I've been looking for information on the website adhdonline.com. Their "services" are $150, and they claim to be able to provide a real diagnosis from a licenced psychologist, which will be accepted when a patient needs meds, accomodations, etc.

I couldn't find much, but they had the official logos for both ADDA and CHADD on their site. So I sent a message to ADDA through their general contact form on their website, asking if they could vouch for adhdonline, since their logo is on the site.

I've worked in graphic design. It's not legal to use an official logo like that w/o permission. Using the logo therefore implies that they have permission from ADDA and CHADD, and that would mean they've been vetted by those organizations and are a legitimate service.

Again, I sent my question through the contact/info form on ADDA's site. So you can imagine my surprise when the reply I got came from Duane Gordon, the president of ADDA. Please understand, I've never met him, and I'm not even a member of ADDA myself. I certainly didn't expect this, but it really is a HUGE deal to use a logo in that way.

This is the reply:

Dear Ms. ArtOfTheSunlessSea,

I'm sorry to say that ADDA is not able to endorse ADHD online.com's services. We have not reviewed their operating procedures, protocols or the science they are using.

Furthermore, we did not authorize them to use our logo on their website. Your email was the first time we heard that our logo was on their website, and when I looked, I saw that our logo was displayed right next to CHADD's logo.

I have contacted Dr. Robert Catoi, CHADD's CEO, and informed me that CHADD has not evaluated their operations, approved their approach to testing, nor have they authorized the use OF the CHADD logo on their website.

Thank you for contacting us. I wish I had better news to give you.

To your success,

Duane Gordon, President

Attention Deficit Disorder Association (ADDA)

In light of this, I'll continue looking for an affordable diagnostic service. I hope this is useful information for y'all.