Reply to My teen is obsessed with being diagnosed with ADD/ADHD/Austism and I am exhausted

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Reply to "My teen is obsessed with being diagnosed with ADD/ADHD/Austism and I am exhausted"

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[quote=Anonymous]OP - as a parent of two young people with ADHD/ dyslexia and anxiety, I can assure you that proper diagnosis is usually very rigorous and requires a lot of corroboration between home and school teachers who know your child well.

Hopefully, everything is within normal limits as some have suggested.

Vanderbilt forms - are highly detailed for both home and school contexts. A diagnosis of ADHD/ ADD requires a lot of overlap, which good pediatricians and psychiatrists know how to interpret.

An educational psych evaluation by an educational psychologist (number of excellent ones in DMV) can be very helpful for giving insight into learning differences and strengths. Even if your child turns out to have no major learning differences, it is extremely helpful to know your child’s cognitive strengths and weakness and what helps them the most.

It is extremely common got people with ADHD/ ADD to have coexisting anxieties/ social anxieties/ depression and/or other learning differences such as dyslexia, dysgraphia and slow processing speed. Good educational psych evaluations can help you and your pediatrician to have a better idea if they are present and how impact your child’s cognition and Learning.

If your teen does get diagnosed with ADHD/ ADD, it can take a while to find the right medicine and dose for them. It is best to start wi5 meds that have lowest rates of side effects such Ritalin and Concerta (long acting Ritalin) that have been around the longest. I would resist attempts to start child on newer medicines with higher rates of severe side effects such as Focalin.

Managing ADHD/ ADD takes a multipronged approach:
1. Adequate sleep and sleep hygiene - many with adhd have troubles slowing down their overactive brains at night so many need melatonin or some other sleep aid. It is good to keep bedrooms as peaceful as possible. 
2. Good diet with adequate protein plus fresh fruit and veggies.
3. Executive function aids - you should communicate closely with your learning specialist and educational psychologist to determine the best ways to help your child self organize and manage school work loads.
4.  Medicine - most children and youth with ADHD/ ADD do much better with medicine and have much lower rates of future substance abuse related to self medicating anxieties. Unmedicated youth with ADHD are at much greater risk for both substance abuse and bullying due to impulsive behavior and blurting unwise stuff out that can be misinterpreted as antisocial or deliberately offensive. 
5. Hyper focus - often have certain subjects and activities they obsess over and hyper focus on.
6. Transitioning. Often have trouble transitioning from one activity or way of thinking to another, which can be interpreted as being stubborn. They often need help transitioning and becoming more flexible about their ways of thinking.

Children and youth with ADHD/ ADD have many many strengths that need to be celebrated and cultivated.
They are often kind, empathetic, brilliant with lateral thinking and creative problem solving, big picture thinkers, athletic, risk takers and more.

So best  wishes for unlocking the major keys to your DD’s cognition and best ways for learning and coping with the rigors and challenges of school.

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