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As a parent of a child with ADHD, I say "no". When my son was three years old, I thought that his hyper activity was a normal part of being a little boy. After-all, he was not the first little boy in the family. I thought that maybe I was experiencing th terrible "twos" a little longer than other parents. When he was four and on the verge of turning five, I began to prepare him fr kindergarten. It was doing this trial and preparation period that I gradually began to notice some differences in his learning ability compared to my other children at the same age.

Never had I had tried to hold his attention for more than five minutes. But when we began to prepare him for kindergarten, it was vital that I did so. Finding this to be one of the hardest tasks of my life, I concluded that I should have him checked b his doctor. After talking with his doctor and describing the his symptoms, the short attention span, the uncontrollable hyperness, and the frequent forgetfulness, it was decided that he should see a child therapist.

When he was five years, he was diagnosed as being ADHD. His first year in kindergarten was very hectic. We experimented with the different drugs on the market for ADHD. i was very skeptical about any drug that would take away all his hyperness. Rather I wanted one that would allow him to remain an active child, but at the same time expand his attention span. It took going through a hectic kindergarten year to find just the right one, but the doctor and I did. He was happy, I was happy, and his teachers were happy.

Diagnosing him to be ADHD when the doctors did was the right time in his life to do so. ADHD can never be over-diagnosed in children. Every aspect of diagnosing a child with ADHD is important to his learning ability and functioning capability in society. Given all the tests that my son had to undergo to arrive at the right diagnosis, I would gladly go through it again with him. Over diagnosed, no, but complete accurate diagnosis, is the key to providing a child with ADHD with the best that life has to offer.

We as parents need to watch out for doctors who can't figure out what is going on with ADHD children. When you suspect that your child may have ADHD, don't be pushed aside. Take the time to study your own child and make notes of his behavior. Give this information to his doctor and be a guide for your child. I can't tell you how very important it is to have an early diagnosis of ADHD in children. It is so important that treatment be started as soon as possible for the ADHD child, so that he/she will not fall behind their peers. Equally important as early diagnosis and treatment, is the fact that an ADHD child must feel that he or she is no different than his peers or other members of the family. I have found this to be a very important aspect in raising an ADHD child. Don't make it point of treating the ADHD child differently, the you will be guilty of over-diagnosing.

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