Sign up for our Email Newsletter & Receive a Free Health Ebook!

The Process Of Attention Deficit Disorder Diagnosis

Diagnosing any medical condition is the first step towards treating it. And this holds true and I especially important in the case of child attention deficit disorder. This is so because the diagnosis of ADD is not based upon a specific medical measure or a psychological state. There are just guidelines that have been provided in the shape of symptoms that indicate the condition.

There are no specific medical laboratory tests that can be conducted to unequivocally stamp someone as an ADD patient. Moreover the guidelines that have been provided are also obscure and open to interpretation. And to top it all, the official diagnosis of ADD does not take the environment and the family situation into account.

Getting a proper diagnosis is important in the case of child since the ADD treatment and recommendations that follow are dependent on that. And due to the lack of objectivity in the evaluation, it is pertinent to have a group of experts evaluate your child to be completely sure that what you are going to tackle is indeed ADD.

Having a team that includes a neurologist, a psychologist, an school counselor and a social worker would be ideal. This ensures that the entire environment and scope of the child’s purview are covered and no aspect is omitted. The neurologist examines the central nervous system and in some cases an electroencephalogram (EEG) may be suggested.

The psychologist will evaluate the intellectual, social and emotional aspects of the person and assess issues like learning capability, emotional stability and social interactions. The counselor will lay more stress on the learning ability in the context of the curriculum and the school procedures and judge basic skills like reading, math and the like. The social worker will concentrate on understanding the family context and obtain information about the history of the child and the reaction and mental state of other members of the family.

This approach helps reduce the subjectivity in the evaluation and does not lead to erroneous child ADHD treatment. The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that a thorough medical history of the child should be sought and a medical examination should be done with regards to general and neurological health.

It recommends a comprehensive interview of the various people that the child comes in contact with like parents, teachers, friends and sometimes even neighbors. The child needs to be observed since he is probably incapable of insightful understanding of his own behavior and even if they do know their symptoms, articulating them may not be an easy task.

While diagnosing, it is important to observe the child in a noisy and excited situation rather than a quiet task like reading a book or watching television. DSM IV is the most common test that is conducted these days to assess whether a child has ADD or not. The DSM IV is Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. This manual lists a set of symptoms and for a child to be certified as an ADD patient, he needs to exhibit at least six or more of the nine specific inattention or hyperactive symptoms mentioned.

The child should also have those symptoms to a much higher extent than other children and should have occurred before the age of 7. They should have been recurrent over the past six months and should be causing disruption in learning abilities, interactions and daily matters. Lastly, it is important to observe whether the symptoms appear only a certain environment or are present in all settings.

There are many alternatives that you can choose from once it is certified that your child suffers from the ADD condition. You can choose a homeopathic treatment or an herbal remedy for ADD. You could also choose counseling and natural changes in diet to help you in making tings better.

Needless to say, proper and timely diagnosis of ADD can ensure that you change your attitude towards you child’s irritable behavior and be compassionate. It can help you move into a positive direction towards treatment.