Sometimes, children are given intelligence, attention, and achievement tests. Doctors may also administer neuropsychological tests and neurological examinations. Most importantly, it is a team of professionals in education, medicine, and psychology who pool test results and make a final determination. Medicine cannot cure ADD but can sometimes temporarily moderate its effects. Stimulant medication such as Ritalin, Cylert, and Dexedrine is effective in 70 percent of the children who take it.
Medication also reduces disruptive behaviors, aggression, and hyperactivity.
However, there are side effects and no evidence for long-term effectiveness of medication. For example, recent studies show that medication has only limited short-term benefits on social adjustment and academic achievement. While medication can be incorporated into other treatment strategies, parents and teachers should not use medication as the sole method of helping the child. The longer you wait to deal with ADD in students, the better the chances are that they will outgrow it. Many of them, between 30-50 percent, still will have ADD as adults.