I just attended a 2E conference where, although it was supposed to be a general 2E conference, the main focus seemed to be on the trifecta of (inattentive) ADHD, dyslexia and CAPD (or other processing type issues). Pretty much the whole gamut of professionals who spoke, and the parents in attendance who had been around the block already, were of agreement that ADHD was the key that once treated resolved or at least reduced the other issues.
One thing that was really striking to me was the Pediatrician who gave the keynote speech talking about the fact that in his opinion inattentive ADHD is not a condition of attention (or working memory) but of cognitive control of attention and memory. That the ability to be really focused and have great recall does NOT rule out ADHD, if the child can only do it when it's "easy. This was a great big AH-A moment for me about my own DD. The psychologist who administered her WISC actually said to us at the end of the testing "I was sure she had classic inattentive ADHD until I introduced some visual stimuli and then I realised she had great focus". Which we were so relieved about at the time, looking back I think my DD could have been being treated for the last two years and actually had some clue about what was going on in her classroom!
Some of the points he made were that both reading and speaking can be seen as automatic functions of the brain, the reward is in the activity, they aren't hard for a child to maintain focus on, but writing is tedious. So a gifted child who is verbally precocious but can't write, or who knows the math inside out but can't get it on paper - you may have an OT problem, or an ADHD problem, or both.
Since hearing this guy speak I have completely changed my view on what inattentive ADHD is, how you treat it, why you treat it, how long for, etc. DD is on his waiting list but won't be seeing him until january next year.
So I guess from my perspective I would be considering seeing a paed and an OT. In my DDs case I already know that she has sensory issues, CAPD and dyslexia and I am convinced she has ADHD, the paed is the only person we haven't seen yet. I am pretty sure that the ADHD is there and that treating it will help a whole lot of other issues, but every other specialist we have seen has helped and she is doing better, way better, already so they were all worthwhile in addition to a paed re the ADHD.
