ADHD doesn’t always look the same across different people — or even across different settings. Standardised questionnaires are used to gather information about attention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, executive functioning, emotional and behavioural concerns, and the impact these difficulties may be having on everyday life.

For adults, questionnaires explore your current experiences and functioning. Where appropriate, information may also be sought from someone who knows you well or can provide insight into earlier development.

For children and adolescents, information is typically gathered from both parents and teachers. This is particularly valuable because a young person may function very differently at home compared with school. A child who appears to cope well in the classroom, for example, may be using considerable effort to do so — while another child’s difficulties may be much more apparent in a structured learning environment.

Where relevant and available, additional information such as previous assessment reports, school reports or other professional documentation may also be considered.

Bringing these different perspectives together helps build a more complete picture of how difficulties show up across time, environments and everyday life, rather than basing conclusions on a single questionnaire or appointment.

The clinical interview is an opportunity to build a detailed picture of you or your child beyond the questionnaires and test scores. We explore current concerns, developmental history, ADHD symptoms and how these may be affecting everyday life across areas such as school, work, relationships and home.

The interview incorporates a standardised ADHD diagnostic interview (DIVA) to systematically explore symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity, both currently and across development.

Importantly, a comprehensive assessment also considers the broader clinical picture. Other factors that can sometimes look like, contribute to, or occur alongside ADHD — such as anxiety, mood difficulties, sleep, trauma and other neurodevelopmental differences — are explored where relevant.

This allows the assessment to move beyond simply identifying symptoms and towards understanding what best explains the difficulties you or your child are experiencing.

For adults, the clinical interview is conducted with yourself and if you’d like a loved one.

For children, the clinical interview is conducted with parents.

Cognitive testing is completed one-to-one using a standardised assessment appropriate to age, such as the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Fifth Edition (WISC-V) for children and adolescents, or a Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) for adults.

Cognitive testing gives us a more detailed picture of how you or your child processes and works with information. It explores areas including verbal reasoning, visual and fluid reasoning, working memory and processing speed, allowing us to identify patterns of relative strengths and difficulties across the cognitive profile.

As part of an ADHD assessment, particular attention is given to areas such as working memory and processing speed, which can be relevant to understanding difficulties with holding information in mind, following multi-step instructions, completing tasks efficiently and managing cognitive demands in everyday life.

Importantly, cognitive testing does not diagnose ADHD on its own. Results are interpreted alongside the clinical interview, standardised ADHD measures, developmental history, collateral information and day-to-day functioning. This helps us build a more complete picture of how you or your child functions, while also considering whether other cognitive or learning factors may be contributing to the difficulties being experienced.

The result is an assessment that aims to tell you more than whether diagnostic criteria are met — it provides an individualised cognitive profile that can inform practical, personalised recommendations for school, university, work and everyday life.

Once the appointments and questionnaires are complete, the assessment work continues behind the scenes.

Standardised measures and cognitive testing are scored and interpreted, and information gathered from the clinical interview, developmental history, questionnaires, cognitive assessment and collateral sources is considered together.

This is an important part of a comprehensive ADHD assessment. Rather than looking at any one score in isolation, as a psychologist, I consider how the different pieces of information fit together, whether there is consistent evidence of ADHD symptoms across development and everyday functioning, and whether those difficulties are causing clinically meaningful impairment.

I also consider whether another explanation — or a combination of factors — may better account for aspects of the presentation. ADHD can co-occur with other difficulties, and symptoms such as poor concentration, restlessness or executive functioning difficulties can also occur in the context of anxiety, mood difficulties, sleep problems, trauma and other neurodevelopmental presentations.

This process of clinical interpretation and differential consideration is what turns a collection of scores and questionnaires into an individualised psychological assessment.

Following the assessment, you receive a detailed, personalised psychological report bringing together the information gathered throughout the entire assessment process.

Your report explains the findings in context — not simply a list of test scores. It outlines relevant background and developmental information, questionnaire and interview findings, your or your child’s cognitive profile, clinical interpretation, and whether diagnostic criteria for ADHD are met (if you are diagnosed with ADHD or do not meet criteria for a diagnosis).

Importantly, the report also considers what the findings mean in everyday life. Where relevant, areas of strength are identified alongside difficulties, helping to build a more complete understanding of the individual rather than reducing them to a diagnosis or score.

The report includes individualised recommendations based on the assessment findings. Depending on the person and their circumstances, these may include practical strategies, environmental adjustments, psychological supports and recommendations relevant to home, school, university or the workplace, as well as suggestions for further support where appropriate.

The aim is for your report to remain useful long after the assessment is finished — giving you a clear record of the findings, a deeper understanding of your or your child’s individual profile, and practical direction for what may help moving forward.

Once your report is complete, it is emailed to you, and we meet for a dedicated feedback session to go through the findings together.

Assessment reports contain a lot of information, and you shouldn’t be expected to interpret all of it on your own. I’ll explain the results in clear, everyday language, including how the different pieces of the assessment came together, what the cognitive findings mean, and the reasoning behind the diagnostic outcome.

If ADHD criteria are met, we’ll discuss what the diagnosis may help explain and the recommendations arising from your individual assessment. If criteria are not met, the feedback session is equally important — we’ll discuss what the assessment did identify, other factors that may help explain the difficulties you’ve been experiencing, and appropriate next steps.

You’ll have time to ask questions, clarify anything in the report and discuss where to go from here, including recommendations for therapy, school or workplace supports, or further professional input where appropriate.

ADHD Assessment Fee — $1,595

Your assessment fee covers the complete assessment process, not only the time spent in appointments.

It includes the clinical interview, standardised ADHD diagnostic assessment, cognitive testing, questionnaires and assessment materials, collection and review of relevant collateral information, scoring and interpretation of standardised measures, integration of findings, diagnostic consideration, preparation of your personalised psychological report, individualised recommendations and a 30-minute feedback session.

A significant portion of a comprehensive psychological assessment takes place outside of face-to-face appointments. Psychologist time is dedicated to reviewing and integrating the information gathered from multiple sources, interpreting results within the context of your history and everyday functioning, considering alternative or co-occurring explanations, and preparing a report specific to you or your child.

The goal is not simply to leave with a “yes” or “no” to ADHD. It is to leave with a clearer understanding of the person behind the assessment — their strengths, difficulties, individual profile and what may genuinely support them moving forward.