I hear from a lot of parents looking for ADHD testing for their children. I’ve also talked with several adults looking for the same type of evaluation for themselves. Many people I’ve talked to are experiencing long wait times and/or significant expense associated with this type of testing. A diagnosis of ADHD does not require formal testing, but it does require a formal evaluation by a licensed professional. As a way to offer help, I thought I’d note some options here that people can use to get the ball rolling in this regard while they’re waiting for testing or maybe even gather enough information to create a plan of action for seeking help for their children or themselves without formal testing.
Nota bene: This information is being provided as a way to gather data about the possible presence of ADHD. The information is not intended to be a substitute for evaluation or treatment by a licensed professional. This information should not be used to diagnose or treat a mental health issue without consulting a qualified provider. Any treatment plan should be created with and monitored by a licensed professional.
Let’s start with a point of clarification. ADHD stands for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Further, ADHD has two subtypes: Inattentive and Hyperactive/Impulsive. I’ve often heard people remove the “H” and refer to the condition as “ADD,” but this is technically incorrect. There is no formal, clinical diagnosis of ADD in the DSM, the diagnostic manual that clinicians use to make diagnoses related to mental health. As you can see when the initialism is spelled out, “ADHD” includes both subtypes, so it’s the correct name of the condition. When a diagnosis is made, the subtype will be specified, so that will indicate whether a person has one or both subtypes of ADHD.
Formal testing, known as psychological or neuropsychological testing, is one way to ascertain whether a child has ADHD. As I mentioned, formal testing is not required to make an ADHD diagnosis, however. While many schools have a school psychologist who may be qualified to administer such testing, it seems very few of those psychologists actually have the time to administer testing specifically for ADHD due to the other responsibilities of their roles in the school. Usually, families are referred out into the community for testing, and there are several providers in the Phoenix Metro area who may be able to help with this. For contact information for a few of the providers I’ve worked with in the local area, click here.
Be advised that your insurance may or may not cover psychological or neuropsychological testing, which includes ADHD testing. Testing can be very expensive because of the time that goes into administering the testing, interviewing the parents and child, consulting with teachers, analyzing the test data and writing up a report, so be sure to check with your insurance company regarding your benefits/coverage before scheduling such testing. If your insurance company is unable to provide you with information about reimbursement for psychological testing without billing codes, you can contact the facility where you plan to have your child tested and ask for the CPT or billing codes that will most likely be used to bill for the evaluation/testing. Then, you can call back to the insurance company and see if they reimburse those specific codes. As insurance companies always state, an estimate of coverage based on your specific benefit plan is not a guarantee of coverage, and you may be responsible for the charges if they do not cover them.
Without further ado, let’s talk about what you can do for yourself or your child to ascertain the possibility of the presence of ADHD. For starters, review the specific DSM criteria for ADHD in adults and children here and make note of which ones apply. It may be helpful to review these criteria with your child as well to solicit their opinion of their functioning. Of course, individual awareness varies, so see this as simply an opportunity to gather their input or at least gain an idea of their current level of insight into their own behavior. As an adult considering the possibility of ADHD, you may wish to solicit input from others who know you well. Sometimes, it’s difficult to see the forest for the trees when self-evaluating.
Next, for children, parents/caregivers and teachers can complete the Vanderbilt Assessment Scales used for diagnosing ADHD. These scales were created by the NICHQ, and you can find them in printable format free of charge here. Scoring information is included.
For adults, the diagnosis of ADHD requires the retrospective evaluation of ADHD symptoms in childhood. This is because ADHD is generally a diagnosis of childhood. There are cases where ADHD seems to develop in adulthood after things such as extensive drug use or traumatic brain injury, but these are the exception rather than the rule. For a retrospective evaluation of ADHD symptoms, the Wender Utah Retrospective Scale can be used. You can find it free and printable here. Scoring information is included.
Once you’ve reviewed the criteria and the rating scales are complete, you can take this information to a licensed provider for review and discussion of the possibility of a diagnosis. If an ADHD diagnosis is given, you can then work with your provider to create a treatment plan. Treatments include both psychological and medicinal therapies. The best psychological treatment for ADHD is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, wherein a person learns coping skills and other strategies for managing the symptoms of ADHD. There are also various medicinal treatments that can help mitigate some of the challenges associated with ADHD. These include natural supplements (such as fish oil, vitamins and various amino acids), homeopathic (plant-based) remedies and medication therapies (both stimulant and non-stimulant). If medication is part of the treatment plan, psychiatrists are able to write the relevant prescriptions. Other physicians, such as pediatricians and primary care providers (PCPs), as well as other healthcare professionals, such as nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs), may also be willing to write such prescriptions and are often more accessible than psychiatrists, who are generally deemed specialists by insurance companies. Of course, do not start any of these medicinal treatments without consulting your doctor or other licensed medical practitioner. It’s important to be advised of possible side effects, drug interactions or other contraindications based on your medical history and any current regimens, including natural remedies, and the consequences of not doing so could be dire.
Many people ask about the necessary duration of ADHD treatment. This can vary widely across individuals. ADHD is a disorder of the frontal lobe, specifically the prefrontal cortex, which is at the very front of the frontal lobe. The frontal lobe is generally not fully developed until the age of 25. It’s responsible for things such as attention, decision making, judgment, inhibition and impulse control. Research has shown that the frontal lobe is smaller in people with ADHD. In some cases, however, this is a developmental delay rather than a permanent condition, and the front lobe eventually grows to a more typical size later in life. This means that some children may only need treatment for ADHD for a limited time, while others may need it for the rest of their lives. Some parents opt to give their children drug holidays, wherein children don’t take their medications when they’re not in school, in close quarters with others or in other situations that require a certain degree of self-restraint. Some physicians support this practice, while others do not. If drug holidays are used, the periods without medication can be used to evaluate progress/current functioning.
DISCLAIMER: Material on this site is for informational purposes only. The content of this site is not intended to be a substitute for evaluation or treatment by a licensed professional. Information contained on this site should not be used to diagnose or treat a mental health issue without consulting a qualified provider. The use of this website does not convey any doctor-patient relationship. All material is the intellectual property of Jennifer Bellingrodt, Psy.D. The material is copyrighted and may only be reproduced with the express written permission of Dr. Bellingrodt.
