How much do the tests cost?

[Anonymous]

We paid $2500 at Mindwell Psychology for a full psych-ed eval. If I had to do it over again, I'd go somewhere else and make sure they are responsive to follow up questions. Once they had my money, that was the end of it -- I wish the price included more than the one hour explain-the-report session as there are so many questions that come up afterward. So now I have this expensive report that the school disregards and no one to turn to to figure out what to do next.

[Anonymous]

In order to diagnose ADHD, is a psychologist the one to go to or a developmental pediatrician?

[Anonymous]

It is my understanding that a lot of people can diagnose -- even your plain old pediatrician. When our psychologist did it, all she did was have us fill out a checklist and also gave one to teacher. Teacher's results looked nothing like mine, and therefore no diagnosis.

I would go to someone who specializes in ADHD -- it is not an exact science -- and not someone who just realizes on the Connor Scale checklist.

Something else to consider -- the middle school told me that they would only accept an ADHD diagnosis from a medical doctor, not a psychologist -- and they recommended seeing the pediatrician to get it the quickest,.

[Anonymous]

You need to check with your insurance company. Every plan is different and it also depends on what your company decides to include in the plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is my understanding that a lot of people can diagnose -- even your plain old pediatrician. When our psychologist did it, all she did was have us fill out a checklist and also gave one to teacher. Teacher's results looked nothing like mine, and therefore no diagnosis.

I would go to someone who specializes in ADHD -- it is not an exact science -- and not someone who just realizes on the Connor Scale checklist.

Something else to consider -- the middle school told me that they would only accept an ADHD diagnosis from a medical doctor, not a psychologist -- and they recommended seeing the pediatrician to get it the quickest,.

This is true that they will only accept a note from a doctor for ADHD. But we had to see a psychologist for all of the tests -- our pediatrician than based their note to FCPS on the results of the psychologist.

[Anonymous]

18:56

We had some testing and therapy done at Mindwell and we really liked them. Maybe it depends on who you get just like at Stixrud's group.

[Anonymous]

If you are having issues with the school following through with recommendations and/or if you have follow up questions, I'd strongly recommend you contact your evaluator. Sometimes it helps to have that individual attend an IEP. Did you try to follow up? My experience is that Mindwell is available if you contact them.

[Anonymous]

I had a really good experience with MindWell- they were around 2500, but I wanted emotional testing along with educational testing. They were great. The psychologist we worked with observed my son in school which made all the difference. A lot of money, but worth it because we totally figured out what the learning disability was. The school testing just called it a "specific LD" but actually it was a very specific type of dyslexia and we got specific recommendations for programs to use. The school refuses to use the dyslexia label which makes no sense. But that's another story.

[Anonymous]

Make sure that the testing isn't just for ADHD but also includes other LD's and even emotional issues. ADHD is way over diagnosed!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make sure that the testing isn't just for ADHD but also includes other LD's and even emotional issues. ADHD is way over diagnosed!

It is incorrect to say that ADHD is over-diagnosed. It may be mis-diagnosed but it is not over-diagnosed.

[Anonymous]

Stixrud when DD was nine. Cost $3000 and insurance pad almost half. (That was Aetna PPO)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is my understanding that a lot of people can diagnose -- even your plain old pediatrician. When our psychologist did it, all she did was have us fill out a checklist and also gave one to teacher. Teacher's results looked nothing like mine, and therefore no diagnosis.

I would go to someone who specializes in ADHD -- it is not an exact science -- and not someone who just realizes on the Connor Scale checklist.

Something else to consider -- the middle school told me that they would only accept an ADHD diagnosis from a medical doctor, not a psychologist -- and they recommended seeing the pediatrician to get it the quickest,.

This is true that they will only accept a note from a doctor for ADHD. But we had to see a psychologist for all of the tests -- our pediatrician than based their note to FCPS on the results of the psychologist.

Our school accepted the report from the neuropsychologist at Stixrud and our DD got a 504.

[Anonymous]

I paid $3600 and got a 35 page report. I do not regret it.