My D20 has been seeing a therapist since the fall, initially for anxiety/depression but as they’ve talked more the therapist feels like she should be evaluated for ADHD and for medication to treat.
What should I expect from the first visit?
D is highly gifted, particularly in math but as high school has ramped up her grades are slipping and she has trouble staying on task and managing her to do list. She runs or swims 2 hours a day, has since very young and I believe that has helped her manage to now.
She has always struggled with writing, but is better on keyboarding. She was referred for dyslexia tesitng in fourth grade but diagnosis was listed as possible, not confirmed due to 9-12th grade reading level results.
One thing at a time though, I think. Focus on ADHD right now?
Don’t focus on the diagnosis. Remember how people to go a doctor because suspect x and diagnosed z. You need to be open to questions and conclusions, ask for more information or explanation, and question, challenge, explain differences you see. To some degree, what to expect depends on the diagnostician, affiliation such as school or private, the referral with the information and specificity (got one saying unknown quantity), provide timeline and schedule. Diagnosticians are experienced meeting nervous parents. Be more concerned about the report.
The diagnosis may be ADHD and medication is prescribed. This disorder is not comparable to an illness where taking medication for a period of time and the illness is gone.
ADHD is a chronic condition that manifests almost everywhere at times. It is important to know when and how it manifests. The impact is broader on learning so needs include time management, attention and concentration, study and test taking skills, etc
Depending on diagnosis, recommend books by Peg Dawson on Amazon.
Have you made an appointment for testing yet? There are many ways to be evaluated and kids can present as having ADHD but it may be something else entirely. Having been down this road, a full workup will give you a lot more to work with than a simple ADHD only evaluation by your pediatrician.
In terms of what to expect it depends on the testing given first but in all scenarios whether they screen primarily for ADHD or other items you’ll be asked to complete questionnaires either paper or online or both, and they will likely request teacher participation if possible.
But having been down the road of a wrong diagnosis and treating the wrong problem, if you can do the full workup I would. Generally that means an intake appointment and then they will outline what kind of testing they think is needed and you go from there.
Look into Dysgraphia for the writing component. My sophomore girl has an anxiety and depression diagnosis. She thought she had ADHD because my son has it, but after evaluation it appears that her lack of focus or concentration ability are a manifestation of her depression. Increasing her Prozac helped. By the way, Prozac is the 3rd antidepressant she has tried, another frustrating experience, contact me via P.M. if you want to talk about it.
Ugh. Of course they don’t. So sorry but keep in mind the school district is reluctant to look into it because then they might have to pay for treatment or accommodations.
Bear in mind as well that the schools are simply not equipped to understand bright kids, with actual LD’s. They see kids that grasp the material and see smart but lazy when really there could be sooo many things going on. Not once has the school suggested either of my kids have issues. And when issues were brought to their attention it was made clear that they really wouldn’t qualify for accommodations as…they were B students that the teachers thought were fine. If you have concerns, do testing on your own, it is unlikely anyone else will suggest it.
I would recommend full neuropsychological testing. It’s expensive but it can be very useful and informative in cases like your daughter’s where there may be a constellation of issues holding her back.
Kids under stress can look like they have ADD when they don’t. On the flip side, some kids can compensate enough for ADD that they look like they’re doing fine when in reality they’d be much more successful with medication and/or therapy.
The advice to go in with an open mind is good. ADD testing is really just a matter of looking at what the patient and those around them report. If you simply pursue ADD testing you might miss out on other issues that are either presenting as ADD or co-exist with ADD. Dysgraphia, visual-spatial weakness, working memory issues, and many other LD’s can go along with ADD.
Just wanted to post a happy update. DD has a 504 plan, a diagnosis of ADHD (taking Concerta) and Dyslexia in her records and is currently doing great in 5 AP classes as a junior.
There are some classroom accommodations for ADHD and dysgraphia that carry over to standardized testing, like the SAT, ACT, AP’s and eventually GRE. If a student has a 504 plan that gives her extra time for taking tests or allows her to type responses on a keyboard instead of hand writing them, then you can apply to get similar accommodations on standardized tests.
She got 2 five’s this summer with no accommodation, just medication. So not sure any accommodation is needed or would be granted. (Comp Sci A and Euro)
I don’t know where your daughter is going to college but concerta at least here in Illinois can go only get by a written prescription every 30 days. My wife takes it and at times it’s a real hassle.
@VickiSoCal , we had a similar trajectory (and excellent response to generic concerta) with my S20.
One thing his psychiatrist told him is that it is a potential drug of abuse for people without ADHD, since they have a completely different reaction to it, and she told him that he should get a lock box when he goes to college and be sure it is secured. She said to be prepared down the road for people to beg him to have some to help them study all night, and to know in advance how to respond. It all seemed a bit dire, but I am glad she raised the issue well in advance.
A second thing is that, after more than a year of very good symptom control, he had a spike in inattention, impulsivity, etc. We realized he had grown 8 inches and added 40 pounds. The dosage was increased and he is back to feeling like he can concentrate and moderate his behavior better.