And if I do decide to have him tested, how do I go about doing it? Is that something the school will do? His doctor? Would it be better to go to someone OUTSIDE of school, so I can decide whether or not it's something that should go on his record at school? (I'm also worried about treatment, if he does have ADHD. I don't want to automatically shove drugs down his throat without exploring all options, and I have seen so many teachers who strongly urge parents to do just that, just to make their jobs easier.)
I wouldn't "leave well enough alone." A smart kid with ADHD may develop the sense that he's not good at things, when he really is very talented but truly can't muster the executive functioning to get things done. The self-esteem issues are real. Lots of late-teens and young adults with ADHD will self-medicate with alcohol or drugs if they get frustrated enough, which all of a sudden makes Ritalin look like not such a bad deal if prescribed responsibly.
I'd not trust school to evaluate for ADHD, nor would I ever let the regular pediatrician medicate my kid for this kind of thing. A neuropsychologist can do the right kind of testing; ours worked in tandem with a developmental pediatrician, which was a good combo for us (let us look at physical and behavioral factors). We have a developmental ped. we trust who prescribes meds for us; she has seen a lot of kids, and she knows we are conservative in our outlook about meds, and she tries hard to balance all our concerns.
Nobody I know of has medicated their kid because it's fun, or to make a teacher happier. Usually it's because the kid is really suffering serious self-esteem issues because he can't manage his own behavior and attention, and the medication is a last resort of sorts. As I understand it, the best practice for an elementary-age kid is to use medication and then, because the kid is now focused enough to learn well, you can teach the missing skills.
DeeDee
