ADHD is sometimes considered a neuro-biological syndrome that can affect many aspects of a person’s life, ADHD's cornerstone symptoms include: attention span difficulties, distractibility, impulsivity, and restlessness. ADHD children and adults are believed to display these characteristics early, and across a variety of situations. It can have a serious impact on relationships, families, school, learning, work, and self-esteem. ADHD used to be thought of as a disorder of hyperactive, male children. What we now know, is that ADHD affects millions of girls and women, as well. It is estimated that ADHD affects approximately 17 million people in the U.S. Research consistently shows that ADHD is the most common psychiatric, learning, and behavioral problem in children, affecting between 5% and 10% of that population. It also affects between 2% and 5% of adults. Of those children with untreated ADHD, some research indicates that 52% go on to have a history of drug and/or alcohol abuse as adults; 43% of untreated, aggressive hyperactive boys will be arrested for a felony by the age of l6; 75% have interpersonal problems; and 35% never finish high school. Traditional psychology/psychiatry recognizes three distinct types of ADHD: ADHD with and without hyperactivity, and ADHD with a combination of both.

The Woodlands Family Institute has several goals when evaluating children and adults for ADHD. A major goal of such an assessment is the determination of the presence or absence of ADHD as well as its differential diagnosis from other problem areas. A second purpose of the evaluation is to begin identifying the types of interventions necessary to address the various problems noted. This may include parent training, individual counseling, classroom modifications, medication, etc…It is also important to assess the impact of ADHD on the individual’s relationships, family, school performance, work, and self-esteem. We begin the process with a parental interview in order to obtain historical and developmental background information. Behavioral inventories are given to the parents to assess behavior at home, and to teachers to assess behavior in school.

The next appointment is with the child for a clinical interview and some screening measures: An intellectual assessment is administered to determine cognitive style, along with a visual-motor test, to determine visual perception and fine-motor skills. These measures offer valuable information for the child and his/her style of processing data.

The final session offers results and recommendations to the parents in order to positively enhance the child’s performance in the areas of learning and behavioral skills in school and at home. Recommendations may include a behavioral management program to be tailored to the home environment, a suggestion for further educational testing, working together with the a physician to assess the need for medication, short term therapy to teach coping skills and problem solving strategies, or perhaps screenings in vision, hearing, or occupational therapy.