MD S. Drugă
Mindcare Center for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, Bucharest, Romania
Clinical Psychologist Lidia Sacală
Mindcare Center for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Child and Adolescent Department, Bucharest, Romania
Abstract
According to specific guidelines, ADHD diagnosis is usually based on standardized rating scales, parent and teacher reports and observing the child’s behavior in various settings (school, family, peer relations). However, giving that ADHD is a neuro-developmental disorder consisting of impaired attention and working memory skills, poor impulse control and different behavioral problems, neuropsychological assessment might be useful for a more comprehensive understanding of the child’s difficulties (language processing, learning disorders, sensory problems, social and emotional difficulties etc).
Neuropsychological studies conducted in children with ADHD offered a comprehensive view of neurocognitive development and have shown poor executive functioning, visual and selective attention problems, poor performance in terms of language and motor processing, poor planning, deficits in visuospatial processing and visuomotor integration, set shifting and working memory difficulties, deficits in inhibiting impulsive reactions.
