1st Edition

What You Think ADD/ADHD Is, It Isn't Symptoms and Neuropsychological Testing Through Time

By Barbara C. Fisher Copyright 2013
    508 Pages 733 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    506 Pages 733 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    ADD/ADHD is not as easily diagnosed or clear-cut as many believe; in fact it very often acts as a masking agent for other underlying, contributing disorders. It’s important that we understand ADD/ADHD better. What You Think ADD/ADHD Is, It Isn’t: Symptoms and Neuropsychological Testing Through Time is the culmination of the author’s years of research involving clinical experience and testing, resulting in the first all-encompassing examination of the ADD/ADHD disorder.

    Debunking common myths and shedding light upon the way this disorder truly impacts people, this volume:

    • Presents the results of the largest clinical research study for ADD/ADHD, compiling 20 years of testing
    • Distinguishes the inattentive form of ADD from ADHD and additional disorders using neuropsychological testing
    • Provides statistical analysis from neuropsychological evaluations and self-reporting questionnaires from parents, teachers, adolescents, and adults
    • Demonstrates how anxiety frequently masks itself as hyperactivity and increases through the lifespan
    • Addresses the issue of ADHD misdiagnosis
    • Explains the importance of diagnosing additional comorbid disorders that impact medication management and treatment
    • Offers statistics showing the manner in which ADHD symptoms and additional issues affect people differently through the lifespan

    Common Definition of ADD/ADHD as We Know It Today: DSM-IV-TR
    Description of the Population
    Description of the Child Population
    Description of the Adolescent Population
    Description of the Adult Population
    Description of Tests Administered
    Input into the Brain: Is the Information Getting into the Brain for Use?
    Information Processing: Answers the Question of Whether or Not the Information Is Getting Processed to Go to Other Brain Areas
    Distractibility: Vulnerability to Become Distracted by Sounds in the Environment or Internal Thoughts
    Tests of Speed: Measurement of Slow Thinking (Cognitive) Speed and the Impact of Problematic Visual Spatial Analysis
    Estimate of Intellectual Ability and Measurement of Decoding Errors That Lead to Reading Comprehension Difficulties
    Child Neuropsychological Testing for ADD/ADHD
    Results of the Specific Test Measures
    Gender Comparisons: Females versus Males
    Adolescent Neuropsychological Testing for ADD/ADHD
    Results of the Specific Test Measures
    Gender Comparisons: Females versus Males
    Adult Neuropsychological Testing for ADD/ADHD
    Results of the Specific Test Measures
    Gender Comparisons: Females versus Males
    Description of the Self-Report Measures Administered
    Results of the Adolescent Self-Report Measure/Checklists
    Results of the Adult Self-Report Measures/Checklists
    Trends from the Data: What Do the Correlations Tell Us?
    Published Research Resulting from This Study
    Review of the Research for ADHD
    Review of the Comorbid Research and ADHD
    Review of the Research for Sleep and ADHD
    Review of Research for Inattention and ADHD
    Summary and Conclusions: The Take Home Message
    Index


    Biography

    Dr. Barbara C. Fisher is the author of three prior books on ADD/ ADHD. Trained as a neuropsychologist, she has been involved in the diagnosis of ADD/ADHD for over 20 years. On the cutting edge of assessing ADD/ADHD with neuropsychological testing, she does not rely upon self-report measures for diagnosis. Rather, she has used the same comprehensive battery of tests over time to demonstrate when the problem is purely ADD Inattentive disorder and when there is the impact of additional issues beyond ADD, which has resulted in more positive effects for treatment.