Think DC might have ADHD but others aren't worried - WWYD?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn’t bother with testing unless he needs medication or accommodations at school.

He will probably need both by middle school.

[Anonymous]

Personally, I would wait. For us, our evaluator was interested in getting info from the school and both parents. I think having only one parent see the problem would make it harder to get a diagnosis now.

I agree with the others saying that there may be harm in waiting. And if money was no object, I'd agree that you should get an evaluation. But that money may be better saved for an evaluation in the future (maybe even next year), when your child's difficulties may present clearer.

[Anonymous]

Sounds very familiar to me. I have severe adhd and so does my son. I wasn’t diagnosed until after law school because I was always super successful academically but it was not great for my self esteem to not know why executive function was so hard for me. I would talk to your ped to start!

[Anonymous]

Evaluators are used to families where one parent is in denial, even of much more significant things.

[Anonymous]

Everyone, from my sons, great teachers to his awesome speech therapist, shook their heads via mentally when I asked if they thought he had ADHD. I couldn’t believe there was nothing behind his behavior and had him tested. The very experience neuropsych she didn’t even have to crunch the numbers before he counter saying there is some real distractibility there. Also a bunch of learning disabilities, including dyslexia. Do not wait. Spend the money. If it’s to learn that, he’s just immature you will not constantly be wondering. If nothing else, put him on a waitlist now. It could be 6 to 8 months before you get a time. By that time, maybe you really will want to know!

Totally disagree with the comment above, by the way. Both my spouse and I are believers in the diagnosis and eager to support. Denial had no role in our decision to have him evaluated. Expertise did.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, didn’t spell check my dictation! “Vehemently,” along with other corrections.

[Anonymous]

I have a different take. While I think it could be ADHD, it also might not be. I would not have my child start on meds from a pediatrician without having a more formal diagnosis, especially without teachers reporting issues. I say this as a parent of one child who has severe inattentive ADHD that can’t function without meds and as the parent of another child who was misdiagnosed with ADHD. My child was struggling academically and I suspected an LD. He came back positive for the LD and the neuropsychologist told me he didn’t have ADHD but might have some ADHDish features and it would become clearer as he grew. More likely, they could be due to the LD (frustration tolerance and messy work being most notable) but she couldn’t say for sure. 3 years later, with his LD remediated, the ADHDish features were gone. But in the interim, I did agree to meds at the pediatricians urging. It went terribly but everyone kept saying the benefits outweighed the side effects. When he went back for his reevaluation, the neuropsych told me he absolutely did not have ADHD. He had several more evals over the rest of his school years and none showed ADHD. I’m sure this doesn’t happen often but it drove home for me why it is so important to have thorough testing. Sometimes symptoms that look like ADHD can have a better explanation. In my son’s case it was LD, anxiety, TS.