ADD-How exactly do they test for it? My son's almost 5 & I think he has it. What all is involved?

What exactly do they do to determine if a child has ADD? What kind of tests do they give? Are there any alternatives for help other than medication? And any other information you can give I would appreciate! Thank you!

Answer:
my daughter is 7 and has ADHD/ADD over in the UK they are see as one of the same thing anyhow back to your question there is lots of alternatives depending if he is food reactive. coffee is one that can help as like the med stimulants to an ADHD/ADD person work the opposite to what they would a "normal" person. omega 3 fish oils are good but if you get him to a doctor they will assess him, don't worry they will not give meds if you don't want them and the tests are done very easy and the child really would not know they was happening. good luck
A pscicological test. There are some things the teacher as well as the parents can do. It's called reinforcement or other techniques such as time out.
most cases are the result of too much sugar.
Hi. I'm a school speech therapist, and have a son with ADD.

ADD is diagnosed solely upon symptoms. Is he going to kindergarten in the fall? You could ask to have the school's educational psychologist test him for attention span and memory, and ask to have his speech/language evaluated by the speech therapist. If he is preschool age, then I don't know who you contact in your state to have him evaluated. You can call your local school district and ask them; they will know. It's free.

I suggest you talk to his dr., though, as a the first step, because it could be a lot of other things--or caused by other things. For example: Has he had a blood test for lead? High levels of lead in the blood impair attention span, and with chelation, some of it can be expelled by the body. This is just an example.

Usually at 5 people don't use meds for ADD or ADHD, unless the child has another medical problem such as seizures; in this case, a med that addresses both seizures and ADD can be tried. Usually for young kids we simply help the child by giving prompts to keep attending when teaching is taking place, and then praising him for attending. "Ready? Look at me...Help me do A-B-C's. Here we go. A, B, C, C,E, F...X, Y, Z. Yay! Good job! I like how you helped me."

In terms of natural things...I highly recommend strawberry flavored fish oil capsules to support his brain functioning. Nordic Naturals sells them online; Children's DHA 250 mg. You can Google their site. They are higher quality than you can buy at any store.
well, I may be way off... maybe this is just for adults...but when I was tested it was done by a psychologist. I took about a 15 minute test on a computer which was constant letters flashing at random speeds. I was told to hit the space bar when i saw the letter "X" appear...but on no other letters. I compiles the results on a comparative scale in % to the A typical using OMISSIONS and/or COMMISSIONS. This determined whether the issue was ADD or ADHD

The medicine and health information post by website user , ByeDR.com not guarantee correctness , is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions.


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