ADD/ADHD
Office Guidelines

Parents often ask questions relating to how their child can be evaluated and/or treated for
ADD / ADHD.

The following information should answer all of your questions regarding office guidelines for evaluation and treatment of Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

For information on ADD/ADHD--symptoms, treatment, and what parents can do--click on The Challenge of ADHD.

How do I schedule an appointment for my child to be evaluated for ADD/ADHD?

1. Contact the appointment desk to request an evaluation.
   
2. Your doctor will then be consulted about your evaluation after which the appointment desk will call you.
   
3. If the doctor agrees, you will be instructed to pick up evaluation forms from the Patient Services office to be completed by the teachers and the parents.
   
4. After the forms are complete and returned to the Patient Services office, you will be contacted by the appointment desk with a date and time.
   
5. Literature about ADD / ADHD symptoms is available in the Patient Services office.
   
   

Treatment for ADD / ADHD

1. If your child has been diagnosed with ADD / ADHD, he/she may be prescribed treatment with medication. If the treatment includes a dose of medication at school, a doctor's order form will be needed to bring to school. The child is not allowed to bring the medication and form to the school -- only a parent or guardian.  Patient Service's office will complete these forms for you. At your pharmacy, you will need to request a duplicate label and bottle to leave at school.
   
   
2. Close communication with your child's teacher is important to monitor the effectiveness of the medication treatment. If there are still problems with ADD symptoms, contact your doctor here and discuss possible changes in treatment. If there are any changes in the medication dose at school, a new prescription and doctors' orders will be needed.
   
   
3. When it is time for a refill of your medication, please call at least 5 days before the medicine runs out. Since all the medication for treatment of ADD / ADHD are controlled substances, the prescription can only be refilled by your child's own physician. If you doctor is out of the office the day you call for a refill, it may take several days to provide the prescription. State law requires controlled substances to be only written prescriptions (cannot be called-in to the pharmacy). The written prescription can be picked up in the Patient Services office or mailed to your home.
   
   
4. Follow-up examinations are needed for your doctor to effectively treat your child with ADD / ADHD. The frequency of these exams vary among the doctors and depend on your child's characteristics and symptoms. It may be every 4 months or every 12 months that a checkup should be scheduled.
   
   

See "Safety of Pills Treating ADHD" from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

For more information on managing ADHD at home and in the classroom,
visit Schwabb Learning.