Clinical range

Many of the questionnaires used in assessments, filled in by parents and teachers, come back with scores sorted into bands with names like 'elevated', 'borderline' or 'clinically significant'. A score in one of those bands is being flagged as higher than most children of the same age.

The catch is that every test draws its own bands and picks its own names for them. The questionnaires commonly used for attention, executive skills Executive function The brain skills we use to plan, start and finish a task, remember steps, and stop and think first. A child can be very bright and still find these skills hard. Read the full definition of Executive function and social communication all band their scores differently, so 'borderline' on one report and 'borderline' on another may not describe the same thing, even for the same child.

A banded questionnaire score is a signpost, not a diagnosis. It says this area deserves a closer look. If a report leaves you unsure, ask two questions: which test produced this band, and what range of scores does the band cover on that test?