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UTLonghorn_1979
It's also quite possible that people were underdiagnosed in the past. That certainly does apply to a lot of the ASD. Johnny was always a weird kid was often a diagnosis in the past without delving into why.
And if it were considered written in stone, it would be disingenuous. The answer, however, that there is a procedure to verify that misdiagnosis. It has waffled over the years with the FAA, but we are back in the case where long term success without medication, gets you a pass. Otherwise, there's analysis (perhaps slower and costlier than one might like) to confirm it.
The problem is that you don't "grow out" of ADD/ADHD, so if you actually did have it as a kid, it's a large red flag as an adult.
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Maybe it was misdiagnosed before the prevalence of ritalin, adderall, etc., but I really don't think we've become that much more aware/better at diagnosing ADD/ADHD between 2009 and 2024, right?
I totally agree there are adults with full blown ADD/ADHD that have no place in a cockpit, I don't believe, however, that the population of medical applicants is in reality as large as the FAA or many on this chain seem to believe, but I acknowledge that you want someone that is diligent and not constantly distracted attending to things. The population I'm referring to are those that didn't really need that diagnosis and thus medication, but were prescribed it anyways because, "hell, it can't hurt things." I know tons of people in college that didn't have ADD/ADHD that got prescribed adderall to help them study during finals.
Wouldn't flight instructors be able to tell and state if a student was incapable of paying attention and attending to the needs of being PIC? I hear instructors tell me all the time that there are folks that they won't fly with because they are totally unsafe but otherwise pass the FAA's test for medical fitness.
My point is things aren't as black and white as the FAA approaches them.
And if it were considered written in stone, it would be disingenuous. The answer, however, that there is a procedure to verify that misdiagnosis. It has waffled over the years with the FAA, but we are back in the case where long term success without medication, gets you a pass. Otherwise, there's analysis (perhaps slower and costlier than one might like) to confirm it.
The problem is that you don't "grow out" of ADD/ADHD, so if you actually did have it as a kid, it's a large red flag as an adult.
[/QUOTE]
Maybe it was misdiagnosed before the prevalence of ritalin, adderall, etc., but I really don't think we've become that much more aware/better at diagnosing ADD/ADHD between 2009 and 2024, right?
I totally agree there are adults with full blown ADD/ADHD that have no place in a cockpit, I don't believe, however, that the population of medical applicants is in reality as large as the FAA or many on this chain seem to believe, but I acknowledge that you want someone that is diligent and not constantly distracted attending to things. The population I'm referring to are those that didn't really need that diagnosis and thus medication, but were prescribed it anyways because, "hell, it can't hurt things." I know tons of people in college that didn't have ADD/ADHD that got prescribed adderall to help them study during finals.
Wouldn't flight instructors be able to tell and state if a student was incapable of paying attention and attending to the needs of being PIC? I hear instructors tell me all the time that there are folks that they won't fly with because they are totally unsafe but otherwise pass the FAA's test for medical fitness.
My point is things aren't as black and white as the FAA approaches them.