Undiagnosed ADHD for Teen

[Anonymous]

DD is 15 and she's struggling. She does fine enough to keep As and Bs but it's a HUGE struggle. All the symptoms of ADHD is there. I feel like a failure not having done an eval before.

I called Children's and there's a year+ waiting list and the price tag is $5,500 for the eval.

For those that have navigated this..

1) Are there better options to have an eval done? Are there specific places?
2) Does insurance ever cover this?
3) Do I do one via the school?
4) For parents with kids with similar issues, have you medicated? Experience?

[Anonymous]

You can take her to a psychiatrist and get meds. Eval can be done later or never, depending on how she reacts to meds.

[Anonymous]

UMD has a clinic for their doctoral students that is supervised by psychologists & offers testing for much less (about $1500 I think). I don't know how long the wait is, but I have heard good things about it. Our Dr. recommended it and said they do good work (she has seen & evaluated their reports). We didn't go with them because we found someone who could see us sooner and was closer to our house.

https://psyc.umd.edu/clinics/clin-psychology-clinic

[Anonymous]

Also, you can get a neuropsych eval much sooner than a year through a private practice like Georgetown Psychological Associates, Wake Kendall Group, Stixrud Associates, etc but these will run you about $5k too. You have to ask your insurance company if they cover any of it. My guess is no (ours doesn't). We might get a small percentage back after submitting, but it's out of network.

[Anonymous]

First of all you can probably get an initial diagnosis from the pediatrician who can prescribe meds. Yes it is a good idea to get the evaluation and perhaps work with a psychiatrist but it's not necessary right away.

Keep calling around but do not wait for treatment. We've had two pediatricians and I have two kids with ADHD. They were both prescribed meds to get started.

I'd suggest starting meds on a weekend so you have a feel for side effects. Methylphenidate, for example, doesn't work that well for my teenager and coming off of it is a total nightmare in terms of being emotional and uncomfortable. I don't want any side effects to surface at school so we only try new meds on weekends and vacations.

It's a long shot, but have you tried to get it covered by insurance? If you call, they might be able to recommend someone in network

[Anonymous]

We went to StixRud and got in within 8 weeks (they just hired an additional psychologist who is fantastic and waitlist shortened). We are so thankful we did this because we learned it was more than just ADHD and the testing was incredibly thorough.

[Anonymous]

I took my DD back to my home state to be evaluated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I took my DD back to my home state to be evaluated.

How is this remotely helpful?

[Anonymous]

Like others have said you really don’t need a neuropsych to diagnose adhd. A pediatrician, therapist or psychiatrist can do it. If there are other things you want to explore like you think you might e missing something else going on then the full eval can be helpful. It’s usually nice but also not always necessary.

Also recommend looking and posting in the special needs board if you need more ideas, it’s usually a very helpful place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like others have said you really don’t need a neuropsych to diagnose adhd. A pediatrician, therapist or psychiatrist can do it. If there are other things you want to explore like you think you might e missing something else going on then the full eval can be helpful. It’s usually nice but also not always necessary.

Also recommend looking and posting in the special needs board if you need more ideas, it’s usually a very helpful place.

You don't true, but there's a difference between medical treatment and therapeutic treatment. You are going to work differently with a child with ADHD and slow processing vs one with high processing but separate issues creating the inattentiveness. e.g. My kid does not need more time for tests but they have a very difficult time taking notes (anything auditory vs written). To have the most effective treatment to teach your child the tools they need to funtion best for their particular situation, I highly suggest the neuropsych.

[Anonymous]

We spent the money, got the medication. Seriously life improving (it's not just grades). Feel like crap for not realizing it sooner, but there were intervening reasons for that. DS has a lot of catching up to do now, socially, developmentally, and a bit academically.

[Anonymous]

Child’s therapist did ours. It was a few hundred dollars. Places charging $5,000 are nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I took my DD back to my home state to be evaluated.

How is this remotely helpful?

Aren’t you lovely?

The point is that OP doesn’t necessarily need to have the evaluation locally. There are other options, especially if she or her spouse has connections to another area. The two places I called in Boston were able to get her in the same week. OP can also research other areas and travel. I’d find a long weekend trip preferable to waiting a year. Perhaps you’re different. You might be one of those people who enjoy being miserable!

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks for your help!

Anonymous wrote:Like others have said you really don’t need a neuropsych to diagnose adhd. A pediatrician, therapist or psychiatrist can do it. If there are other things you want to explore like you think you might e missing something else going on then the full eval can be helpful. It’s usually nice but also not always necessary.

Also recommend looking and posting in the special needs board if you need more ideas, it’s usually a very helpful place.

Eh, that's debatable. Teachers, therapists, pediatricians MAY have ability to say a kid might have ADHD, but a neuropsych eval is the way to go in order to do it by the book. IMO.

Anonymous wrote:You can take her to a psychiatrist and get meds. Eval can be done later or never, depending on how she reacts to meds.

This is what I'm leaning towards. I've read this is the goto appraoch especially given psyschs are the ones who can understand brand, dosing, etc.

[Anonymous]

The Chesapeake Center has a specific specialty in treating ADHD in girls and has been great with my same-age DD.