Talking to Your Doctor About ADHD
As ADHD is a diagnosis typically introduced in childhood, one that often coincides with a child’s first experiences with classroom education, it should come as no surprise that ADHD is one of the more prevalent, concerning, and often misunderstood disorders parents can encounter in their child’s early development, and one that merits thoughtful discussion between parents and the medical professionals providing diagnoses and care.
In this week’s episode of ParentTalk, Dr. Arthur Lavin walks parents through how to handle ADHD concerns (whether they emerge from a teacher’s observations or their own), how and when to bring these concerns to a pediatrician, what to expect from the diagnostic process, and how best to understand the results.
“Yes, call your pediatrician. Share your observations. But be sure you begin that process with one question in mind, ‘why is my child struggling?’ and not, ‘does my child have ADHD?’”
– Arthur Lavin
Episode Highlights:
– First steps parents can take with ADHD concerns.
– Starting a conversation with your pediatrician.
– What is ADHD, and why is it so complex a situation to get right?
– How doctors diagnose ADHD.
– Why does ADHD happen?
– How the diagnostic process works, and what to expect.