Speaking only as an adult diagnosed with ADHD, I am surprised your child was not administered the TOVA test. I believe it's normalized for ages 4 and up.
I took it as part of the overall diagnosis prior to trying any medication. In fact the psychologist made me stop caffeine two weeks before the test. Then I took the TOVA, then the diagnosis was made, then after two-weeks on the medication, I retook the TOVA and the differences were dramatic and easily verified by comparing the two tests, even to what "flavor" of ADHD was causing the trouble.
I imagine at younger ages, however, accurate test results are harder to achieve because the test is very boring. Nevertheless, if they truly have a variety ADHD, I think the test would be very revealing. I recall going into it feeling very confident, and coming out of it very frustrated due to certain parts that I simply could not perform accurately despite how hard I was trying. It was quite unsettling, as were the test results.
I would encourage you to look into this and get as much objective data you can so that you can compare it after the medication kicks in, since that phase can be quite a rollercoaster ride itself.
Last edited by Pru; 06/15/11 01:01 PM.
