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Why Get Tested?
For many conditions in the field of mental health, the diagnosis is determined
by whether the patient meets criteria from a long list of possible symptoms.
While this is true for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, the diagnosis also
requires that other conditions are met, mainly that the symptoms are not due to
another psychiatric diagnosis. Therefore, the presence of other possible
comorbid disorders should be assessed.
Psychological and/or neuropsychological tests can help define the diagnosis in
a more precise way. Thus, the reason for doing testing is to find out what the
truth is for the patient in as precise terms as possible.
More specifically, psychological and neuropsychological testing can help to
discern what cognitive strengths and weaknesses exist in a person. In a person
with a learning disability, the overall level of intelligence is determined, and the
subtests within this battery help reveal the strengths and weaknesses in the
person's cognitive processes, helping to explain the learning disability. With
other mild brain problems, different patterns emerge. This can tell the
neuropsychologist what kind of disorder the person has, but, more importantly,
the testing can identify the strengths and weaknesses in a person so that
guidance for career, remediation or treatment can be made with some degree
of precision.
For a person diagnosed with attention deficit disorder (ADHD), testing has a
slightly different role. Since learning disabilities overlap with ADHD about 40
percent of the time, this should be ruled out as a strong contributing factor.
Additionally, verbal and visual memory should be assessed so that mild degrees
of brain dysfunction can be discerned. In addition, a continuous performance
test should be given so that progress can be monitored regarding treatments
addressing the attentional problems.
There are various options in testing, which can be found on the Assessment
Options page of this site. As the testing becomes more extensive, more
definition can be brought to the diagnosis. Therefore, it is important to
determine which evaluation is most appropriate for you.
Please visit Fees page for information about insurance and pricing.
Post date: 2012-07-16 01:15:43
Post date GMT: 2012-07-16 01:15:43
Post modified date: 2017-01-24 12:15:03
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