It’s predictable that you have heard some person nowadays state that people are being over-diagnosed as dyslexic or having ADD. Most of the people making such statements tend to be older folks. And while they may feel correct in their opinion, it’s simply that: an opinion, one that is misinformed.
The truth is that testing for such cognitive disorders is still a relatively new concept, something that neuropsychologists have been bettering over time, garnering a greater understanding as to how the mind works, and what might qualify as a disorder. So when you hear someone saying that it’s being over-diagnosed, you shouldn’t let it negatively affect you or make you self conscious. Rather, you should understand that they are off-put by the notion that it’s new science (like technology).
Neuropsychological testing might be a relatively new concept, but it is something that is becoming more exact over time, through which professionals are finding better and better ways to analyze and test patients through cognitive assessments. And, as cognitive science tends to work, the better we understand the subject material, the more cases we begin to notice in society. That’s not to say that there are a lot of people in society that have “disorders” — that is simply nothing more than poor connotation. What is meant by that is there are a lot of people affected by cognitive disorders, whether they know it or not, and they would be able to receive proper, helpful treatment if they were to know that they were affected by said cognitive disorder. The data goes to show such is true:
- Nearly 40 million American adults are dyslexic, yet 2 million have never been tested and do not know it
- Approximately 6.4 million American children (age 4 to 17) are diagnosed as having ADHD
For these adults and children that have either dyslexia or ADHD, there are unwanted psychological effects that can follow if untreated, such as the following corollary examples:
- 50% of adults with ADHD also have sever anxiety disorders
- Adults with ADHD are 300% more likely to suffer from stress and depression during their lifetime
The fact that we have this data and the understanding of these disorders nowadays means that we have a better understanding of how these disorders work and how they can be effectively treated. In the cases of the above data — the disorders and their likelihood of other disorders to affect those with ADD/Dyslexia, means that we can help to prevent other symptoms’ severity and likelihood of occurrence with neuropsychological testing.
Neuropsychological testing and psychoeducational evaluations are beneficial for both adults and children. Understanding just what is going on inside of a human, young or old, presents a great deal of opportunity to treat any behaviors and cognition that might bother that human. Simply put, neuropsychological testing —
dyslexia testing and ADHD testing — can lead towards proper and better treatment.
When this neuropsychological testing is properly done and evaluated, a patient can then be given options for treatment — ways to provide personal betterment for the future. With some people, this could call for meeting with a therapist or receiving medication; for others, it could mean that they might need speech therapy, such as in the case of dyslexia. The goal of neuropsychological testing is to provide an answer for that which someone might not have known before, such as, “Why do I think this way or speak this way when hardly anyone else I know does?” The answer can be life changing, providing them with treatment to take their brain activity and use it for their own advantage.
