Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy Should I get DS tested for ADHD?

Seaturtle he sounds just like my DS8 (dx w/ADHD combined type).

I'm not sure if an ADHD diagnosis is really helping us. It would be different if I wanted to try medication, but I'm holding off on this for DS. I'm not against medicating, but I don't think it's the answer right now. (Anyway, that's a whole other thread).

As for the testing, we used a private psychologist. It's fairly pricey ($2,000) but luckily my husband had some coverage (we ended up paying about $600 out of pocket). This gave us the opportunity to withhold it from the school if we chose to do so.

We ended up submitting it, because he was also diagnosed with a language processing disorder, and that diagnosis gets him time in the school with a SLP.

Overall, I'm not happy... mostly with the lack of variety in the funded treatment options available to the diagnosis (there's just medication, medication, medication).

Here's the thing that makes me crazy... there really are other ADHD treatment options out there, but they're not covered under our medical system (I'm in BC, Canada). For instance, friends of ours decided not to medicate their daughter and opted for cognitive training instead (ie interactive metronome, etc). It cost them about $8,000, but IT WORKED. She's like a different kid. Why isn't that covered by medical?

Anyway, you don't need a diagnosis to pay out of pocket for cognitive training. The only thing (that I'm aware of) that an ADHD diagnosis can help with is access to medication if you decide to try that route.