ADHD Assessment For Children

The most common reasons for children being referred to our Centre include concerns about:

• Disruptive behaviour at home and/or school.
• The failure of the child to respond to normal disciplinary and management procedures.
• Persistent impulsive behaviour which may cause a danger to the child, disruption in the classroom, or problematic social skills.
• Weak concentration which is impairing the child in the classroom.
• Problems with mood swings, anxiety or depression, lack of emotional warmth, lack of friendships, and failure to progress academically or socially as a teenager.

Pre-Assessment

•  The child will need to be referred to the Centre by their GP.
• We encourage parents to phone the Centre prior to the assessment to discuss with our staff what will be involved, what the expectations of the assessment are, and to arrange to forward to us any previous reports.
• There are formalities to be completed such as agreeing to the Centre’s terms and conditions, discussing funding and possible health insurance involvement, and answering any pertinent questions.
• The family will be sent our childhood history form for completion and where appropriate forms to be completed by adolescents.
• We will also, with parents’ permission, write to the school with our teacher information form and request feedback and school reports.

Assessment

A quantitative EEG (QEEG) is completed as part of our child ADHD assessments.  QEEG findings evalue how effectively your brain is working but also whether your particular profile of brain activity is the kind we would expect given your pattern of symptoms.

This is followed by a consultation completed by one of the Centre’s paediatricians or psychiatrisits and usually takes between two to two and a half hours.  The assessment collates the tests that have been previously completed, and time is spent taking a careful history from the child and his or her parents.  Evaluation of assessments and previous strategies are made.  A clinical assessment is made as to whether or not the child has ADHD, ASD or any other coexisting conditions that may or may not be present.

Having come to a conclusion regarding the diagnosis, time is then spent during the assessment evaluating an appropriate management plan.  This will almost always include educational strategies and other support may include counselling, ADHD coaching, social skills training, Cogmed, neurofeedback or medication.  The management programme is carefully delineated in conjunction with parents’ understanding and wishes.

As part of the clinical assessment, there is close liaison with schools, who are asked to provide information for the initial assessment and also feedback on the child’s progress. This service also includes guidance to teachers, via our Schools Liaison Officer, on educational strategies for helping the child with ADHD and related conditions in the classroom.

Following the clinical assessment, on most occasions, the professional will want to be in regular contact with the family, particularly when new management strategies are being put in place.  To monitor the patient, a follow-up appointment is made as appropriate and arrangements for more frequent contact if necessary by phone or e-mail between appointments.

On many occassions, our clinical child assessment is also completed in conjunction with some of our other assessments, enabling us to assess all of the individuals difficulties, determining whether a diagnosis is appropriate or not and creating a management plan. These assessments may include:

• Autistic Spectrum Disorder assessment
• Educational Psychology assessment
• Occupational Therapy assessment
• Speech and Language assessment