The other day at a BBQ, I met a friend of a friend. When the woman found out that I was an ADHD coach, she had some questions for me. I thought I would share some of those questions and my answers with you.
Let me start by giving you some background: the woman has a 7 year old daughter who did not do as well as expected in kindergarten or first grade. The first grade teacher mentioned ADHD as a possibility.
Although the trend recently seems to be to diagnose children as young as 3 or 4 years old with ADHD, the DSM IV – the diagnostic guide for mental health professionals – says that the minimum age to diagnose ADHD is 7 years old.
While teachers (and parents and coaches) might be able to spot a child who may have ADHD, teachers are not qualified to make such a diagnosis. Psychiatrists, psychologists, doctors and some social workers are the only professionals who can diagnose ADHD.
A child who may not do well in kindergarten or first grade may have lots of other reasons – perhaps they are on the young side and should have started kindergarten a year later, maybe there are reading, vision, or hearing difficulties, maybe their social skills keep them from participating. There can be lots of causes other than ADHD.
In this little girl’s case, she had moved to 2 different states in 2 years, switched schools, and moved twice more within the current state in which she lives. Her parents had also gone through a difficult divorce.
Is it any wonder that she was having trouble in school?
I didn’t get a chance to talk at length with the child’s mother, but it seemed to me that she wasn’t fully aware of how much of an impact these events could have on her child. Of course she was aware that they had affected the entire family, but when someone in a position of authority such as a teacher suggested ADHD, she gave that opinion maybe more validity than she should. (To be fair, it’s doubtful that the teacher knew everything about the little girl’s recent background and was making the call based on what she saw and knew.)
The point here is that if you are told by someone in authority that your child might have ADHD, filter that through your gut – what you know and feel about your child. Just make sure that you are honest with yourself.
And by the way, the reverse is true, too. Although a valid diagnosis shouldn’t usually take place until age 7 or so, I knew when my son was about a year and a half old that he had ADHD. I waited until he was 11 to seek a diagnosis because I was waiting for someone in authority to tell me to have him tested. If you think your child has ADHD, don’t make my mistake and wait.