ADHD is a diagnosis of elimination. I think it's a win-win scenario to start investigating and ruling them out to the best of your ability before pursuing ADHD diagnosis.
I'd be wary if her procressing speed is high. A typical ADHD pattern is a large discrepancy between verbal comprehension index and processing speed. For example, my son's discrepancy at age 6 was huge. His IQ test at age 6 was FSIQ 106. His processing speed was 21st percentile. After ADHD diagnosis and with treatment, his FSIQ was..... 134? (I think?) and GAI was 141. Processing speed still lagged far behind, but was at 50th percentile.
I am extremely pro-ADHD-medication. But if your daughters only symptom is daydreamingness in the classroom and there's no big discrepancy with processing speed, I'll be more inclined to suggest there's a problem with academic match in her classroom.
One of the diagnostic criteria for ADHD is that symptoms are not limited to one environment, like school.
I'd encourage you to explore options to make her school experience better and carefully note suspicious symptoms. Work on sleep for her and teach her mindfulness meditation - which are both a very big deal for ADHDers. Be patient, if she has ADHD, symptoms will progress as demand increases in the coming years. When my son was 6, I didn't think he had ADHD (oops), but after a grade skip and after having him do schoolwork at home where I could watch, his symptoms became obvious. Your daughter might not fit diagnostic criteria today, but you might notice worsening progression and she might fit the diagnostic criteria next year. Does that make sense?
Last edited by sanne; 02/11/17 10:51 AM.
