First AME? Help!!! Advice Please??? Thanks

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I was going over what will be tested in a First Class AME and I think I will pass all categories as I am relatively athletic and workout, play sports, etc. But I also saw they check for ADD or ADHD which I DONT have. But in the 4th to 6th grade my teachers thought I had it and gave me pills. Later they found out I didn't because it was making me depressed. After 6th grade they took me off the pills and I was fine and they didnt think I had ADHD anymore. I didnt even get a single detintion in High School for all 4 years. lol I have been on NO Medication since the 6th grade and I have never even spent a night at the hospital or broke any bones.

They said it was the "hormone" "puberty" "teen growing period" my question is.

Will they find out that I was mis diagnosed with ADHD in the past? Confused about that area? Can someone explain it to me? Should I be worried? Thanks

I was only a child and it was so long ago. I hope it will not effect my future career.

Link in 1st class AME
http://flighttraining.aopa.org/learn...icles/0511.cfm
http://www.faa.gov/pilots/amelocator/
 
Every spring I have an office full of parents anxiously accompaning their graduate to the office for a First Class medical (Southern IL. Univ. College of Aviation). Some get very, very angry when I tell them they can't get one today. Why? Because they permitted their child, in the past, to have the presumptive diagnosis of ADD or ADHD by letting Johnny get put on pills on advice of a school social worker. Parents, you see, did not see fit at that time to get a qualified pscyhologist and psychiatrist to debunk the diagnosis. In a backhanded way, I tell them, though it would have been the right time to fight the diagnosis (age 10), now is certainly the time.

Two years is neither a long nor a short exposure. but it's been (I am inferring) 6 years since, which is in your favor. You will need: A letter from a board certified psychiatrist saying that to the best of his ability, you do not satisfy the DSM4 criteria for ADD, and likley never did. You see, ADD is a lifelong disease.

Three caveats. (1) The reason your parents didn't bother to fight the accepted and presumed diagnosis is likely that there is no benefit in the insurance plan for such care. Most insurance plans have about Zip for psychiatric care benefit. Additionally, if you use such, most plans require the psychiatrist to MAKE a diagnosis to get PAID, even if none such is readily apparent. (2) The same situation obtains now, six years later. When you go to the psychiatrist you need to make clear that it is being done for CASH so that he will not have to MAKE a diagnosis to get paid. (3) You could lie. However, if it is ever discovered when you subsequently call attention to oneself (bend or scrape metal, and you WILL), all the files get opened. FAA can get your diagnosis codes in a flash from the Medical Insurance Bureau, and when they do discover you lied, you will not be dealing with the Federal Air Surgeon. You will be dealing with certificate revocation and the Transportation Inspector General, an attorney with an unlimited budget. That will be the end of any aviation career. GONE. Done. History. Don't take this approach. See this also: http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20321

Your parents should have put up resistance in 4th grade. But rolling over is pretty common. It's about time and money.
 
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I got my First Class Med while BEING FULLY HONEST!!!
The AME after viewing all the documents stated that she did not consider me to have ADHD so therefore no mental disorder and it did not involve lying.
I did the following: All letters were formal and were printed with appropriate letter head, signature, etc.
1. Medical records stating the specific date ADHD was resolved and the discontinue of therapy and medication
2. Primary Physician stating when stopped medication and that I was performing well as well stating when the issue was resolved 2003 for me.
3. Original Diagnosing Psychologist letter stating I no longer had any issues and no longer met DSM IV criteria for ADHD.
4. CFI letter stating that I didn’t not have any symptoms of ADHD
5. High School teacher recommendation stating that I never have ADHD issues

The top 3 are EXTREMLY IMPORTANT and I brought all the documents to my AME who looked it over and stated that I don’t need to file saying I have ADHD (select no for mental disorders) as she stated that there is overwhelming evidence ADHD is not hindering my abilities and medication was stopped 4 years ago. Finally I was diagnosed in 1999 and resolved in 2003 so she said 4 years of ADHD in adolescent is questionable. She also said there were a lot if mis diagnoses during that time and told me to keep all those letters handy and in a secure place. The AME was also really good she was very helpful.

