ADHD And Psychological Testing
There is a paradox to ADHD that many parents know all too well…When a child is asked to pay attention in school, they immediately check out and/or talk to peers. Now, sit that same child in front of their favorite video game or an arts and crafts project, and they can focus for hours! What gives? The answer is complicated, but scenarios like these highlight the importance of testing to confirm a potential ADHD diagnosis and examine additional factors that may be at play, such as oppositional behaviors, anxiety, and other mood disorders.
I often tell concerned parents that ADHD is a disorder of “doing, “ not “knowing.” Many ADHD children and teens require multiple daily reminders to complete tasks, from homework to personal hygiene. Often, children know exactly what they are supposed to do, but the moment they are tasked to complete the request, something distracts them and they pursue that distraction instead. This can appear to parents like oppositional behavior, although this may not be the actual case. Believe it or not, many children with ADHD can hyper-focus on activities that interest them.
To have a child act without reminders, parents must engage their “executive functions” to help them learn to act without oversight. Instead of repeatedly asking a child every day for years to complete the tasks you are hoping they learn for themselves, here are a few strategies that can be taught quickly.
Two strategies include using visual reminders (excellent for children who are visual learners, generally) and changing the script. Visual reminders can be placed throughout the house, and provide multi-step instructions in an easy to identify visual graph. Visual graphs work best for young children. For older children and teens, I teach parents to “flip the script” in order to engage their child’s executive functions. This is one of my favorite communication techniques that I use with parents with children with ADHD and oppositional behaviors. Instead of providing directives, ask questions. Instead of saying “you need to get your work done before you can leave,” ask the child “what do you need to get done before you can leave?” Instead of saying, “Go brush your teeth and make your bed,” ask the child, “Tell me your morning ritual, and is there anything you have left to do?” This causes the child to think through their actions and verbalize the directives. Over time, this line of questioning, when used consistently, provides a child with autonomy and responsibility. For particularly challenging cases, I also recommend occupational therapy.
ADHD testing only takes a few hours and can open the door to helpful accommodations for the rest of your life. Assessments are used to determine whether difficulties are due to a true neurodevelopmental disorder (ADHD), or are better explained by mood symptoms. In ADHD testing, we examine executive functions, such as the ability to shift attention, remain vigilant, engage short-term memory, behavioral activation, and effort. Please call the office for more information about ADHD testing. Until next time! -Brian Burgoyne, PsyD
