Dr. Dahlgren and WISC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I took DS to GMU for WISC last year and didn't like it. Now I'm looking around to take DD somewhere else for WISC but not sure what to do. One friend got recommendation for Dr. Dahlgren and liked her for her DD. This led to 3 others going to Dr. Dahlgren. So at this point, she's all I know and that's what my friends are doing, and they seem ok with her more or less. But then I come to this forum and read such negative reviews about Dr. Dahlgren and feel stumped. With such a high price, I don't want sometimes ok and sometimes not. I'm also wondering if she's better with certain personalities, as all of my friends' kids have different personalities as DD. I want to get a really good tester who can make my very quiet and shy DD comfortable and not so rushed. Any recommendation would be appreciated.

I think this might be it and I think she must be a Gemini. One minute she acts A, another she acts B. I think it's a mix of the types of personalities she clicks with and the fact that she is 2 personalities. I too went to her because I heard really good things about her. I did not like her. She put me in a panic over DS and ADHD. Went somewhere else for full psychoeducational evaluation. No ADHD. No LDs. I feel like I wasted my money with her.

This too. It seems like she has suggested ADHD to nearly every kid I have heard of that she tests. Some of these kids did get ADHD diagnoses, but some, like my DC, did not-- and we wasted several thousand dollars having her do the testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I took DS to GMU for WISC last year and didn't like it. Now I'm looking around to take DD somewhere else for WISC but not sure what to do. One friend got recommendation for Dr. Dahlgren and liked her for her DD. This led to 3 others going to Dr. Dahlgren. So at this point, she's all I know and that's what my friends are doing, and they seem ok with her more or less. But then I come to this forum and read such negative reviews about Dr. Dahlgren and feel stumped. With such a high price, I don't want sometimes ok and sometimes not. I'm also wondering if she's better with certain personalities, as all of my friends' kids have different personalities as DD. I want to get a really good tester who can make my very quiet and shy DD comfortable and not so rushed. Any recommendation would be appreciated.

I think this might be it and I think she must be a Gemini. One minute she acts A, another she acts B. I think it's a mix of the types of personalities she clicks with and the fact that she is 2 personalities. I too went to her because I heard really good things about her. I did not like her. She put me in a panic over DS and ADHD. Went somewhere else for full psychoeducational evaluation. No ADHD. No LDs. I feel like I wasted my money with her.

This too. It seems like she has suggested ADHD to nearly every kid I have heard of that she tests. Some of these kids did get ADHD diagnoses, but some, like my DC, did not-- and we wasted several thousand dollars having her do the testing.

I know of 4 kids who've gone to her and she suggested that all 4 had ADHD.

[Anonymous]

She suggests ADHD to soften the blow when the test scores aren't as high as parents hoped.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She suggests ADHD to soften the blow when the test scores aren't as high as parents hoped.

That's not it in our case. She suggested ADHD, and DC's WISC was high enough that they easily placed into AAP. ADHD diagnosis did not pan out.

[Anonymous]

She tested my ds. He was already in AAP, but was not being challenged. He liked her and said that the test was fun. He tested extremely high, and she made no mention of ADHD or other issues and actually complemented his focus and social skills. The only thing she was off on, was that she said that a private school would not be able to accommodate a child at my ds's level and that he needed to stay in AAP or be homeschooled. He is way too social for homeschooling and is now thriving at a private with small class sizes and individualized work.

[Anonymous]

She's tested 2 of my kids and she was on time and the report was on time. She was also helpful in how to refer to AAP. She tends to make a big deal out of potential issues, including ADHD. I think she's actually teasing out issues that do exist but overstating their severity. So basically if you use her I would just take anything she says about LDs or ADD with a grain of salt. I have a number of friends who used her as well with similar experiences. My kids thought she was fine, but they are very compliant and calm. I could see her seeming annoyed with kids that are more fidgety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She tested my ds. He was already in AAP, but was not being challenged. He liked her and said that the test was fun. He tested extremely high, and she made no mention of ADHD or other issues and actually complemented his focus and social skills. The only thing she was off on, was that she said that a private school would not be able to accommodate a child at my ds's level and that he needed to stay in AAP or be homeschooled. He is way too social for homeschooling and is now thriving at a private with small class sizes and individualized work.

Which private school? Please share. Thanks!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She suggests ADHD to soften the blow when the test scores aren't as high as parents hoped.

This is not true. My DD had a 143 WISC and she suggested ADHD. My child got into AAP and further testing found no ADHD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I took DS to GMU for WISC last year and didn't like it. Now I'm looking around to take DD somewhere else for WISC but not sure what to do. One friend got recommendation for Dr. Dahlgren and liked her for her DD. This led to 3 others going to Dr. Dahlgren. So at this point, she's all I know and that's what my friends are doing, and they seem ok with her more or less. But then I come to this forum and read such negative reviews about Dr. Dahlgren and feel stumped. With such a high price, I don't want sometimes ok and sometimes not. I'm also wondering if she's better with certain personalities, as all of my friends' kids have different personalities as DD. I want to get a really good tester who can make my very quiet and shy DD comfortable and not so rushed. Any recommendation would be appreciated.

I think this might be it and I think she must be a Gemini. One minute she acts A, another she acts B. I think it's a mix of the types of personalities she clicks with and the fact that she is 2 personalities. I too went to her because I heard really good things about her. I did not like her. She put me in a panic over DS and ADHD. Went somewhere else for full psychoeducational evaluation. No ADHD. No LDs. I feel like I wasted my money with her.

This too. It seems like she has suggested ADHD to nearly every kid I have heard of that she tests. Some of these kids did get ADHD diagnoses, but some, like my DC, did not-- and we wasted several thousand dollars having her do the testing.