Thanks for you advice and help!!!

ADHD IS NOT HOPELESS FOR A FIRST CLASSIT JUST TAKES A LITTLE BIT OF WORK
 
This is just nuts. I'm glad that there is a procedure that will allow you to deal with this without lying.. however..

I just wish common sense could be allowed in situations like this. To be honest, if it were me, I would just ignore it as some silliness from my teachers when I was a little kid. ESPECIALLY since they realized they were wrong and you were mis-diagnosed... Certainly that should trump the original diagnosis.
 
Unregistered said:
This is just nuts. I'm glad that there is a procedure that will allow you to deal with this without lying.. however..

I just wish common sense could be allowed in situations like this. To be honest, if it were me, I would just ignore it as some silliness from my teachers when I was a little kid. ESPECIALLY since they realized they were wrong and you were mis-diagnosed... Certainly that should trump the original diagnosis.
Click to expand...
It's not the issue of "mis-diagnosing" all these kids with this so-called disease. It's the drugs being administered as a result which alter the brain chemistry; potentially for years or decades. There's quite a bit on the web about this research.

In my opinion, replacing discipline with drugs is tantamount to child abuse.
 
bbchien said:
Every spring I have an office full of parents anxiously accompaning their graduate to the office for a First Class medical (Southern IL. Univ. College of Aviation). Some get very, very angry when I tell them they can't get one today. Why? Because they permitted their child, in the past, to have the presumptive diagnosis of ADD or ADHD by letting Johnny get put on pills on advice of a school social worker. Parents, you see, did not see fit at that time to get a qualified pscyhologist and psychiatrist to debunk the diagnosis. In a backhanded way, I tell them, though it would have been the right time to fight the diagnosis (age 10), now is certainly the time.

Two years is neither a long nor a short exposure. but it's been (I am inferring) 6 years since, which is in your favor. You will need: A letter from a board certified psychiatrist saying that to the best of his ability, you do not satisfy the DSM4 criteria for ADD, and likley never did. You see, ADD is a lifelong disease.

Three caveats. (1) The reason your parents didn't bother to fight the accepted and presumed diagnosis is likely that there is no benefit in the insurance plan for such care. Most insurance plans have about Zip for psychiatric care benefit. Additionally, if you use such, most plans require the psychiatrist to MAKE a diagnosis to get PAID, even if none such is readily apparent. (2) The same situation obtains now, six years later. When you go to the psychiatrist you need to make clear that it is being done for CASH so that he will not have to MAKE a diagnosis to get paid. (3) You could lie. However, if it is ever discovered when you subsequently call attention to oneself (bend or scrape metal, and you WILL), all the files get opened. FAA can get your diagnosis codes in a flash from the Medical Insurance Bureau, and when they do discover you lied, you will not be dealing with the Federal Air Surgeon. You will be dealing with certificate revocation and the Transportation Inspector General, an attorney with an unlimited budget. That will be the end of any aviation career. GONE. Done. History. Don't take this approach. See this also: http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20321

Your parents should have put up resistance in 4th grade. But rolling over is pretty common. It's about time and money.
Click to expand...

I hope you don't mind, Bruce, but every time you post like this, I copy it and send it to my sister and my father to try to guilt trip them, since they decided a school social worker knew what she was talking about.
 
Medical Insurance Burea

I keep seeing you list these guys Doc. Is this Like a credit agency in that we, as consumers, should ask for a copy to check to see that it is accurate> I notice they offer a free report for the asking
 
Sigh. The problem is that when you see a 300.11 which is a psychiatric code, are you really in a position to say that is correct or not?

I'm constantly amazed by what accumulates in these files....
 
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