ADD/ADHD evaluation

[Anonymous]

5/31/18 10:01---Thanks for the response. I will get back to you tomorrow once i go through for more questions. As i mentioned before, i am completely new to this process, will take time for me to understand and ask more queries with what i am looking for. Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:05/30/2018 19:40--Op here, you want to better understand and connect with your child because what you are trying now doesn't work--This is my answer.
So far, We haven't done any evaluation to understand my daughter's hyper/inattentiveness/ADHD issues (as she is hyper and unable to concentrate on anything). Honestly speaking i do not know the whole evaluation process and is she in need of RX yet; but so far nothing is working for us to teach new things and control her hyper.

If this is what you most want, I don't think I would start right now with the Neuropsych for a 6.5 year old. Everyone on DCUM thinks the neuropsych is the most important first step, but I'm not sure that's always the case. I would find a good therapist/psychologist and begin counseling sessions. These can be with your daughter alone, both of you together, and/or some for just you to help deal with her. The therapist, even if they are not the type to do formal diagnoses, should be able to give you a good idea of whether they think it's just ADHD or something else, and can help guide you through the process of what to do next. Then, if medication is what you want, you can get a preliminary diagnosis from a child psychiatrist (this is the better path than the pediatrician) and medication that way. Their diagnosis process is no where near as thorough as a neuropsych, but in some cases like ours, it can provide enough information. For us, the more thorough evaluation, did not add much more to the picture than what we already knew from teacher and parent evaluations, and didn't really affect the treatment plan. Now if what you want most is help from school (504, IEP, etc), you may need the formal evaluation as documentation to get the services.

[Anonymous]

We used Family First in Tysons for a somewhat older child and insurance reimbursed part of the fee. We also go there for counseling now, but to a different person than who did the testing. We thought they did a very thorough job.

The only issue is that they need to have forms filled out by teachers. You may have a problem during the summer getting forms filled out. Also, if they want to do a school visit if there are behavioral or attention issues, that won't work either in the summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:05/31/2018 11:49--Op here. I am in Herndon, Fairfax County. I am OK to pay out-of-pocket and would like to drive with in 30 miles of Herndon.

We had a good experience having our child assessed at INOVA Keller Center.

https://www.inova.org/healthcare-services/inova-kellar-center/index.jsp

And to follow up, Inova did take our insurance.

We also had a good experience at Inova Keller. They are in-network for many different insurances. For the psychoeducational testing, our insurance covered the psychological testing portion, and we paid out of pocket for the educational testing portion which I think came out to be approximately $1,100 out of pocket which is a lot less than the $2,500-3,000 we were quoted for places that don't take insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We used Family First in Tysons for a somewhat older child and insurance reimbursed part of the fee. We also go there for counseling now, but to a different person than who did the testing. We thought they did a very thorough job.

The only issue is that they need to have forms filled out by teachers. You may have a problem during the summer getting forms filled out. Also, if they want to do a school visit if there are behavioral or attention issues, that won't work either in the summer.

I was wondering about that. We are going to visit my dad in Florida for the summer and there's a reputable child psychiatry center that takes insurance there and you can get an appointment in 4-6 weeks. I'll check to see if the teacher forms are required. If so, I'll schedule it for the winter break which is still sooner and cheaper than an in-network provider in the D.C. area.

[Anonymous]

Forms are generally required to be filled out from two environments. So home and school.

[Anonymous]

What if PANDAS/PANS involved. Still do you prefer visiting psychiatrist first later to Neuro Or visit Psychologist then later others. My daughter is PANS diagnosed and medication(antibiotics)/bio-med paths not working and making her behavior as well as hyper more.

