parenting

Danny is a rather troublesome 9 year old, and his parents are convinced he has ADHD. They know this because he won’t behave himself, so that must mean he has ADHD. They come to us, wanting a diagnosis and medication.

In clinic, Danny isn’t displaying any signs of hyperkinesis or inattention. We get Danny’s parents to fill out a Connors Questionnaire. Their answers score him as horrific. We send another Connors Questionnaire to his teacher. The teacher scores him as a moderately naughty kid. We carry out a school observation. In class he’s able to focus on tasks, doesn’t fidget in his seat, doesn’t get up and wander about, gets told off occasionally by teacher for playing pranks on the other kids. In the playground he’s a bit of scrapper who likes to play rough. Nothing majorly untoward.

We break the news to Danny’s parents. No, your son does not have ADHD. Are they pleased to hear that their son does not in fact have a debilitating and chronic neurological condition?

Are they bollocks.
Read the rest of this entry »

A very worried-looking mother brings her 8 year old daughter to us. She’s convinced there’s something mentally wrong with the daughter, and wants to know if she has ADHD.

The daughter, however, doesn’t come across as remotely hyperkinetic in the clinic. In fact she seems very well-behaved. We send for a school report just in case we’re missing something. The report comes back saying she’s a model pupil. Somewhat shy, never in any trouble. Doing very well academically. Definitely not ADHD.

The Mum then starts asking if she has Aspergers Syndrome. Appropriate eye contact, normal social interaction, no problems with imaginative play. No, she does not have Aspergers Syndrome.

In fact, the only thing we can find wrong with the daughter is that she’s very anxious. As far as we can tell, this seems to be because she’s mirroring the anxiety of her mother, who still seems utterly convinced that there’s something…something…wrong with her daughter.

We decide to refer Mum to a parenting class to see if it can help her to develop a more healthy relationship with her daughter. The results of the parenting class are somewhat unexpected.
Read the rest of this entry »