The American Academy of Pediatrics has provided recommendations for primary care physicians to help in diagnosing, evaluating and treating children with ADHD. Although these recommendations are targeted toward children from six years of age to twelve, they can be helpful when treating children older as well. In addition, parents can benefit from knowing and understanding these guidelines to make sure their child is receiving the best possible treatment and to become actively involved in not only setting up the initial treatment plan but in monitoring the progress of their child.
The guidelines have 5 major points:
- Accepting ADHD as a chronic disorder
- Specification of targeted outcomes
- Recommendation of stimulant medication and/or behavior modification
- Re-evaluation for non-effective treatments
- Continued monitoring and follow up care
This recommendation involves creating a treatment plan that would evolve as the child grows. The understanding that children do not “outgrow” ADHD but must learn to compensate for symptoms that interfere with their education and daily living indicates a need for ongoing treatment. In addition, doctors should keep in mind that ADHD impacts many different segments of a child’s life. Where once the emphasis was on developing educational strategies to help a child in school, more and more doctors are recognizing that children are impacted in many different ways. Social skills, self-esteem issues, and lack of motivation are all seen as areas where children with ADHD may experience difficulties. In order for a treatment plan to be effective, all of these areas must be addressed.
According to the guidelines, accepting and treating ADHD as a chronic condition would include the following:
- Providing information about the condition
- Updating and monitoring family knowledge and understanding on a periodic basis
- Counseling about family response to the condition
- Developmentally appropriate education of the child about ADHD, with updates as the child grows
- Availability to answer family questions
- Ensuring coordination of health and other services
- Helping families set specific goals in areas related to the child's condition and its effects on daily activities
- Linking families with other families with children who have similar chronic conditions as needed
