ADHD testing in maryland area

[Phaselis]

Hello

My son's doctor wants us to get tested him for adhd. I did search couple places, but they are not working with any insurance companies. Test is expensive 2500 dollars, I cannot afford it. Do you know any testing center, working with United Healthcare and medicaid? It can be either in Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia or Pennsilvania. Thank you

[BVBV]

You can get a diagnosis right through their Pediatrician. You will need to fill out a lot of paperwork about their behavior, as well as teachers/staff at their school. This is how my son was diagnosed. He also now sees a Pediatric Neurologist who did an hour assessment. You don’t need to pay a special company all that money to get a proper diagnosis.

[Phaselis in reply to BVBV]

Thank you for your reply.

[Nats2005]

My understanding is that Children's National Medical Center in DC and Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore offer neuropsychological testing that insurance will cover. Unfortunately, the waiting lists are huge, 9 months to a year.

But similar to what BVBV said, it is possible to get a diagnosis based on a short visual assessment by a regular child psychologist and parent questionnaires. That's how we got our son diagnosed with ADHD and ODD. Then a psychiatrist on staff at the pediatric practice we use was able to prescribe Adderall and other meds.

We are on the waiting lists as there seems to be more going on with our son than just ADHD (possibly on the autistic spectrum, may be other issues) and we feel like the full testing is needed.

[Phaselis]

Thank you for replying my question. I will search the institute what you said

[ELucas13]

I got the diagnosis through my pediatrician but I believe Maryland schools can also test for this because it would give you an IEP. You just have to get the ball rolling and contact teachers, etc. to request the assessment. The process is very long.

When I called around for places in Maryland to test my son for a learning disability, they informed me insurance wouldn't cover that but it often covered ADHD because it's considered medical.

Kennedy Krieger has a long waiting list but they do work with all types of insurance. That was the other issue we encountered, so many waiting lists! Good luck!