OBJECTIVE. To compare performance on the Assessment of Motor and Process Skills (AMPS), a measure of functional task performance and physiological responses (salivary cortisol levels) during AMPS administration, between typically developing children and children diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). METHOD. In this quasi-experimental study, independent t tests, and mixed, repeated measures analysis of variance were conducted to compare a group of typically developing children (n = 21) with a group of children with ADHD (n = 12) on two dependent measures: (a) the AMPS and (b) salivary cortisol. Salivary cortisol, a stress hormone, was taken at three time points, baseline, mid-way through AMPS administration, and 20 min following AMPS administration. RESULTS. Significant differences were found on the activities of daily living (ADL) process ability measure of the AMPS (p = .001) and the ADL motor ability measure (p = .04), with the ADHD group performing more poorly than typical children. There was no significant group (ADHD vs. control) by time period interaction effect on cortisol levels. Overall, the cortisol levels of the ADHD group were higher than the levels of those in the control group (p = .02). Cortisol levels tended to drop significantly over time (p = .01) for both groups, however the patterns differed somewhat between groups. Cortisol levels of the typical children dropped at the final time period (20 min post-AMPS administration) whereas the levels of the children in the ADHD remained higher during this time period. This interaction effect approached, but did not reach, statistical significance (p = .15). CONCLUSION. The results of this investigation suggest that the AMPS is sensitive to detecting functional performance concerns, and both motor and process skill deficits, associated with ADHD, and therefore may be a useful assessment tool with this population. Data also suggests that cortisol expression to a well-known ADL task may be lower if the task is not overly challenging for the individual, and provides support for further study of the role of cortisol with disorders of attention.

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the score patterns of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on the Sensory Integration and Praxis Tests (SIPT) and to determine whether their score patterns differ significantly from those of children without ADHD. Method. In this retrospective study, the score patterns of 309 children with ADHD were compared with a group of 309 children without ADHD. The children were matched by norm group (reflecting age), gender, and the presence or absence of a learning disability. Both descriptive statistics and multivariate techniques were used. Results. Subjects with ADHD demonstrated relative strengths in the areas of nonmotor visual perception and localization of tactile input and weaknesses with vestibular processing and in most areas of praxis or motor planning. Certain SIPT scores of subjects with ADHD were found to differ significantly from those of subjects without ADHD. The SIPT test that best discriminated the two groups was Space Visualization. Conclusions. The results suggest that it may be helpful for therapists to consider the areas of praxis and vestibular processing in the evaluation and treatment of children with ADHD and that in clinical practice, it would be difficult to distinguish children with ADHD from those without on the basis of their SIPT scores. However, the ways in which the SIPT score patterns of children with ADHD differed from those without assist our understanding of the brain areas and neurological systems involved in children with ADHD.