Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Testing in Michigan
Struggling to pay attention, focus, or control excess energy can all be signs of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. Many people think of this condition as “normal” childhood behavior. However, left untreated attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder can have a negative effect on a person’s ability to perform at their best in school or work, and it can even impact personal relationships. Luckily, with appropriate diagnosis and treatment planning, those with ADHD are able to harness their strengths to achieve academic, professional, and personal goals. You can learn more about attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder testing in Michigan on this page, and the Learning Dreams team is here to help if you have any questions.
What is Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder?
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is often referred to simply as ADHD or ADD. This condition impacts a person’s ability to control executive functions like concentration, planning, organization, and accessing short term memory. Failure to control the executive functions can lead to struggles across settings – familial, personal, academic, and professional.
Why Would I Seek ADHD Testing for My Child?
Children who struggle with ADHD may begin exhibiting certain behaviors that indicate, at a young age, that they could benefit from interventions to address the symptoms of this condition. Some of the warning signs that young people may need ADHD diagnosis and treatment planning include:
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Difficulty concentrating, even when the child is interested in the subject
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Inability to track and remember details that are necessary to complete tasks
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Struggling to sit still, fidgeting, constantly moving, excess energy
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Impulsivity and poor understanding of the consequences for actions
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Mood shifts and frustration related to difficulty managing executive functions
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Poor planning ability and difficulty following through on plans
Should I Schedule ADHD Assessment for Myself?
Adults who struggle with untreated ADHD will experience many of the same warning signs as young people with ADHD. However, they have often developed skills to cope with this condition due to long term struggles without effective therapies. Adults with ADHD may spend longer hours at work or on classroom assignments than others because their difficulty focusing means tasks take longer than expected. They may have trouble remembering specific due dates, need to keep copious notes to remember how to complete detailed tasks and to focus their attention during meetings, or record conversations in order to remember details even for a short time.
What to Expect Before ADHD Evaluations
Before we ever schedule an ADHD evaluation, you’ll visit our office for an intake session. During this appointment, we’ll discuss individual and family health history, review information provided by referring physicians or educators, and discuss any specific concerns. You’ll also be asked to fill out questionnaires. Completing them in the office is often beneficial, but when necessary, you can take the forms home to finish. By the end of this initial visit, we should have the information necessary to determine which assessments will provide us with the most valuable information. From there, we will put together your or your child’s personalized testing battery and schedule the evaluation session.
What to Expect During ADHD Evaluations
We will create a customized testing battery to meet individual needs. We will provide you with details of what to expect during your visit, but in most cases, we ask that adults or children be prepared to complete testing over the course of several hours in our office. This will include evaluation methods that individuals may think of as “traditional” tests, but we’ll also conduct interviews, observe the test taker performing tasks, and throughout all of the evaluation process, we’ll complete ADHD rating scales. We understand that, especially for children and adults struggling with ADHD, maintaining focus over several hours of testing may be a challenge. However, determining and stretching those limits is an important part of the evaluation process, so we want to conduct as much of the testing battery in one session as possible. We will take breaks, have snacks, and refocus as necessary. We will schedule a second session if appropriate.
What to Expect After ADHD Evaluations
After your assessments are complete, your psychologist will provide a report detailing our findings. You should take some time to review this information. Then, we’ll schedule a follow up visit to go over the details of our report. During the follow up visit, we’ll also want to review all of the support services available that may be beneficial to improve your experience across settings. Some of the many therapies available to support individuals with ADHD include:
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Counseling – those who are diagnosed with ADHD may benefit from working with one of our therapists for counseling and behavioral medicine services. Between managing the way that ADHD impacts your cognitive function to learning to refocus energy on productive and meaningful tasks, therapy can be an essential aspect of ADHD treatment.
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Medication management – prescription medications are available to help individuals diagnosed with ADHD to harness extra energy while making it easier to concentrate, organize information, and remember important details.
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Educational support – students who have ADHD may need additional educational support, including tutoring, to help them achieve their academic goals.
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Cogmed – is a therapeutic modality that helps to improve access to and control over working memory. Poor working memory can make it difficult to concentrate, remember the details of a specific task, or focus long enough to complete the objective. This treatment tool is extremely beneficial to improve many of the symptoms of ADHD.
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Interactive metronome – this evidence-based solution helps individuals with ADHD improve concentration, increase control over problematic behaviors, and do better with handling school assignments and other specific tasks.
Partner with the Learning Dreams Team
Learning, cognitive, and behavioral challenges can’t be cured, but Learning Dreams provides the tools and resources to enable our clients to work around these difficulties and achieve great success. We also offer services to help individuals adapt and recover from physical injury or limitations. We are here to help you live your best and most fulfilling life.