First ped appt for possible ADHD: What to expect?

[Anonymous]

I'm taking my 10 year old boy in to see his pediatrician to talk about the possibility of ADHD. Capitol Med. Group, if that matters. Can anyone advise on what the appointment might be like? I'm trying to figure out how to talk about the appointment with him, since we haven't discussed the issue yet. Will the appointment be super negative, like the doctor asks about what's not working in his life and we list off all the things he's bad at? (That sounds awful.) Will there be some kind of standard test? Is there a basic procedure for this stage?

Thanks in advance!

[Anonymous]

For our first appointment, it was just adults, DC wasn't there.

[Anonymous]

Well, you do have to talk about the difficulties. I don't know if it was the first ADHD appointment or just a regular physical but at a certain age, there is also a mini mental health questionnaire. Then our doctors gave us the Conner's to complete - each parent and a teacher have to do it. Then we went back for a follow up after it was scored.

[Anonymous]

Look up the Vanderbilt checklist. Those are the things we discussed. The doctor will probably give you forms (either that one off something similar) for his teacher to fill out.