Reply to Where to go to test for ADHD?

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Reply to "Where to go to test for ADHD?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The answer depends on how quickly you want the answer. The fastest is your pediatrician. After that, a psychiatrist and after that full neuropsych testing. For the latter two, you may not have your answer for many months due to waitlists for testing and wait time for the report - maybe six or more months. And if you get your diagnosis through testing, then you need to find a doctor to prescribe medications which is another wait time for the appointment.

If you are looking for accommodations at school you also then need to go through the 504 process.

Honestly in your shoes I’d start with the pediatrician. You want answers now not in June. You can always follow up with other evaluations. [/quote]

NO. A pediatrician is NOT trained to diagnose ADHD. [/quote]

Actually they are and it is within their scope of practice. It is a commonly used resource. Few have the money for things like a neuropsych and often the time lag is significant. [/quote]

No, they are not. I know how pediatricians are trained, PP. You are entirely incorrect, and I want to push back hard on this, because there's already controversy about overdiagnosis of hyperactivity and underdiagnosis of other forms of ADHD. No one except a psychiatrist is trained in the pharmaceutical realm of mental health disorders, so an initial diagnosis of ADHD at the ped's office should not lead to med prescription anyway. Parents need to consult the right specialists. It's not medicine's fault that healthcare is so expensive!

[/quote]

You guys are talking about two very different issues. Pediatricians can diagnose any mental health disorder because they are general practitioners. They can also diagnose things like depression, anxiety and eating disorders. Does that mean they should be in change of medication management? No. But they can and do diagnose by their own professional standards. This is like saying a pediatrician can't diagnose encopresis because they're not a GI doctor. They diagnose and then refer for follow up care. 
https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/144/4/e20192528/81590/Clinical-Practice-Guideline-for-the-Diagnosis?autologincheck=redirected[/quote]

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