Just looking for other moms who have done the parent version of the Connor's questionnaire. Did you find it online somewhere or did your pediatrician give you a copy to fill out? any thoughts on how it was used to assess ADHD in your child? TIA!
I'm not sure if it was the Connor's Questionnaire, but my daughter goes through testing as part of her IEP, part of which are 2 questionnaires that are filled out by her, me and the teacher; individually.
They provided me a copy when they sent me the letter about the meeting and I filled it out and returned it to the school counselor.
I have filled out the Connor's questionnaire, it was given to me by my daughter's Pedi. I filled one out and teacher's filled another copy out. I noticed that the questionnaire repeats questions, but asks them using different wording. For example one question will ask; Is your child noisy, then later on there will be a question such as, Does your child have trouble being quiet? (Not actual questions, I just made them up to explain my point).
If you are going to have a Conners Ratings scale done for your child, it will be given to you by the evaluator. A copy will be done by you, the child's teacher, sometimes a therapist, and sometimes someone else who spends time with the child. The actual test is a sealed carbon copy type form, and your answers are rated based on several categories of behavior, and your consistency in the way you answer the questions. You are also rated by the scale, and they can tell if you are trying to adjust your answers to either make your child seem less or more effected. Some evaluators will exclude data based on this score.
The Connors rating scale is a good tool, but it is not fully diagnostic. Any child who is suspected of having ADHD should have a full developmental, psychological, and educational evaluation by a trained Developmental Pediatrician, Neuropsychologist/psychiatrist combo, and supplemental evaluations for comorbid issues as needed, like speech and langauge, occupational therapy, phsysical therapy, vision therapy, etc.
The educational testing should include a full evaluation of how the child processes information, and a full IQ testing. This, combined with normed referenced acheivment testing and a full psychological profile is essential so that your child will get all the therapy and services that they need. Treatment should include medical, cognative behavioral therapy, social skills classes, sppech, OT, vision, educational and behavioral interventions at school and home.
It is essential for parents to get a private evaluation with a Developmental Pediatrician or the equivalent and to get treatment from a specialist, or a Board Certified Child Psychiatrist, not a general pediatrician. You need both school and private evaluations. You should never know less than the school does about your child.
Why do you only ask about the Connors? If this is all that is being used to decided that your child has or does not have ADHD, it is not enough.
M.
Ours were given to us by our son's behavioral therapist's office and then after the therapist's assessment, they went on to the child psychiatrist, who provided the formal analysis and ultimate diagnosis.
The Connors forms were really helpful in the ADHD assessment process because it got both us as parents and our son's teachers to really zero in on the problems. However, it was more of a starting point in the assessment process and furthered our discussion with the specialists. It wasn't like we handed in the forms and boom -- diagnosis.