Anonymous wrote:5/31/18 10:01 here. If you go through the school, you will get psychoeducational testing. Neuropsych testing includes the psychoeducational testing and goes further. The following is what was included in my son's:

? Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale—Fourth Edition (WISC-IV) ? Kaufman Test of Educational Achievement, Third Edition (KTEA-3)
? Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Third Edition (WIAT-III)—Essay Composition subtest
? Test of Variables of Attention, Visual Continuous Performance Test (TOVA)
? Wide Range Assessment of Memory and Learning, 2nd Edition (WRAML-2) – Story Memory
subtest
? Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT)
? Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) – Verbal Fluency and Color Word
Interference subtests ? Conners Comprehensive Behavior Rating Scale, Parent and Teacher Forms (CBRS)
2
? Rorschach Inkblot Test ? Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory—(MACI)
? Review of Records (provided by the family)
? Clinical Interview with mother
? Clinical Interview with patient
? Behavioral Observations


For my other son, I only had the psychoeducational testing provided by the school. It was more than adequate for his needs. As I said, the first neuropsych I did on my son, I didn't feel like it was worth it. He was seven. the information I got wasn't anything more than observations we had already made and the recommendations weren't anything more than common sense. There wasn't anything that we hadn't already included in the IEP, which we had gotten without the neuropsych.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. Excellent info for me to understand various ways and explore further. Will look more in detail.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:05/30/2018 19:40--Op here, you want to better understand and connect with your child because what you are trying now doesn't work--This is my answer.
So far, We haven't done any evaluation to understand my daughter's hyper/inattentiveness/ADHD issues (as she is hyper and unable to concentrate on anything). Honestly speaking i do not know the whole evaluation process and is she in need of RX yet; but so far nothing is working for us to teach new things and control her hyper.

If this is what you most want, I don't think I would start right now with the Neuropsych for a 6.5 year old. Everyone on DCUM thinks the neuropsych is the most important first step, but I'm not sure that's always the case. I would find a good therapist/psychologist and begin counseling sessions. These can be with your daughter alone, both of you together, and/or some for just you to help deal with her. The therapist, even if they are not the type to do formal diagnoses, should be able to give you a good idea of whether they think it's just ADHD or something else, and can help guide you through the process of what to do next. Then, if medication is what you want, you can get a preliminary diagnosis from a child psychiatrist (this is the better path than the pediatrician) and medication that way. Their diagnosis process is no where near as thorough as a neuropsych, but in some cases like ours, it can provide enough information. For us, the more thorough evaluation, did not add much more to the picture than what we already knew from teacher and parent evaluations, and didn't really affect the treatment plan. Now if what you want most is help from school (504, IEP, etc), you may need the formal evaluation as documentation to get the services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stixrud group

This will cost about 3k. They don't take insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stixrud group

This will cost about 3k. They don't take insurance.

I paid $3500 to them 8 years ago. Can’t imagine their fees went down.

[Anonymous]

DS was evaluated at Children’s National. The wait was long (9-12 months waiting list) but we got on their last-minute cancellation notification list and was able to get in earlier. We were lucky because my insurance covered almost everything and I only paid $35 copay.

[Anonymous]

When was this? I mean when you are on waitlist and when you were able to get in?

Anonymous wrote:DS was evaluated at Children’s National. The wait was long (9-12 months waiting list) but we got on their last-minute cancellation notification list and was able to get in earlier. We were lucky because my insurance covered almost everything and I only paid $35 copay.

[Anonymous]

Children’s National or Inova --which one to choose if the wait-time is too long at Children’s National.
kennedy krieger do these evaluations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DS was evaluated at Children’s National. The wait was long (9-12 months waiting list) but we got on their last-minute cancellation notification list and was able to get in earlier. We were lucky because my insurance covered almost everything and I only paid $35 copay.

Did the insurance also pay for the educational portion of the testing? Ours paid for the 6 hours of psychological testing but we had to pay for the additional 6 hours of educational testing that was not covered by insurance. However, it was still a lot more affordable than the testing site that are out of network.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Children’s National or Inova --which one to choose if the wait-time is too long at Children’s National.
kennedy krieger do these evaluations?

Choose whoever has the shortest wait time. KKI does it, but they also have a long wait time. Another option is Mount Washington Pediatric Hospital. George Washington University is starting a new autism clinic, but it's not clear from the website if it is actually open yet.