How to Tell If You Should Have Your Child Screened

• If your child has trouble paying attention (either because he or she is paying attention to something else or because he or she is "off in another world"), hyperactive, or fails to think things through before acting and is having lower than expected achievement in one or more areas (school, socialization, etc.), and these signs showed up before the age of 7 or 8, you may consider having your child screened for ADHD.
  
  

Ruling Out Other Conditions

• The first thing most clinicians do is rule out the possibility that your child has another condition that can mimic ADHD. In particular, hearing or vision problems can result in problems such as inattention and underachievement. If your child has not had a hearing or vision screening recently, the clinician will conduct one.
  
  

Psychological Screening

• If your child does not have a vision or hearing problem that can be causing the symptoms, the clinician will administer one or more psychological screening tests. Generally, at least one screening will be administered to make a diagnosis of ADHD and at least one will be administered to determine which of the subtypes of ADHD--hyperactive, inattentive, or impulsive--are present.
  
  

Interviews

• The diagnostic process won't stop with the screenings. The clinician will also interview you and often will also contact teachers, coaches, and other adults who have contact with your child.
  
  

Neurological Screenings

• Scientists are still studying the idea of using neurological tests for ADHD. So far, most cases are diagnosable simply from the psychological screening and the observation of the clinician and other adults. There has been some progress in using electroencephalograms to diagnose specific subtypes of ADHD, but at this point, those findings are mostly theoretical.