Psychological diagnosis and evaluation of ADHD

Psychological diagnosis is an integral part of who is faced with the possibility that he or she has ADHD. It is a method for obtaining reliable, tangible and standard developmental information on the ability and behavior of the applicant in a wide range of fields.
The key areas of ADHD are short attention span, impulsivity and distraction, difficulty in organizing and regulating thinking, emotions, and behavior in time and space, motor restlessness, and difficulty acting according to social norms. In addition to the above, the psychological diagnosis of ADHD emphasizes the intellectual abilities, academic achievement, language skills, visual-motor coordination, adaptive behavior and personal functioning, such as the possibility of associated problems, such as learning disabilities, problems, Anxiety, low self-esteem, and difficulties in interpersonal interaction.

The psychological tests were developed and put into use at the beginning of the last century, with the aim of identifying children with mental health problems, and to enable them to be directed to special education settings. The initial goals were the assessment of cognitive abilities, and the detection of deficiencies and lack of achievement compared to expected children of a certain age in the education system.

The detection and identification of mental disorders and disorders are still an important part of the goals and application of psychological diagnosis today, and are an integral part of the accepted psychological test system. Later, tools were developed to identify,and prevent behavioral and mental developmental disorders at an early age, and to build early intervention programs. At the same time, tools were developed to examine mental disorders and personality funct ioning at different ages, which included projections, scales and questionnaires and gave a personal profile of the subject. Neuropsychological tests were also developed to examine specific impairments in brain function, tests and scales to examine different occupational skills and scales and questionnaires to examine various, specific or general phenomena and disorders.

At the beginning of the diagnostic process, the psychologist receives the referral, which defines the questions asked on the basis of the information obtained from the subject's history, the clinical impression of the referrer and the referrer's behavior. The psychologist selects the tests to suit the questions asked, the problems, the age, the developmental level, the cultural and language background, the physical limitations of the subject, etc.

A number of major types of psychological tests are currently being used in the psychological diagnosis of ADHD, of which the tools are selected for the appropriate battery for the specific test:

A. An assessment of the intelligence, which is usually directed at assessing cognitive and perceptual functioning. This section includes developmental and academic achievement tests.
B. Neuropsychological tests, aimed at detecting and identifying the possibility of located and specific or simplified brain defects.
C.Assessment through projection tests, with the aim of exploring the various aspects of personality functioning, from controlling impulses, through regulating emotion and examining reality to attachment types. The tests, which assess personality, provide information about the strengths and weaknesses - their nature, origin and condition - and the prognosis for treatment.
D.Specific tools to illuminate a person's status regarding ADHD symptoms, concentration, distraction, anxiety, hyperactivity, depression, etc.