Assessment: how is a child with ADHD assessed?
Everything in psychology exists within a spectrum. Meaning, almost all of us have some characteristics or traits linked to certain disorders without it meaning that we actually have the disorder to its entirety.
This makes it sometimes a challenge to identify whether our child or someone else we love is very energetic, versus when they have a neurological disorder such as ADHD. A psychologist is responsible for giving a more insightful outlook on the child’s situation, and this is often done through assessments.
From personal experience, assessments are the most important first step of the process of treatment. Assessments are used to provide a clear and evaluative perspective on the client’s beliefs, behaviours, emotions, and thoughts. They help both clients and the therapist to identify and understand the severity of a condition.
Children with ADHD:
Often find it difficult to concentrate on tasks or conversations that are not engaging for them
As their brain is working at slightly faster speed, they tend to make “careless” mistakes on simple tasks or activities
Find it difficult to pay attention to details that are not interesting for them
Avoid or have a hard time engaging in mentally demanding, long duration activities that are not stimulating for them
Tend to have excessive energy which shows through fidgeting behaviours
Tend to behave impulsively, struggle with self-control (for example struggling to wait for their turn, speaking out of turn, interrupting others in conversation)
Their excess energy is exhibited across different situations including school, home and free time specially even in situations where sitting down, being calm and quiet is required
When a psychologist is assessing a child for ADHD (or for any other disorder), they take a holistic approach regarding the child’s behaviour. This means, the psychologist will not only take into account the symptoms discussed in therapy but will go several steps further and deeper into the child’s daily life and how these symptoms are affecting them. The psychologist will likely ask about the child’s behaviour at school, from teachers; at home, from the parents; and for other social activities (sports, etc.). In addition, a further evaluation will be made by observing the child itself in different settings (spending time with them), and providing a variety of standardised clinical tests, intelligence tests, and screening (physical, medical, hearing, learning disability screening, etc.).
The process of assessing a client is one of the most important parts of my job, because it is essentially the construct of everything to come, including treatment, and gives a significant clarity both to me, and to the parents of the child as to what exactly is going on.