Your Finances: Handling ADHD costs

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is the most commonly diagnosed childhood behavioral disorder, with the number of parent-reported cases amounting to 9.5 percent of all kids age 4-17, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Besides the social and educational impact of the illness, there are also financial implications.

One study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry tabulates the direct costs per year for ADHD treatment as $1,574 per person, plus $2,728 for each other family member (including indirect costs like lost income).

Here are some tips for striking the right balance:

Chris Davis, whose 9-year-old son shows early signs of ADHD, takes an active role in leveraging what his local school has to offer.

"We find out in advance of bigger [school] projects that are coming up, so we can divide a large assignment into digestible chunks," Davis says, alluding to the fact that his child, like many kids with ADHD, has trouble managing big tasks. As a result, they haven't needed to move their son to a private school with smaller classroom sizes, saving them an annual tuition fee of $20,000 or more in his home state of Connecticut.

Still, some local schools may be so cash-strapped they haven't got the extra resources, forcing some families of children with needs to seriously consider going private.

And don't automatically write off publicly funded programs, even though many in-demand providers may not accept it. If your child has a disability, regardless of your income, you can apply for Medicaid and have a service coordinator.