For those children, she says, Ritalin may be an appropriate drug. But Gay maintains that parents must be involved in the decision-making process when it comes to deciding whether their child should be taking the drug. To diagnose the disorder, doctors and counselors do administer a variety of tests to children. One is the Achenbach Childhood Behavior Checklist, which asks parents to rate, in terms of severity, whether the child bites his fingernails, is secretive, sleeps more or less than others, threatens people, sucks his thumb, wishes to be the opposite sex, or worries excessively. Vanderbilt's Wolraich says the diagnosis of the disease is usually based on reports from parents and teachers, not from a doctor's firsthand observation of the child.
Experts differ on that question.
And ignorance and insurance issues have created a situation where professionals diagnose far too easily and where medication is too often used as the total solution. Wolraich, however, has a different opinion. Some children who might well benefit from Ritalin are not receiving medication. But there are also children who don't have the diagnosis who are put on medication. Jessica Golden, a second-year law student, speaks frankly, and rapidly, when she talks on the telephone.