5Yr Old Behavior Concerns

A Nueropsychological evaluation with a psychiatric consult is one option, but you would need a speech evaluation and an Occupational therapy evaluation also, at the very least, and then you will have to guess how these two areas interface with the neuropsychological. I would suggest a Developmental Pediatrician. You can get all these things, and everything else he needs, all rolled into one evaluation, so you do not have to guess about anything and you know that you will not miss something. Call the nearest children's hospital and make an appointment. Many will likely tell you that the birth of your second is the cause, but I think that is only a complication to what is going on here.

M.

I'm sorry to hear of the worry you are experiencing:(

I might recommend talking with your pediatrician about a neuropsychology referral in your area. They can run some testing to determine if there are some things happening that can help him. It sounds like he might have some needs that you aren't aware of...nor am I aware of what those needs are or what to suggest beyond this.

What are your parents reporting back to you? The more information you can take with you to a specialist the better. If you'd like, I can check to see where a good neuropsychologist is in your area...let me know and I'd be more than happy to ask around:)

Best wishes:)

Just wanted to add that some of this might be related to adjusting to having a new sibling but the difficulty playing alone and staring at you for up to an hour concerns me and it sounds like it concerns you. Sorry again for the worries you are experiencing. We hate to see our babies, no matter what age, struggling. Hang in there and ask your pediatrician for that referral.

You could start by asking for help through the school system. They usually have ST, OT and developmental therapists on staff. If you son already gets speech, you could ask for a full evaluation to see if OT is appropriate. It is amazing some of the things teachers and therapists see in children that the parents don't. My son is 4 and has some similar behavior issues. He also was delayed in speech and I asked for a full evaluation just as a precaution. I was surprised by some of the results because he does act differently at school than home; also I am so used to his behavior that some things I didn't see as out of the norm. He is working with a wonderful OT now through preschool and it has helped. As for the developmental pediatrician Martha suggested, I have also been advised to find one. The trouble is they are hard to find. We are in northern IN and can either go to Indy or Ann Arbor, MI. With you being in Lafayette, you should be able to find one nearby through Riley. Good luck, it may be that this is just a phase of him adapting to your new child.

Martha gave some good advise. He may also benefit from some modified behavioral therapy which will help him learn independent play skills and teach him social rules in a way that works best for him. But before you jump into this, get him evaluated and start him on some ST and OT if possible.