On behalf of my family, I would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays all!

We have added a new section to the ADHD Library for parents wondering if their child may have a problem with ADHD or not. It is a screening tool that is based on (1) our understanding of the different "types" or "profiles" of ADHD, and (2) screening or assessment tools that we have used in the past that have been very helpful.

We want to make it clear that screening tools, however helpful they may be, are not "do it yourself" home assessment tools. Assessments for ADHD should be thorough, and need to consider other issues that may be causing the problem behaviors. Hours, not minutes, need to be invested in making an accurate diagnosis.

But the screening tool that we've put on the ADHD Library site is a good beginning point to see if what's going on is a big deal or not.

You will find the screening tool at: http://newideas.net/adhd-test-screening

Is there anyone who knows how to use JAVA or PHP programming to turn the new screening tool from a paper and pencil assessment into an interactive webpage that can be scored by my server, and parents can just "fill in the numbers" and "get the results."

I have no idea how to do this. But someone reading this does.

Please let me know if you have the solution.

Sincerely,

Dr. Doug Cowan

ADHD Information Library

Here is information on a great Conference next summer in beautiful British Columbia.

The 2nd Biennial Conference on Brain Development & Learning: Making Sense of the Science Conference in Vancouver, July 12-15, 2008.

This conference is intended as a service to the community (British Columbia and worldwide), to help parents, doctors, educators, and others who work with young children on a daily basis learn about some of the most exciting cutting-edge research findings on the brain and child development-from the very people who have made those discoveries!

A number of the speakers are world famous for their research on the Pre-Frontal Cortex and ADHD, or research on stress and depression. The conference is sponsored by BC Children's Hospital, the Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), the Brain Research Centre, BC Mental Health & Addiction Services of PHSA, and UBC.