ADHD over-diagnosis the symptom of a greater problem

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DEAR DR. FOURNIER: I recently read your article answering a mother's question about her daughter's request to get tested for ADHD before taking her ACT/SAT college exams. If so diagnosed, the daughter could take them untimed and be prescribed ADHD medicine. In your column, you did not recommend getting diagnosed just for these exams. I think you missed the daughter's main point. I think it was obvious the student wished to be diagnosed so she could take the tests untimed. Students specifically have a difficult time in the English and reading comprehension sections because of the amount of reading required to answer the questions. What is wrong with giving a child more time to finish the test?ASSESSMENT: Whether the student desired to get a prescription for ADHD medicine or merely wanted more time to take college entrance exams, my answer is still the same. I have worked with children for 28 years, and each year my office is inundated with calls from parents wanting to have their children tested and diagnosed with ADHD.But this over-diagnosis is the symptom of a greater problem: America's drive to achieve success by the path of least resistance. Parents and their children desire success in the classroom. Teachers want their students to score higher on tests. And doctors want busy, successful medical practices that "help" children in need. The misdiagnosis of ADHD in children -- and the prescription-medicine regimen that follows -- is a shortcut equivalent to copying another student's answers on a test.Each year when parents ask me of the name of a "professional" who could diagnose their child with ADHD so that he or she can have more time on standardized tests, I instead recommend several time-saving, test-taking strategies. Unfortunately, parents don't want to go there. They would rather lie, cheat and steal: Lie to the doctors. Cheat the education system. And steal their child's morality and innocence.On another note, the letter you refer to specifically stated that the daughter wanted to get diagnosed with ADHD so she could take the ADHD pills like her friends. These pills are amphetamines -- chemicals very similar to stronger drugs that can lead to addiction, depression, anorexia and even suicide.Bottom line: No one should purposely get misdiagnosed with ADHD for any reason, whether or not he or she ever plans to take the medicine.WHAT TO DO: Refuse to lower your moral standards to follow the crowd down the easy road. If parents are so willing to quickly sell their children out to cut a few corners, then why should we expect our children to make any different choices?Even if you lived in a moral vacuum, there is another reason not to get your child misdiagnosed with ADHD. College boards and schools are quickly catching on to this trend, making the requirements more stringent to get untimed tests. Furthermore, if a student is somehow caught trying to beat the system, the stigma of being a liar and a cheat could follow him or her the rest of that person's life. Will that student find success in school or the workplace if known to be dishonest? I surely wouldn't hire anyone with that reputation.Finally, there are many test-taking strategies and other ways to improve your child's score on ACT/SAT exams. These skills will improve reading comprehension and allow your child to focus without the need of strong, mood-altering prescription drugs. By using these methods, your child's moral compass will remain intact, and you will teach your child a lesson in honesty that could last a lifetime.(Write Dr. Yvonne Fournier, Fournier Learning Strategies Inc., 5900 Poplar, Memphis, Tenn. 38119. E-mail her at drfournier(at)hfhw.net.)