ADHD assessments for children, teenagers, and adults

Understand your brain at any age

At Infinity Psychology & Assessments, we offer ADHD assessments across the lifespan, with the aim of helping you understand your brain and attentional style. Many parents will start questioning whether their child may have ADHD if their child is finding school difficulties increasing rapidly, everyday demands are hard to keep up with, or big emotions feel overwhelming. For adults, you may be seeking an ADHD assessment after years of feeling overwhelmed and like everyday life takes much more effort than it seems to for other people. This can look like chronic stress and burnout, difficulties with focus and organisation, and experiencing intense emotions (both up and down!).

We can offer an assessment of ADHD alone, or with other queries such as autism and learning differences.

How are our ADHD assessments neurodiversity-affirming?

Although we understand that experiences of ADHD can be frustrating and overwhelming for many people, we also appreciate that ADHD is part of natural human diversity, and can be useful in creative or urgent situations. With our neuro-affirming approach, we:

  • explore the underlying attention, executive functioning, and emotional regulation differences, rather than just focusing on surface-level behaviours

  • recognise that there are strengths amongst challenges

  • understand the impact of compensatory strategies that can ‘mask’ true attention differences

  • take your experiences of chronic burnout and overwhelm seriously, and understand the impact this has when attention differences are not supported

What to Expect in an ADHD Assessment

Meet with the psychologist who will discuss your reasons for seeking an assessment, gather background and developmental information, and form a plan with you in order to best address your questions. The psychologist will also ask you a number of structured questions about your experiences with attention, focus, organisation, and other areas of executive functioning.

Intake Session

Testing of cognitive and executive functioning (i.e., a standardised psychological test to explore thinking, reasoning, and capacity for learning) is conducted, as well as other measures, interviews, or activities if you are exploring multiple queries.

Assessment Session(s)

Outside of the sessions with the psychologist, there will be digital questionnaires to complete which gather further information. The psychologist may also wish to speak with other support people (e.g., teacher, allied health professionals) to gather additional information.

Questionnaires & Other Information

A few weeks after the final assessment session, you will meet with the psychologist to discuss the outcomes of the assessment, any relevant diagnoses, and recommendations and strategies. This session also provides an opportunity to ask questions and to have time for reflection on any outcomes. A comprehensive written report is provided.

Feedback Session & Report

Common Questions about ADHD Assessments

Do I need a referral for an ADHD assessment?

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No, a referral is not necessary to seek an ADHD assessment. However, for individuals up to 25 years old, who are already seeing a paediatrician or psychiatrist, you may be able to obtain a ‘Complex Neurodevelopmental Disorder’ (CND) referral (previously known as ‘Helping Children with Autism’), which grants access to Medicare rebates to cover a portion of the assessment fee.

Note: GPs are not able to provide referrals for ADHD assessments. Mental Health Care Plans can also not be used for assessments, only counselling sessions.

What if there is no diagnosis?

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An assessment aims to provide you with understanding and recommendations about your strengths, challenges, cognitive abilities, and other needs. It may not end with a particular diagnosis. Your psychologist can explore alternative explanations with you, and adjust the assessment process to explore other areas if necessary.

Can the assessment also explore autism, learning difficulties, or other issues?

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Yes. We are able to combine multiple queries into the one assessment to address other neurodivergent experiences such as autism, learning differences (e.g., dyslexia or dyscalculia), and other areas. The admin team and your psychologist will discuss this with you, and together we will form an assessment plan to address your needs. Typically, combining several queries into the one assessment is more efficient for both time and cost.

Yes. We can provide guidance for accommodations and adjustments at school, university, or the workplace; further therapy supports; and other neuro-affirming resources. Extensive recommendations and resources are typically provided in the written report and discussed during your feedback session.

Can you help with accommodations or next steps after the assessment is over?

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What is the difference between a psychologist’s assessment, and a psychiatrist’s or paediatrician’s assessment?

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Psychologists are trained in areas of human behaviour and development, such as cognition, attention, learning, and mental health. We are able to explore these areas in depth, administer cognitive and neuropsychological assessments, and make formal diagnoses. Our comprehensive report may be useful for applications of funding, special considerations, accommodations, or your own self-understanding. Psychologists are not medical doctors and cannot prescribe medication.

Psychiatrists and paediatricians are specialist specialist doctors who approach conditions through a medical lens, and who are able to prescribe medication. The assessment tends to be shorter in length, with a shorter or no written report. For adults interested in seeking medication support for ADHD and do not have any other queries, you may wish to ask your GP for a psychiatry referral as this pathway may be more cost effective for you.

Can you provide an assessment via telehealth?

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The intake and feedback sessions can be conducted via telehealth for convenience; however, cognitive and neuropsychological testing needs to be conducted in person at our clinic.

Want to find out more about ADHD assessments or make a booking?

Contact our friendly and knowledgeable admin team to discuss any further questions. They can assist with booking an ADHD assessment, or help with combining other assessment queries such as autism.