Dr. Ravital Lavi

Not really.

To be honest, I see quite a few children who arrive with that suspicion, and later it turns out the situation is much more complicated — or much simpler.

Sometimes it’s stress. Sometimes anxiety. Sometimes sleep. And yes, sometimes it actually is ADHD. But I usually try not to put a label on things too quickly, especially after one conversation.

Children change a lot. That’s important.

Depends what kind of headaches we’re talking about.

If it’s occasional headaches after school or long days — honestly, that’s very common. Especially in teenagers.

What worries me more is when parents tell me things are becoming more intense over time. Headaches waking a child up at night, vomiting, changes in behavior… that’s different.

Most of the time it doesn’t end up being something dangerous. But I still prefer parents not to sit at home trying to guess.

Usually not the “medical” thing.

Parents notice everyday stuff first. A child suddenly avoids stairs. Stops running as much. Falls more often. Gets tired strangely fast.

I’ve had parents apologize during appointments and say, “Maybe I’m imagining it.” And sometimes they’re not imagining anything at all.

So if something feels consistently off — it’s reasonable to check.

No.

And honestly I think the internet made this fear much worse for parents over the last few years.

Some completely healthy children simply develop later. That exists.

At the same time, there are situations where delayed walking is part of a broader neurological picture, which is why context matters more than one milestone by itself. I usually look at the whole child first, not only one developmental chart.

There isn’t always one dramatic moment.

Sometimes it’s muscle stiffness. Sometimes asymmetry. Sometimes parents just feel the movement “doesn’t look right,” even before they know how to describe it.

And actually… parents are often right when they feel something changed.

But similar signs can appear in other conditions too, so I’m usually very careful not to rush into conclusions too early.

It’s usually much less formal than parents expect.

Honestly, half of the consultation is just watching the child naturally — how they play, respond, move around the room, react to parents, communicate.

Some children open up immediately. Some don’t talk at all during the first visit and then surprise everyone later.

That’s why one short checklist is almost never enough.

No. Not by itself.

I probably repeat this almost daily.

There are children with speech delay who are extremely social and interactive. There are children where the main issue is hearing, attention, anxiety, or developmental pace.

So I really try to calm parents down before they jump into worst-case scenarios after reading things online for two hours at night.

Because that happens a lot.

Yes, of course.

Usually families send records first — MRI scans, previous summaries, videos sometimes too. I go over everything before the consultation because otherwise it wastes time for everyone.

A lot of families prefer starting online before deciding whether traveling to Israel even makes sense in their case.

And honestly, sometimes one conversation already helps organize the situation much more clearly.