The ADHD Clinic at NCMA
What is The ADHD Clinic?
This is a targeted evaluation to determine solely whether someone has ADHD. The process incorporates aspects known to be helpful in assessing for ADHD, including acquisition of developmental history, characterization of cognitive and behavioral patterns, and understanding of symptoms’ functional impact in daily life. Providers strive to determine the extent to which a patient’s reported functional problems are reflective of underlying ADHD or alternative factors.
What is included as part of this evaluation?
It is important to emphasize that evaluation for ADHD is the only determination that will be made, and this is not a broad differential diagnosis. Providers will make general recommendations for the patient and their treatment. A report will be provided. Providers will also suggest additional evaluation if it is indicated following the focused process. In the rare event that no determination can be made one way or another regarding ADHD, recommendations for next steps will be provided.
What kinds of patients are appropriate for The ADHD Clinic, and which may not be?
A referring provider should determine that the patient is relatively stable from an emotional and behavioral perspective (i.e., free of any notable character disorder, no active self-harm, no debilitating anxiety), not actively using daily substances (e.g., cannabis; or patient willing to cease prior to testing for at least 2 weeks), and without significant medical comorbidities expected to compound evaluation (e.g., untreated sleep disorder, history of cancer treatment possibly affecting cognition, history of moderate traumatic brain injury). Our staff will try to discuss any factors that may preclude patients from being a good candidate for The ADHD Clinic during the triage and scheduling process. What happens if there are multiple diagnostic questions within the differential? A patient with a differential diagnosis other than ADHD should be referred for general neuropsychological evaluation (e.g., questions of ADHD versus anxiety).