Hi, everyone. I’m 1 6 year old student. I am diagnosed with PTSD and GAD. A family friend, who is a psychologist, brought up the possibility that I may have ADHD, and my parents agreed. I seem to exhibit a lot of the symptoms–carelessness, inattentiveness, constant movement, bouncing from activity to activity, never can really calm down, constant talking, bouncing from subject to subject, etc. I would like to speak to a professional to look into this, but I am not sure who I’d talk to/where I’d go. For people who have either been diagnosed with/had a child be diagnosed with ADHD, where did you go to get tested? What are these tests composed of?
We went to a neuropsychologist for testing. Their report has made it very easy to get testing accommodations and some accommodations at my son’s private hs.
In addition to neuropsychologists, there are also regular psychologists who specialize in ADD/ADHD testing and evaluation. Get a recommendation of one from your pediatrician. The psychologist writes a report based on testing and interviews from several visits, which is submitted to the pediatrician, who then makes the official diagnosis and prescribes medication if it is needed. You will need to find out the cost ahead of time and whether or not your insurance will cover it. The testing will involve doing tasks that require paying attention over a period of time, perhaps on a computer screen. The psychologist will also probably have questionnaires to be filled out by your teachers to see if ADHD type difficulties have been observed in the classroom.
Your family friend psychologist should know who to refer you to.
Your counseling office at school may be able to recommend someone in the network that accepts your health insurance.
We used a neuropsychologist. The testing was extensive.
One thing you can do, whether you have a diagnosis or not, is look at a couple of the books on Amazon on living with (adult) ADHD. The strategies in them are super helpful. (And not just to someone with a diagnosis but to anyone who is busy and living in our world of many distractions!)
If you get a diagnosis, and if you get meds and choose to take them, you will still need to devote significant energy and discipline to the behavioral strategies. Seeing if you can adopt any now may help as you work through this with a professional.
We also used a neuropsychologist, which fortunately was covered by our insurance as it cost $3,000. But was invaluable as it pinpointed my son’s strengths and weaknesses. He went from me questioning whether he could handle high school, to flourishing at a T20 university. That’s how much of a difference medication along with years of executive function tutoring made. I now see ADHD as a gift, as I appreciate his creative take on the world. Best of luck to you.
We used a neuropsychologist as well.
Do be aware that other conditions like anxiety disorders, depression, and PTSD can mirror ADHD, so you’ll want to find someone who isn’t solely focused on ADD diagnosis. Anxiety alone can make it hard to concentrate and that can lead to unconscious avoidance mechanisms such as bouncing from activity to activity. Not saying this is you, just a warning that even if you display the characteristics of ADD/ADHD it’s possible something else is the root cause, so you’ll want someone who can look at the whole picture. You may want to start with the psychologist who diagnosed your PTSD and GAD for a referral to a neuropsychologist.
Something a psychologist will consider in looking at a diagnosis is how long you’ve had these symptoms. Were you excessively active as a kid? Always had problems sitting in your seat or more distracted than your friends by extraneous background noises?
ADD in adults is largely diagnosed on the basis of self-reported checklist similar to this:
https://add.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/adhd-questionnaire-ASRS111.pdf
IIRC at 16 you’ll still have a longer version of this form filled out by a teacher and your parents. The most common diagnostic tools are the Conners Ratings Scale and the Vanderbilt.
First off many of the symptoms of all above can overlap greatly. Only psychologist is 5 stated can prescribe medications. You want to seek out someone with a specialty in Adhd.
This is a very classic book not just for adults. After reading a bit of this you will either see yourself in the book or not. It’s pretty eye opening. Most with add see themselves very clearly.
Also lots of kids with Adhd are actually not the hyper type. Many are actually the opposite so don’t let that fool you. What you actually described is pretty spot on though…
Caffeine like sodas with caffeine or coffee /tea can actually initially make you feel relaxed then put you in a hyperactive mode. So try to eliminate caffeine for now.
Many have mixed of other conditions also. Medication is good when it works and biofeedback can work wonders without being medicated for all your conditions. I have seen it work first hand and usually works quickly also.
Sleep is crucial for all you mentioned since most times this is a result and a contributing factor. Less sleep /worse symptoms. More sleep /symptoms improve.
There are many articles on like omega acids and their affect on Adhd https://www.additudemag.com/fish-oil-for-adhd-symptoms/
Read about diet and add also https://www.additudemag.com/adhd-diet-nutrition-sugar/
So there are some things you can do today as in the above articles. Read these and show then to your parents. The affects to someone with add is different then the general public. If increasing protein and don’t want to eat eggs daily try a fruit protein shake kinda thing. Most kids your age tend not to eat breakfast. The article is telling you why an Adhd kid should ("as all kids should). Literally it will give you the brain power needed for school…
Neuropsychologist here.
