ADD / ADHD Evaluation & Treatment

If you suspect or have been advised that your child is having learning difficulties or attention problems in school, we recommend that you first obtain an age-appropriate educational evaluation. Your school may be able to accommodate this evaluation.

Once the evaluation is complete, call our office to schedule a consultation with one of our physicians. Prior to the consultation, our triage nursing staff will send parent/teacher questionnaires to be completed. After completion, send the written parent/teacher evaluations to your child’s physician for review prior to your meeting.

What to Expect at Your First Visit

In this first meeting, the physician will meet with the parents alone, to review the child’s complete history and discuss the test results and recommendations. If our clinical assessment and the written evaluation suggest the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder, we will outline the treatment options, including classroom modifications and possibly the use of medication.

Stimulant Medication Info

What to Expect at Follow-Up Visits

At a subsequent visit with your child present, we will explain how medication may be helpful, including the expected therapeutic effects as well as the possible side effects. We also obtain baseline measurements of height, weight and blood pressure. Depending on your family history, we may order some pre-treatment cardiac testing. Once we initiate treatment of ADD/ADHD, we require each patient to have follow-up medication checks, particularly to monitor side effects, especially weight loss, or slow down of linear growth. We schedule follow-up exams every 3 months.

Please Note: Our physicians are experienced in the medical management of straightforward ADD/ADHD. If our physicians are not able to arrive at a successful treatment plan, or if in addition to ADD, a child has other emotional problems, we may recommend a separate psychiatric evaluation in order to find the very best treatment plan.