My kids had physicals today. So my H is repeatedly frustrated with my youngest son (9) and his inability to focus, stay on task, follow more than 1 step instructions, etc. My H is not very kind when providing his medical opinion about my ADHD or our son's ADHD tendencies. Anyway, the physicals seemed to be a good place to make an inquiry regarding getting my son assessed.

The resulting discussion with the physician was less than enlightening. He basically had me fill out a 20 item questionnaire and then based on my answers said he might have an inattentive type of ADHD. He went on to rattle off a bunch of basic Wikipedia type statements to me while making eye contact with only the floor. He offered no real information on how I might proceed with ruling in or out the likelihood of my son having this condition.. At one point he said, "well you can wait until school starts and let his teacher do an assessment of him???" I said... "Hum... well... I don't think I want my child's school to be diagnosing (labeling) my child and determining if he should be medicated or not." The pediatrician then gave me some vague statements about potential treatment options including experimenting with medications and a reward system for addressing bad behavior. At that point I held up my hand and said.... "I never said he had a behavior problem. You just assumed that misbehavior was an issue." "The whole reason for me raising this issue is because I want an assessment to determine what his REAL challenges are and to design an appropriate plan for dealing with them."

That is exactly the stereotype that I want to avoid. My son has a problem with focusing, is easily distracted, and has trouble finishing tasks. He does not have a behavior problem. He a really good, compliant, kid who does not disrupt or interfere with other children's learning. After making this point clear, I asked for a referral and left.

It just really pisses me off that even medical professionals seem also be so ignorant.