Diagnose Kids with ADHD

ADHD is a serious medical condition. While many people try to diagnose it themselves or use an Internet test, these methods are highly inaccurate. If you suspect your child has ADHD, it is recommended that you see a doctor and get an accurate diagnosis.

Steps

 * 1) Understand ADHD.  Many parents will, at some stage, wonder if their child has this condition, as many of the symptoms are similar to normal childhood behaviors. But ADHD is a serious chemical imbalance in the brain making it very difficult for the child to sit still, concentrate or control their behavior. If you watch an ADHD child in a group of same age peers, the ADHD child will stand out as being the most active, attention seeking and the most difficult to handle.
 * 2) See a doctor. If you suspect your child may have ADHD, see your local doctor and explain your concerns. They will refer you to a specialist who can diagnose ADHD.
 * 3) * It is important that the specialist conducts a full health examination. A lot of health problems can present like ADHD in childhood. A blood test is important to rule out things like hyperthyroidism, hypoglycaemia and lead poisoning which can all present the same symptoms as ADHD.  If your child is spacing out regularly, an EEG can determine if this is caused by a special form of epilepsy.
 * 4) * The doctor should also test your child's hearing and vision. Kids with hearing and vision impairments often learn to compensate, so even their parents may not know they have these conditions, but it can also cause concentration and learning problems and poor behavior.
 * 5) * An IQ test is also important. Gifted kids may appear to have ADHD because they may be easily bored, disruptive in class, and very active.  Also, intellectually slower kids can appear to have ADHD due to their immaturity.  A doctor can give a much better diagnosis once they know the child's IQ.
 * 6) * Once other medical conditions are ruled out, the doctors will need to find out if the child's symptoms are that of ADHD.
 * 7) * A doctor may ask to see previous school reports, letters home from school and examples of school work.
 * 8) * You may be asked to fill in a questionnaire about certain behaviors.
 * 9) * You may need to be interviewed about your child's behavior both now and when they were younger.
 * 10) * The doctors may need to speak with other people who work with your child, like their teachers, to see what other people's observations of the child's behavior is.
 * 11) * The doctor may also need to interview your child and observe their behavior.
 * 12) Establish that your child has the problems associated with ADHD. These may present themselves either in attention symptoms like concentration problems, underachievement at school, easy distraction, short attention span, short-term memory problems and so on, or hyperactive/impulsive symptoms like always being on the go, impatience and over activity.  Many ADHD kids have all these problems but only in attention or hyperactivity/impulse symptoms must be met for a diagnosis.
 * 13) Determine how severe the problem is. To be diagnosed, the problem should be much more severe that you would expect for a child of a similar age.
 * 14) Ensure that the symptoms are apparent in more than one setting.  ADHD is not diagnosed if there are only problems at school or only at home. The problems should exist everywhere.
 * 15) The symptoms must be chronic to be considered ADHD. ADHD is an inborn problem. There must be evidence of it from early life.

Tips

 * If your child is diagnosed make sure the doctor tells you the type of ADHD, how severe the condition is, and if any other secondary problems exists.
 * The process of being diagnosed takes time. It is good if it takes time because the doctor is doing a thorough job and making sure the diagnosis is accurate.
 * Many ADHD kids also have other coexisting conditions, including learning difficulties, ODD, conduct disorder and so on.