Help me understand the ADHD Evaluation Process

[Anonymous]

The ADHD evaluation process was fairly easy for us too.

School psychologist did an evaluation and implied the diagnosis as well as identifying specific executive function issues.

Then, the teachers and ourselves did Vanderbilt questionnaires. The pediatrician reviewed them briefly and gave the diagnosis, which we used to get a prescription (same doc).

However, the pediatrician has known my child well through a variety of other issues, which are all related to his ADHD. So, it was also pretty clear in advance.....

[Anonymous]

This is why adhd is over diagnosed. I am appalled that pediatrician would just give your kid stimulants and a note without any evaluation! At that age?
Your kid is not the only one. These meds are not multivitamins and stimulants can wreck a person with anxiety, push him/her into insane clinical anxiety and make life a living hell. My DS, now, 20, struggled with anxiety his whole life, he was diagnoses last summer as add(mild case, full eval) and given concerta. It did help him with studying and almost destroyed him. He fell apart and within 2 months stopped taking them, went back on anxiety meds and is still dealing with that insane anxiety. But his grades were good! As if I cared! I was out of my mind worried that he will harm himself, that type of wrecking!
DD has adhd, full blown like she is a Rollings Stone type, and this same psychiatrist refused (nor did her pediatrician ever think to do so either) to give her any meds until full evaluation, and sees her once a month. It was expensive, I had teachers, counselor, pediatrician fill out the forms, me too, and then it took several hours and three visits for her full evaluation. And still the only way I really got the confirmation that she has it, is that she calms down on stimulants! As in takes naps. She still sees a therapist too.
Please do not drug your baby without having an eval and a psychiatrist to follow him on meds.
My nephew takes Adderal and he has dropped out of college and spend 2 years smoking pot in CO. My niece(from different sibling) left her insane ranked(7th in the country)magnet school, changed to regular HS. She just stopped doing any work, just told her parents, no. Her younger brother was "diagnosed" like your kid, as was she, but she saw a psychologist, not a full eval, basically his sister has it, so here are your meds!
Now, as you can see my kids were diagnosed with proper evaluations that cost a ton of money, and I am still not sure, and I still feel guilty about dd, as in what if I am wrong? She was diagnosed at 15 when it was interfering with her every day life, I didn't know what to do with her anymore, type of thing.
Saying, you are 50/50 reads to me like you are not sure at all.
I am very much in favor of meds for kids that have it, dd still doesn't take it in the summer, but these meds are not a joke. I took two twice in my life( shoot me, I did it to see how my kids were feeling on it) and it is a nuts drug if you don't need it. Truly, it makes you nuts and high. As in scrubbing your floors at 2am nuts.
Please, please make sure.

[Anonymous]

^^at what age?(Sorry, and sorry about my long post)

[Anonymous]

We did the full neuropsychology-- there is a high potential for misdiagnosis or even a dual diagnosis. A neuropsychology test is comprehensive and makes the comparison between your child and other children on the same tests-- a bell curve, so that you can truly gauge if your child's behavior and struggles are out of the ordinary and the causes.

Also, a neuropsychology exam gives a baseline so you can re-evaluate over time to see if things have gotten better/worse as your DC develops. It's just really worth it imo- an expense up front but may save a lot of time, money and worry in the long run.

Case in point, we were able to target interventions because we learned that our DS's ADHD is mild and many of his issues stem from a language impairment. It made him a good candidate for therapy and thus far, he hasn't required medication to help with ADHD symptoms (although we re-visit that decision each year).

[Anonymous]

We did option 4 and still had trial and error with meds. And after a few years on meds, we may have to go back to trying something new. I guess my point is it is just not easy for everyone.