In my area, the opposite happens. We spend most of our time trying to explain that every problem is not necessarily a disability. When I see a teacher recommend that a lot of students get tested, it is usually a personal philosophy of that individual.

From a legal and fiscal standpoint, school personnel have incentive to NOT seek out the diagnosis.

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My daughter in starting 7th grade this year. I took her to child find when she was 4. She got an IEP for speech when she started pre-K, but started 3rd grade before anyone ever mentioned a 504 plan, and just got changed over to an IEP at the end of last year---despite my full cooperation and a lot of ugliness at school over things that affected her more than anyone around her. It wasn't until she was on the verge of developing new issues-depression and/or anxiety-that the middle school psychologist decided to actually open and READ her folder. And I've had hardly anything BUT ugly commentary from teachers throughout (except for 1st, 3rd & 5th grade-those years, she had amazing teachers). The sad part is, its' a whole lot harder to get help, when your kid REALLY is smart & motivated, and wants to please, but has legitimate issues to work around in school. It's like they had to see her fall apart to prove to them she wasn't faking or something. Unfortunately, a lot of teachers still don't even want to BELIEVE in AD/HD (like it's the tooth fairy or something) much less actually suggest a student has it (even if they're practically swinging from the ceiling). Especially for girls.

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