ADHD Testing
ADHD testing ranges widely from a basic interview and questionnaires to comprehensive cognitive testing. Here are the differences to consider when choosing an evaluation.
Basic ADHD Evaluations
Pediatricians, nurse practitioners, and psychiatrists often use a parent interview and questionnaires to decide if someone meets criteria for ADHD.
Psychologists consider this method as ADHD screening, not as an evaluation.
Why? ADHD is very complex neurological disorder that does not look the same for everyone. Cognitive testing is important to learning what the person’s actual cognitive abilities are. Questionnaires are biased - one person might perceive one behavior as hyperactive, while another person perceives the same behavior as “normal.” The rater typically does not have training in understanding typical versus atypical child development.
Basic ADHD evaluations like these are quick, low-cost, and do provide the option of medication more quickly than comprehensive evaluations. However, misdiagnosis can occur, and ADHD medication when given to someone who does not have ADHD can have serious negative consequences.
Comprehensive ADHD Evaluations
Psychologists typically use a parent interview, questionnaires, a school observation, and neuropsychological testing to decide if someone meets criteria for ADHD.
Why a school observation? The school environment allows specialists who are trained in atypical versus typical child development to observe a student out of the doctor’s office and in an environment that has expectations for neurotypical behavior.
Why cognitive testing? ADHD is very complex neurological disorder that does not look the same for everyone but does affect specific parts of the brain. Cognitive testing assesses the cognitive skills related to those parts of the brain, including attention, impulsivity, cognitive flexibity, planning, organization of information, memory, visual processing, and verbal processing. When combined with the interview, school observation, and questionnaires, the test results give the clinician a much more complete picture and a more accurate diagnosis. The results of the evaluation provide the client with an understanding of their unique pattern of strengths and weaknesses.
Comprehensive ADHD evaluations take more time and are expensive. However, most insurance providers cover a significant portion of the cost of comprehensive evaluations.