Toolkit · Essay 05

Questions to ask your doctor

You are not challenging your child's doctor by asking these. You are asking the questions the AAP's own guideline expects the process to answer. Good clinicians welcome them; the questions are partly a way of finding out which kind you have.

Reviewed by Edward Ratush, MD · July 2026 · Print this page and bring it.

At the evaluation (before any diagnosis)

1. Which diagnostic criteria are you using, and which specific symptoms did my child meet?
2. What evidence do we have from a second setting — did a teacher complete a validated scale, not just describe concerns?
3. What else could explain this picture, and how did we rule it out — sleep, anxiety, a learning disorder, vision or hearing, stress at home?
4. Was my child screened for conditions that commonly travel with ADHD?
5. Would objective testing add anything in our case — and if not, why not?

Before the first prescription

1. Why this medication and formulation, for this child, first?
2. What is the titration plan — starting dose, adjustment steps, and how long at each step?
3. What exactly will we measure to know it's working — and who collects the school data?
4. Which side effects should we watch for, and what's the plan for each — not just "call me"?
5. When will height, weight, blood pressure, and pulse be checked, and against what baseline?

At every follow-up (the optimization questions)

1. What did the measures show since the last visit — not impressions, measures?
2. What time of day does coverage end, and does that match when my child actually needs it?
3. Is this still the lowest dose that delivers the verified benefit?
4. My child has grown / changed schools / hit puberty — should the regimen be re-examined rather than renewed?
5. What would trigger a change before the next scheduled visit?

If the answers reveal a thinner process than you expected, two doors are open: bring this list back and ask for the missing pieces — most clinicians will respond well — or have the work done as a designed program through a structured second opinion or optimization review.