Cathy - good for you on trusting your own instincts. I've taken my son to numerous people only to discount nearly most of them. I'm very skeptical with most 'experts'. I usually bombard them with questions to suss them out and their expertise to find the holes, but it's taken me many years to get to this stage. My ds8 was born with special needs issues so I consider myself lucky.
You can run yourself ragged and crazy going from one 'expert' to the next. I have. Even with a 2e expert, they don't usually have the background or expertise than a 2e kid needs or how to get to the root of any issue/issues. Some of the 2e stuff can cross into so many areas and fields that it really can get overwhelming. I know.
IMHO, I think it's wise to start with diet and visual exam from a behavioral optometrist first and other possible treatments. 1) Diet is something that's controllable. Many people have gotten results from removing food dyes, refined sugars, gluten or grains, dairy and/or lactose, etc. from the diet. 2) The visual system accounts for over 80% of what we process on a daily basis. Visual processing deficits are usually easy to treat. Many gifted kids develop asynchronously and there can be a lag with their eyes and bodies in terms of developing.
Even if you suspect ADHD is a correct diagnosis, neurofeedback is increasingly being seen as an alternative to medication.