I don't understand why it's a "waste."
If a doctor tells you that you might have cancer, and tests that are conducted rules out that you have cancer, then is it a waste?
If your kid was diagnosed with ADHD, then would the tests not have been a waste?
The tests are done to either rule out or determine that there's a certain condition.

[Anonymous]

Well, cancer testing would be covered by insurance. This kind of testing is all out of pocket.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, cancer testing would be covered by insurance. This kind of testing is all out of pocket.

So, you won't be out of pocket to determine if your child has ADHD?
And if you did pay out of pocket and it was determined that your child has ADHD, then does that "justify" the cost?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, cancer testing would be covered by insurance. This kind of testing is all out of pocket.

So, you won't be out of pocket to determine if your child has ADHD?
And if you did pay out of pocket and it was determined that your child has ADHD, then does that "justify" the cost?

Child was doing well academically and socially. We, as parents, looked at the list of ADHD characteristics and did not think DD came close to meeting the criteria. DC's teachers did not believe that ADHD was a concern with DC. Dr. Dahlgren was the first and only person to raise the issue of ADHD during DC's AAP WISC, and was very dire about the consequences of ignoring it. She didn't refer DC out for testing-- she said she could do the testing herself. She charged us several thousand dollars to test a child with good grades, plenty of friends and no behavioral issues. Sure enough, no ADHD. Of course in retrospect, we should have just declined testing. But she made us feel like we were doing the equivalent of ignoring cancer if we did. No ADHD. Several years later, DC still has good grades and no behavioral issues. Then I heard that this had happened to other parents. I think she raises the issue so that she has something to keep her practice afloat outside of the AAP testing window.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, cancer testing would be covered by insurance. This kind of testing is all out of pocket.

So, you won't be out of pocket to determine if your child has ADHD?
And if you did pay out of pocket and it was determined that your child has ADHD, then does that "justify" the cost?

Child was doing well academically and socially. We, as parents, looked at the list of ADHD characteristics and did not think DD came close to meeting the criteria. DC's teachers did not believe that ADHD was a concern with DC. Dr. Dahlgren was the first and only person to raise the issue of ADHD during DC's AAP WISC, and was very dire about the consequences of ignoring it. She didn't refer DC out for testing-- she said she could do the testing herself. She charged us several thousand dollars to test a child with good grades, plenty of friends and no behavioral issues. Sure enough, no ADHD. Of course in retrospect, we should have just declined testing. But she made us feel like we were doing the equivalent of ignoring cancer if we did. No ADHD. Several years later, DC still has good grades and no behavioral issues. Then I heard that this had happened to other parents. I think she raises the issue so that she has something to keep her practice afloat outside of the AAP testing window.

You are right, if you are now second guessing your decision, then you should have declined the testing. Maybe declining would have given you better peace of mind.

Our insurance covers testing for ADHD, but since it's not psycho-educational testing, our provider said that they miss the diagnosis all the time, finding someone doesn't have ADHD when they actually do, especially for girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, cancer testing would be covered by insurance. This kind of testing is all out of pocket.

So, you won't be out of pocket to determine if your child has ADHD?
And if you did pay out of pocket and it was determined that your child has ADHD, then does that "justify" the cost?

Child was doing well academically and socially. We, as parents, looked at the list of ADHD characteristics and did not think DD came close to meeting the criteria. DC's teachers did not believe that ADHD was a concern with DC. Dr. Dahlgren was the first and only person to raise the issue of ADHD during DC's AAP WISC, and was very dire about the consequences of ignoring it. She didn't refer DC out for testing-- she said she could do the testing herself. She charged us several thousand dollars to test a child with good grades, plenty of friends and no behavioral issues. Sure enough, no ADHD. Of course in retrospect, we should have just declined testing. But she made us feel like we were doing the equivalent of ignoring cancer if we did. No ADHD. Several years later, DC still has good grades and no behavioral issues. Then I heard that this had happened to other parents. I think she raises the issue so that she has something to keep her practice afloat outside of the AAP testing window.

All of this happened to us with her (bolded above) and also no ADHD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well, cancer testing would be covered by insurance. This kind of testing is all out of pocket.

So, you won't be out of pocket to determine if your child has ADHD?
And if you did pay out of pocket and it was determined that your child has ADHD, then does that "justify" the cost?

Child was doing well academically and socially. We, as parents, looked at the list of ADHD characteristics and did not think DD came close to meeting the criteria. DC's teachers did not believe that ADHD was a concern with DC. Dr. Dahlgren was the first and only person to raise the issue of ADHD during DC's AAP WISC, and was very dire about the consequences of ignoring it. She didn't refer DC out for testing-- she said she could do the testing herself. She charged us several thousand dollars to test a child with good grades, plenty of friends and no behavioral issues. Sure enough, no ADHD. Of course in retrospect, we should have just declined testing. But she made us feel like we were doing the equivalent of ignoring cancer if we did. No ADHD. Several years later, DC still has good grades and no behavioral issues. Then I heard that this had happened to other parents. I think she raises the issue so that she has something to keep her practice afloat outside of the AAP testing window.

All of this happened to us with her (bolded above) and also no ADHD.

Same poster as above here. I left her office in tears based on the fear she put in me abut the dire consequences of ignoring ADHD. We had no signs but she really made me feel like to not look into it would be to ignore a death sentence that could be cured. I even started looking at my child differently between meeting with Dr. Dalhgren and the test results. Scrutinize every move she made. Is that due to her being 7 or ADHD? Oh she did X. I wonder if that is ADHD? etc...It was awful.