ADHD Assessments
What is ADHD?
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a diagnosis given to someone who is being affected by issues in three areas: inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.
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These difficulties an impact on your life for 6 months, in more than one area of your life, and started before you were 12 years old.
Hyperactive
Depending on your age, the psychologist will want to find out if you have a certain number of struggles in this area.
You may have noticed:
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Moving around more than other people your age
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Finding it difficult to do things quietly
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Talking more than other people [or being told that is what you do!]
Inattention
Your psychologist will ask you questions to see if the difficulties you have are linked to problems with your attention.
If you are, you might be struggling with some of these things:
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Losing things or struggling to remember why or where something is
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Making mistakes by accident when we are reading or writing
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Sticking to one task at a time for a long period of time
Impulsive
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Struggling not to say something you want to
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Doing things more quickly than people have asked you to
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Finding it hard to take turns
How does the assessment work?
Step 1: Initial consultation
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During the initial consultation, a clinician will ask you and the child/young person a range of questions about what has led to you choosing to undertake an assessment. This is also a chance for us to explain the different parts of the assessment and make sure it is the right choice for you. You will also have an opportunity to ask questions.
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There may be occasions where this initial screening appointment does not indicate that a full assessment is indicated or that it may be better to wait to complete the assessment at a more appropriate time in the future. If this is the case then the clinician will discuss this with you.
Step 2: Questionnaires
We will ask you, the child/young person (depending on age) and a teacher who knows them well to complete a questionnaire.
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This questionnaire asks about different difficulties linked to the three areas of ADHD. We will then score these questionnaires and use them to help us decide whether your child should receive a diagnosis of ADHD. Sometimes there may be an explanation other than ADHD for the difficulties the child/young person is experiencing, such as low mood or trauma. Therefore, we will also provide questionnaires related to mood.
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Step 3: ADHD Assessment
The next step is to get to know the child/young person a bit better.
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We will meet with them for around an hour and ask about what is difficult for them, their strengths, and if there is anything important we should know about their difficulties.
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We will also meet with someone who knows them well (eg. a parent/caregiver/teacher) to gather a wider range of information to help with our assessment.
Step 4: Feedback and Report
After the observations and interviews are completed, we see if ADHD is the best explanation for the individual's difficulties.
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We will organise a meeting a few weeks after the interviews to explain what we have found.
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In this meeting, you can ask any questions you want to about what we have said. Even if ADHD is not diagnosed, we will still offer advice and suggestions of how we think things could get better for them – that’s why we are here!
Step 5: Follow up
Whether the child/young person receives a diagnosis or not, they may benefit from additional support from one of our Psychologists to help with the difficulties they are experiencing.
In the event that they do get a diagnosis of ADHD, they may also want help coming to terms with the diagnosis and any impact it may have on their life moving forward.As psychologists, we are unable to prescribe medication and if you wish to pursue this option, you will need to seek the input of a psychiatrist following our assessment.
Fees
Initial consultation: £150-300. If a full assessment is recommended and you require a letter to your insurer supporting this, we will include this as part of the fee.
Standard ADHD Assessment (Including child assessment, parent interview, questionnaires, school liaison, feedback session and report): £1,395
Comprehensive ADHD Assessment, Learning assessment, Feedback session and Report (Including child assessment, parent interview, cognitive testing, questionnaires, school liaison, feedback Session and report): £1,795
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Both packages include the initial consultation.
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Follow up support sessions (50 minutes): £150
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If you require an additional report/input for the purposes of an Education, Health and Care Plan, please let us know so we can discuss fees.
Note: As Psychologists we are not trained to prescribe medication. Following the assessment, if you believe that medication may be helpful, you will need to consult a Psychiatrist to discuss the possibility of a prescription.