ABSTRACT
The clinical assessment of preschoolers poses several challenges. These challenges relate primarily to the evaluation of symptoms relative to behavior considered to be within the normal range, understanding symptoms relative to the child’s developmental status, and the assessment of functional impairment for children who are not in school and have limited social encounters outside of the family. These issues are exacerbated by the limited developmentally informed clinical research in preschoolers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Additionally, clinicians must consider differential diagnosis with other disorders of early childhood, including oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), speech and language disorders, and developmental disorders.
