400Driver

All,

The son of one of our flight attendants is begining flying and has already hit the wall with securing his medical as he was medicated as a child for Attention Deficit Disorder and thus has been handed to another doctor for evaluation etc, etc.

Anyone out there have any experience or expertise in this stuff? I'm not familiar and barely know the ladd but want to try to give him good info.

High school grad, B average. 19 years old attending community college.

I don't know what meds or what the specific hang up is other than he must've checked off Yes to one of the dreaded boxes down there around line 18 and so his adventure begins.

All advice/info appreciated.

planecrazyjenn

I have a friend who's ADHD and I know he has a medical. I'd have to ask him how he went about doing it, though I'm sure someone here will shed light before I talk to him. If memory serves me correct, he was denied once...then when a doctor saw him, and wrote a letter stating he hasn't been on medication for a set amount of time, and no longer needed it...they gave it to him. Kids will be kids...doctors are waaay too happy with that diagnosis.

CPOonfinal

I agree with Jenn. Doctors and even more so, schools, are quick to diagnose a child with ADHD and prescribe "Vitamin R." I wish him the best of luck.

Pilotpip

Tell him to stop flying until he gets the medical. I had three students in this situation and it took all of them at least six months to get their medical. They won't be able to solo and will eventually hit a road block that could get expensive and could really destroy their enthusasm for flight.

It varied between all of them. One had to get a battery of tests from an FAA-approved psychologist that took the better part of three straight days. One just needed a letter from his physician. The other had to go through about half of the tests.

My suggestion would be to tell them to spend the $39 on a membership to AOPA. They have a FANTASTIC medical help division. In the lesser cases, both families got the membership and were able to go to the FAA with proper paperwork in hand. In the extreme case I really think mom's meddling had something to do with it. She called Ok. City ever week and was told that her son's app was in the short pile and would be processed soon. I really think those calls were hurting because she was annoying the paper pushers.

Pilotpip

Pip's commentary:

I third the comments above. Yes, there are genuine cases where it's needed but so many people are quick to throw their kids on riddlin because they can't sit still. Guess what? THEY'RE KIDS! They're not supposed to sit still. Let them grow out of it rather than destroying potential dreams.

In all three cases the parents told me that they did it because they wanted their children's grades to improve.

⌐ AV8OR WANNABE

My former student had his medical revoked 4 weeks after his solo flight. On his medical form (2nd class) he said he'd been taking Ritalin (sp?) in the past (2 years prior I believe). The AME missed that info and issued him his second class medical, I soloed him and a few weeks later he called me in tears saying he got a letter from the FAA saying his medical was revoked. This was in the late 90's not sure if things changed since then but I believe he was told he had to be off the medication for at least 5 years! before they'd issue him a medical.

I once read that Ritalin is oversubscribed in the majority of the cases, especially when it comes to boys. The author of the article said Ritalin was used to "feminize" the 'natural' behavior of boys. I’m not a doctor but that kind of makes sense to me.

wrxsteve

anybody know about ADHD and how they look at it? Because ADD and ADHD are 2 seperate worlds...


do they allow pilots to fly on ADHD medication? Im on strattera right now for my adhd and im wondering if i can even get my medical certificate ( im still in college earning my degree )

jban642

ADD and ADHD are one in the same. If you go to the FAA website, www.faa.gov there is a complete list on there of band drugs. You can also ask your AME.

deepthinker22

I would like to get any information on this as possible. I was diagnossed with ADD as a kid, and now am working on my pilots license. I still have add and I still am on medication, and yes it is still a problem for me especially in colage right now. It's not just an overdiagnosed problem, it is a problem for those of us who really do have it. I don't take my meds on the weekends anymore, but I still definatly need it for my classes. With the exception of physics, which because I enjoy it, stimulates my brain. Things that dont do this, well thats were medication comes in. Before I get some criticizms on ADD, I just want to know if there are any other options for medicals, or how do I deal with the buerocricy. Like I said, I do have it, and at least until I am done with school and have a job I enjoy, just stoping the medication is a very difficult option for me.
Thanks for any info I can get.

AmericanEagleFO

Spoken like someone who doesn't know what they are. Yes, many times they use the same meds, but no they aren't the same thing. No, you cannot take these meds and fly, and you need a 2 year history without them to get your medical. There is an older thread on here that I posted all the things I had to go through to get my medical. I am ADHD and had a real difficult time getting my first medical.

Here is the link.

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/pi...hd-denial.html