I just saw a copy of the report from the first diagnosis (from 2000). This woman is an MD and basically stated our daughter’s problems stemmed from an over-anxious mom. So the search for a better diagnosis began. I was not aware of this testing until after the fact.
The next consultant is a nuero-psychologist, very highly recommended and known around here. He conducts an extensive battery of tests, costing over $4,000 per child. Luckily insurance picked that up. His conclusion on all 3 was no ADD (of significance). The eldest “does not have an ADD bone in her body.” But she does have other learning issues (I wouldn’t call them disabilities). My wife finally heard about non-verbal learning disability which can manifest like ADD but is more of a processing issue (some people are visual, some are auditory). This made sense to me as well and is what the therapist was seeing (just not explaining very well). But he saw no need for meds for ADD. He saw most of the kid’s problems as stress related due to our continual fighting, and in this way, meds could help. I was aware of these tests and did sit in on the summary presentation.
The third is a psychologist specializing in children with behavioral problems. His focus is to diagnose and dispense meds. In my opinion he operates a revolving door prescription warehouse. But he saw ADD in the kids (after a quick TOVA test), hit my wife’s happy button and has been dispensing meds since. There is no way for me to stop this other than get a divorce and obtain joint guardianship. Then any medication will require joint approval, so I can block it. But I am trying not to go there.
