Diagnosing ADHD
It seems that there are more and more children being diagnosed with ADHD. On average one or two children in each classroom will meet clinical criteria for ADHD. A common question we get asked by parents is “how do you diagnose a child with ADHD?”
Unfortunately, there is no simple blood test, EEG or MRI that can be performed to make a diagnosis. A diagnosis relies on taking a good history and obtaining collateral information from the school and other allied health professionals.
For this reason, our Paediatricians generally do not make a diagnosis on the first consultation as we will often need to gather more information.
Our Paediatricians will often consider the following information:
- Parental reports
- Teacher reports
- Child reports – particularly adolescents
- Standardised questionnaires (Conners/Vanderbilt)
- Results of cognitive testing
- Considering other conditions such as anxiety, learning difficulties, trauma etc.
- Reports from allied health professionals
In order to make a diagnosis of ADHD, the presentation must meet the DSM-V criteria which can be found here.
Only after careful consideration of all the above information will your paediatrician decide whether your child’s symptoms are best explained by a diagnosis of ADHD.
