145 | Live Panel of ADHD Experts This Week’s Episode: At my local CHADD chapter (CHADD of Northern Illinois), we hosted a panel of experts and in this episode, you will hear the Q&A from this panel session.  I sat on the panel, as did Lisa Alexoff, Dr. Colin Ryan, Dr. Jeremy Kaplan, and Jonathan Carroll.  This conversation tends to focus on ADHD in adolescents. The panel spends a lot of time discussing childhood ADHD and answering question from attendees on that topic.  The last 15 minutes of the discussion is on adult ADHD. You’ll Learn: [10:25] – Dr. Ryan describes some materials he hands out to the attendees, including a medication log, which helps you track usage, dosage, and results. [11:50] – Another resource Dr. Ryan provides is a document entitled, “Does my child have ADHD?”, which is from the American Pediatric Association. [13:45] – Dr. Ryan describes a timeline that he provides attendees. It lays out the steps families should take to identify if a student has ADHD. Ryan walks through all of these steps. [21:43] – Dr. Ryan explains the difference between a psychological assessment and a neuro-psychological assessment. [23:05] – Dr. Kaplan explains his role as a psychiatrist, which is to help give the medication that is necessary to treat an individual’s ADHD. [25:21] – An attendee that has two children on medication asks how likely it is that her children will grow out of the need for medication for their ADHD. Kaplan provides a general answer for this question. He talks about why children in school situations require medication at that time, but may not require it later in life. [29:00] – I share some research findings that show that teenagers that are “forced” to be on medication by parents are more likely to stop taking medication in their 20s than teenagers are given the choice to take medication. [31:50] – Jonathan Carroll introduces himself to the group of attendees. [33:50] – Jonathan describes what an ADHD coach does for their clients. [36:26] – A mother (with ADD) that has two children with ADHD asks if medication help her children learn the skills to not be as impacted as an adult. Lisa says, “Pills don’t teach skills, but we can’t teach the skills if the pills aren’t on board.” [40:03] – A mother (recently diagnosed with ADHD) has a child with ADHD and anxiety and a child with depression, anxiety, Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD. One of her sons is not open to organizational strategies. She is looking for advice in this situation. The panel shares thoughts on this situation. [49:05] – We discuss the idea of sometimes needing to let students fail and preferring to have that happen in middle school, rather than when the students have gone away to college. [1:01:00] – An attendee talks about how his life has benefited because of ADHD. [1:02:34] – An attendee that has a child with ADHD asks if it is normal to jump around between medications and dosages. Dr. Kaplan addresses why this happens. [1:09:17] – An attendee asks a question about genetic testing. This leads to a discussion on the topic. [1:14:24] – The panel discusses that there are different types and presentations in the “spectrum” of ADHD and things can change in different points in life. [1:17:59] – An attendee asks a question about his three-year old daughter. He sees a lot of signs of ADHD, where others write the actions off as a just being a typical three-year old. The panel discusses early intervention. [1:24:20] – An attendee asks a question about evaluating and making a diagnosis for adults. [1:30:15] – An attendee asks what a good educational advocate looks like, and what can reasonably be expected from them? [1:33:57] – An attendee asks about finding a medication that works, but over time it becomes less effective. The panel discusses possible explanations. Resources: Use my Audible.com affiliate link for your favorite titles: http://www.audibletrial.com/ADHDreWired   ADHD reWired Coaching and Accountability Group! We have dates for our winte