ADD/ADHD Testing: My Experience with My Child

Testing for ADD or ADHD was not something I ever expected to experience. Then, my third child began coming home from first grade with reams of homework, nicknames of "absent-minded professor," and papers marked, "Why didn't you follow directions?"

Her room was a disaster area, and despite threats and rewards, this did not seem to change. She was a very pleasant child, but quite absent-minded and in her own little world. Nothing I did could "light a fire under her," and as this behavior continued into second grade, I felt something needed to be done before she began to suffer academically.

This is our journey down the ADD/ADHD diagnosis path.

Meet with your child's teacher

First, I met with my daughter's teacher and discussed the things we were both seeing: late work, struggling to stay on-task, daydreaming. I asked the teacher what I should do if I suspected ADD or ADHD. She said to begin the process with my pediatrician, so I made an appointment.

Meet with the pediatrician

Before meeting with the pediatrician, he had me and my daughter's teacher fill out a Conner's Index to gauge the level of her difficulties. The next step was meeting with the pediatrician. Our pediatrician tends to be "old school"/non-interventionist, and after reviewing the Conner's Index results, he suggested I just deal with my daughter's difficulties and see if she outgrew them. He also suggested that if she could pay attention sometimes (and she did; she can read for hours), she did not truly have ADD or ADHD.

From my reading, I knew that this was incorrect. ADD/ADHD is not truly a attention deficit disorder so much as a selective attention disorder. I felt I needed to explore this further, and my pediatrician recommended a pediatric neuropsychologist I could consult with.

Meet with the pediatric neuropsychologist

At this point, I truly began to realize that arriving at a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD was not going to be a walk in the park. I met with the neuropsychologist, who took a history of my daughter and our family. The next step was to schedule a time for her to be tested, which would take 3 hours.

ADD/ADHD Testing

The day of the testing, I brought my daughter in. The testing was 3 hours long, and she told me she did various things: she was given blocks and told to replicate figures she was shown on a paper. She told of another test where she wore headphones and heard different conversations in each ear; she was then asked questions about what one or the other conversation had involved.

During her testing, I was given several checklists to complete as well; these took me about 30 minutes.

Meet with the neuropsychologist, take 2

A few days later, my husband and I met with the neuropsychologist yet again to go over the test results. I learned that much of the testing time had been devoted to IQ testing, which surprised me - but perhaps this is standard. He went over results from all the tests, which included:
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children - IV
Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement - III
SCAN-C
Conner's Continuous Performance Test - 2
Personality Inventory for Children - 2
Disruptive Behavior Rating Scale - Parent Form

All these suggested mild to moderate symptoms of ADD/ADHD.

I asked the all-important question: "What would you do if this were your child?"

He said he would most likely see how this school year went. If my daughter ran into increasing difficulty getting schoolwork done, he said he felt she could benefit from trying a stimulant medication (he recommended Concerta).

I am reluctant to try medicine with her, but over the past few years as I have researched ADD/ADHD, I have come to see that it can be very helpful when used correctly. We will take a wait-and-see approach.

ADD/ADHD Testing Cost

So, what does all this cost? We were billed for both meetings with the neuropsychologist, and paid our copay of $45 each time. The testing itself cost just over $1000, with $600 knocked off in their dealings with the insurance company, leaving us $400 to pay (since the testing was subject to our policy's $400 deductible).

Our journey into the world of ADD/ADHD continues ...

SOURCES:
Personal experience