There is no “official test” for ADHD, but the combination of self reports and other observational questionnaires from parents, teachers, etc, with measures of sustained attention, freedom from distractibility, organization/problem solving skills, efficiency/automaticity/processing speed, combined with other measures, can provide compelling evidence of data consistent with the diagnosis (and there are several forms of ADHD).
To be honest, I’ve not read any compelling peer reviewed articles confirming that diet really affects ADHD one way or the other. Most seems to be anecdotal.
@jym626. Diet is something to try. A good friend of mine psychologist specializes in children LD and Add/Adhd. He does a fair amount of biofeedback for the same. He says he does see differences and patients parents report the child being improved after a few weeks of changing their diet. I still think there is “lots” to learn. I do things in my practice that work and are not peered reviewed.
Also my kids went to him for biofeedback. At least for us it was night /day for my daughter and several relatives in my family.
For brain processing issues, transference and Adhd, Developmental Optometry worked wonders on both my kids. Neither medicated and would not of believed it if I didn’t see it first hand. Teachers wanted to know what medication my daughter was on since there was a drastic improvement with just a few sessions. Crazy quick improvements… Lots we don’t know I guess.
Agree, everything is worth trying, especially if you can avoid medication. I felt, as a good parent, how could I not have my son try biofeedback? Even though it cost $3000 and was not covered by insurance. I am here to say it did absolutely nothing for my son. Yes, he could alter his brain waves at will, and the charts showed progression, but in terms of real world changes – nothing. Same with some brain training games (not lumosity, something (can’t remember!) with peer reviewed studies etc, that were administered by a psychologist (also very expensive) that again did virtually nothing.
Not saying alternatives to medication don’t work, I’m sure they do for some people. I share my son’s experience because there isn’t one thing that magically works for everyone.
Could be the person that administered it? But you are correct not a one size fits all. With my daughter after her first session she came home and was crying, emotional and not her. Called the doctor and he said he needs to dial down one of the brain waves, next session he did that and she came home and like completely cleaned her very messy room. It was like she “had” to and couldn’t believe it was so unorganized (organizational skills also). We called him up and said “think it’s working now” … Lol…
For me for sleep it was dramatic
For the OP. Excercise is also something helpful. My daughter in college actually studies /concentrates best after running or yoga class etc. There are many articles about Excercise and Adhd plus Excercise is good. So again. There are a few things you can actually try today.
Biofeedback also has mixed reviews with respect to efficacy. Not seen any research that supports the benefit of the Irlen glass, but people do individually find it helpful.
I am a “show me the data” person, but certainly everyone can and should try what may be beneficial on in individual basis. And there is certainly a documented benefit of the placebo effect 
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6195310/
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mental-health/the-power-of-the-placebo-effect
Not only placebo, but the Hawthorne Effect, as well, the awareness of attention, responding to that.
I am not a pro. But my concern would be/might be that OP will focus too much on researching, reading, pondering, testing this or that (i.e., distractions from whatever his life otherwise demands,) when what may be needed is action: the decision to proceed with testing or not. And that needs the parents’ involvement.
Both of those are very true no doubt. But when I recommend Developmental optometry to 25 parents with children with Adhd and they tried different approaches also and all 25 tell me their kids are off their meds or reduced meds and their functioning at their highest level ever. Getting “A” 's instead of "Cs a
… And I have seen it first hand personally then I take the placebo affect out of it. Somethings work if done correctly. Not everyone does it the same way. Seen it with autistic and CP kids also… Parents and teachers saying there is a difference also…
But my suggestions to the OP were very basic and something he can do today to be proactive. BTW - very impressed that this 16 year old is taking charge. That’s awesome!!!. Better diet, increase exercise, better sleep. I have a think most studies would prove these out.
Aren’t you at a really good prep school now? Talk to your academic advisor/dean about your concerns and ask about resources on campus. I imagine the school can do the necessary testing right there probably at no cost.
While there are surely a myriad of interventions that may show individual efficacy, research has shown that in children and adolescents diagnosed with ADHD (and there are several subcategories), the most beneficial results had been seen in patients treated with a combination of medication and behavioral therapies. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/guidelines.html
@CavsFan2003, I’m curious if you’ve pursued this further. I echo what other have said as to having a full neuropsychological exam. Besides a potential diagnosis, it will be very enlightening and tell you a lot about very specific aptitudes and learning styles and strategies. For both my kids, our first attempt at meds worked wonders (with no real side effects), so we haven’t relied on any other form of treatment, but I will also say that sports/activity particularly helps my older DS focus. Both kids work with tutors at school for organization/executive function support.
One thing I will mention is that at least in our experience, it took a long time — several months — to schedule an evaluation. A full neuropsychology evaluation can take nearly a full day (again, our experience). If you are looking for a recommendation fairly local to you at school, I am happy to provide the name of a practice.
It’s been over a year since I’ve posted this thread. I felt it prudent to update: I have received a diagnosis for ADHD. Not really a surprise to anyone around me.
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I hope the diagnosis has helped, and helped you to at least start to figure out some techniques for dealing with it. Good job to figure it out!
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