The first point of contact, help, and support is your GP if you feel that your child’s behavior is bad, not normal, or is problematic. This is because this might be the signal of ADHD and other accompanying disorders. In many cases, the GP might refer you a specialist for proper and complete diagnosis. Then, you also need to visit that specialist. For all appointments that you get, you must know what to answer when the GP/specialist questions you and what you should ask the GP/specialist. Remember, there’s always a first time of doing or facing things, but one needs to do so with a little bit of preparation or homework in order to increase the probability of success. Let’s get aware of what preparation needs to be done for you and your child and how to handle appointments.

Preparation Tips

The main aspect of an appointment is to provide complete and accurate information so that you get the most appropriate support. The bottom line is talk to GP/specialist as much as possible to get the maximum out of them. So, at first, think of the problems that your child is facing and organize them in your mind. Here are some tips to prepare yourself before attending an appointment.

• Be specific. For instance, avoid speaking ‘some time’; rather tell the exact duration.
• Jot down the symptoms on a paper. This will not let you forget any of them when you discuss them in the appointment, nor will the doctor forget them in determining a solution. However, let me tell you that your GP might not go through each and every piece of information you provide due to lack of time; but might do so after the appointment.
• Ensure that you do not even miss mentioning the minor symptoms
• See if you can take two appointments simultaneously. This is because on an average, a single appointment would last only for eight minutes and that is insufficient to discuss the problems related to ADHD. Do not hesitate to explain the reason of requiring two appointments. If you still could not take two appointments, you simply have to take a few more appointments to discuss all the issues.
• Show all the medicines in the appointment, even the ones which are been taken without any prescription. In short, ensure that you inform about all the medicines being taken by the child having ADHD.
• Know the health status of your relatives, as family history matters a lot in such discussions.

At the First Appointment

It is difficult to diagnose ADHD only with the help of a GP, which calls for the entry of a specialist in the analyzing process. If it is not diagnosing, what happens in the first appointment?

Well, at first, you might be nervous or hesitate to raise the problem of ADHD to your GP due to a fear of bad impression of your child. But, let me tell you that a GP recognizes ADHD as a medical condition with a range of problematic behaviors in childhood and would therefore, be sympathetic; rather than criticizing. You need to kick off the meeting by explaining the abnormalities you observe in your child and your concerns toward them. This is where your preparation will be demonstrated. Once you are done with this, the doctor will:

• Question about your child’s health in general.
• Enquire about any current medication.
• Ask more questions for clarification, for instance, the effects of the problems on the child.
• Investigate with you about the child’s and family’s medical history.
• Conduct a physical assessment.
• Assess the child’s hearing and sight.

The above questions and examinations will help in identifying the exact cause from a variety of causes of ADHD. On the basis of this examination, the GP might suggest a specialist for your child for further assessment and diagnosis. Here, the GP might refer to specialist such as, a pediatrician or a child psychiatrist. This actually is determined by the characteristics of the problems told and to some extent on the availability. For example, if there is a problem with the speech of your child, the GP would refer a speech therapist first.

Questions to a GP

An appointment with a GP is actually a two-way discussion, wherein you would be willing to ask certain questions. Below are examples of questions that you might need clarification.

• What is the next help that I need to seek for?
• Until how much time I need to wait for a referral?
• What’s the exact motive of referring a specialist?
• How do you know that this specialist would be a right choice for my child?

At the Appointment of a Specialist

Diagnosis and an action plan are the two goals of taking a second appointment with a specialist. A specialist here can be a:

• Pediatrician
• Psychologist
• Psychiatrist
• Speech and language therapist
• Occupational therapist

Questions to You

Listed below are the topics related to which the referred specialist will ask questions.

• Child’s medical history
• Family background
• Behavior difficulties (current and previous ones)

Apart from these topics, you may be specifically asked about your child’s behavior using pre-designed questionnaires, also called as rating scales.

Questions to Your Child

To make your child involved in the process, the specialist will ask questions related to the behavior and would let the child speak express his/her feelings about the problems.

Evaluation Methods

Here are some methods that a specialist apply to assess your child.

• Physical Examination
  Here, the specialist physically examines your child and verifies that there is no medical condition responsible for the growth problems, for example, a speaking problem. Based on the conclusion, the specialist might suggest some specific tests, such as blood test.
• Educational History
  Here, the specialist will carefully go through the comments given by the class teacher or school. Sometimes, the specialist might suggest an educational psychologist for further examination.
• Clinical Observation
  Here, the process of examining your child takes place at home, school, or at any other place, other than the clinic. This is because sometimes, the environment of a clinic is such that it can distort your child’s behavior.
• Development Tests
  Here, the specialist tests your child’s developmental skills by implementing physical tests. For example, a test might be conducted wherein a child might be asked to write something that is placed distantly, catch a ball, or explain what was just told to him/her. The results of such testing indicate whether a child can express properly, write correctly, and think and act accordingly.

Final Results

Once all the tests are over, the next step is to diagnose. On the basis of the causes detected, an action plan to treat the same follows up next. In between these two steps, you might have questions to ask. Always ask questions and get a solution to your doubts or confusion to avoid future misunderstanding or anxiousness.

Questions to the Specialist

Listed below are the questions that you might want to ask to the specialist.

• What is the severity of the problem?
• What is the conclusion of your diagnosis?
• Which treatments can be taken? How long they need to be taken?
• Can simple modifications in the lifestyle help?
• Is there is need of medications? If yes, does the child need to take them daily? What can be the possible side effects?
• Until when the medication will show the effects?
• What to do if one of the preferred treatments is not effective?
• Will the detected problems be overcome completely?
• How frequently you will be monitoring my child’s progress?
• Would you be willing to explain the entire thing again to my life partner?

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