while everyone

else actually did gym. He was assessed by a paediatrician and, although he fits

part B; preoccupation with certain objects, he doesn't fit part A - socially he

is normal, part A doesn't fit him at all, so he is not autistic or aspergers. I

can tell there is something different about him but can't find a diagnosis, and

therefore the specific treatment he needs. How many children spend most of the

week at a holiday park watching an elevator going up and down instead of joining

in the kids' games? When walking down the street he will often run off, and my

husband found out how to find him; find a line on the road and follow it! He

will also mow down anyone who gets in the way of the line, and this plus

aggression was the reason he was expelled from schools. Stirring things is

another one; he will ask for a cup of tea but rarely drink it, but stir it for

far longer than necessary while watching it. Converyer belts, power lines and

escalators are other preoccupations. He will be aggressive if moved from them

and tends to spend way too much energy and time looking at them, touching them

etc. Yesterday when returning from holiday, while at the airport, for example, I

had to restrain him for half an hour to stop him getting on the converyer belt

while my dh got our bags. He fought tooth and nail and wouldn't give up, let

alone listen to reason, for a whole half an hour (of course everyone was staring

at me), he was so determined to get to that conveyer belt. He seemed very hyped

up and excitable. All these behaviours seem to increase in intensity when he is

tired or stressed. He doesn't appear to do any of the classical OCD things like

hand washing etc, or have obsessive thoughts except 'trains', but I guess that

is normal for boys this age :-)

Can anyone help me shed light on what is going on with him? It couldn't 'just'

be the mild ADHD, surely? It may take a while to get into see a child

psychiatrist where I live.

Thanks

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