I thought I'd ask everyone how their children were diagnosed with ADHD. Who did the evaluations, who did the referrals?

Personally, we started on our journey with my daughter when whe was 4 1/2 and received a "provisional" diagnosis. At 7 she received an ADHD/NOS and Mood Disorder/Conduct Disturbance dx, at 8, an ADHD/Combined dx, and now just two months later we find ourselves looking at the possibility of more comorbids.

Am I the only one that seems to spend most of her life at the Child Psychiatrist/NeuroPsychologist/OT/Psychologist/Therapists offices?

Please share your experiences:rolleyes:

Hi Webby,
I took my son to the family pediatrician when he was in kindergarten. The doctor said he couldn't possibly have ADHD because look how quietly he sat and listened to us while we talked. HAH! I took David to a counselor who diagnosed him ADHD after about 6 months. It took another year and a half before I took the counselor's notes back to the pediatrician and got a prescription for ritalin. He went off the ritalin 5 years later when he was having a huge problem handling rage, and he was diagnosed by a counselor as ODD as well. The psychiatrist he saw thought he might be bipolar, too, and put him on depakote and wellbutrin which seems to help. No, you are not the only one who feels like they spend all their time at the doctors.etc!
huggs
claudia

Webqueen62, I can share with you my mother's personal trials in getting me diagnosed as Hyperactive back in about 1972. I had been a very active infant and toddler. But when I was actually put into grade school, my teachers warned Mom I would have to be held back in first grade! I couldnt read the clock yet (I said that the hands kept moving around), I had difficulty reading (See Jane run, see Spot jump was impossible stuff for me), and the teachers said I never sat in my chair, that I was always sitting underneath my desk or slinking off to the corner to play. That really got her involved in looking for answers to my behaviors. My pediatrition was either not informed or not interested in taking it any further than to say the childs fine, just overlyactive! Anyway, Mom found a child psychologist who promptly told her about the current diagnosis called Hyperkinetic Activity (remember this was back in the early seventies). So back to my pediatrition she went with the new dx in hand. He refused to give her a prescription for Ritalin stating he was against giving children amphetamines. Thankfully, my mother ended up prevailing with him and getting me the meds. She said within the first half-hour of taking Ritalin, was the very first time I had EVER sat alone quietly by myself and played with my toys. She still recites that story to me with tears of pride welling up. Hang in there Webqueen62. Someday your child will be able to thank you, and that will be the only one who matters.

mom will have to do this one technically i dont know why or how i was dx'd with adhd

I was taken by my parents to a team of doctors when I was 4. They diagnosed me with minimal brain disfunction (at the time called something other than ADD). They were given the choice of trying an experimental medication (Ritalin) or holding me back a year before I was put into Kindergarten. The theory was that I would "grow out of" my hyperactivity.

Needless to say, I didn't. Additionally, my parents "forgot" about my diagnosis! It wasnt until I stumbled across what ADD was after I graduated from collegethat I figured out what was wrong with me, and found a couple of doctors who properly diagnosed me, and then started me therapy and meds.

By the time my oldest son was 4, I knew he was different from the other kids. I took him to the doctor who said nothing was wrong. I did a lot of reseach and sort of self diagnosed him.
At school my son had academic failures but otherwise was quiet, at home was a different story. I finally went back to my doctor and said test him for ADHD, you have nothing to lose, you get paid either way. He referred me to a phycologist and yes, my son has ADHD

Hi again, just wanted to add that with my second son, it was obvious from the start that he had ADHD. He also has ODD and maybe OCD, right now we are waiting to be tested at the Tourettes Clinic, he is not on meds right now but needs to be.
As for my daughter, well she was diagnosed in a higher grade, first with a learning diability then later ADHD. She is not on meds, the biggest challange for her was remaining seated, for 2 yrs she wore a weighted vest in school as a reminder to sit. Now she does fine.

BnB, thats very interesting-a weighted vest. Is that something done by yourself, or is it a generally accepted thing for kids these days? Just curious. It sounds like a good idea, and sounds like it worked for your daughter.

Hi Mark,
Actually my daughters teacher made the vest. We bought a normal vest that you can wear over a shirt and sewed large heavywashers into the waist seams. Because we were not dealing with behavior issues, just her getting out of the chair a lot, this was a simple solution.
She wore it in grade 2 and for part of grade 3. The vest reminded her to sit in her chair till she learned not to get up and roam the room. Now she has no problem sitting still and in her seat in class.
Hope this is helpful to someone. :p

Ya'know, people have submitted inventions and stuff before, and made a ton of money. This might be one of those ideas!

Then again, I can see the lawsuits coming alread:" My child developed Chronic Back Fatigue (CBF???) because of your vest. So I'm suing you for 2 million plus legal fees."

Still, a very good idea, and it worked like a charm.