ADHD Assessments
Professional Clinical Assessments
Professionally recognised and accepted adult and young adult diagnostic assessments.
Clinical assessment and diagnosis options
At CST, we offer various comprehensive assessment and diagnostic options available for adults and young adults from 16 years upwards when considering possible ADHD, though it is important to note that during the initial stage of any assessment, other conditions including Autism and mental health issues are also considered.
It is essential not only to consider neurodivergence with such assessments, but also to factor in the relance of other explanations or additional co-morbid symptoms.
NICE Guidance
It is vital that when seeking formal assessment for ADHD and neurodevelopmental diagnoses that these are conducted using industry recognised and accepted assessment tools and methods.
The tools used within my work fulfil formal diagnostic criteria as dictated by the NICE Guidance (2021) for Autism and NICE Guidance (2019) for ADHD.
Assessment Process
The ADHD assessment process involves formally recognised assessment tools and psychometric testing necessary for all the developmental conditions listed above. The formal diagnostic assessment is complex and comprehensive which is necessary to ensure a conclusive outcome and will include:
- An initial fixed fee screening appointment lasting approximately 60-90 minutes (there may be an additional charge if this appointment lasts longer than 90 minutes)
- The use of a variety of psychometric questionnaires for the client and family members/partners to complete which will then be scored and rated. - These are not diagnostic, but do inform the overall assessment process.
- If mutually agreed that a full assessment is indicated, a developmental history will be collected as well as exploration of physical and mental health factors.
- For ADHD assessments this will involve assessment based on the Brown’s ADD Scales and DIVA-5 assessment.
- Analysis of school reports and other letters and documents relevant to the assessment.
- Psychometric testing of attention, using the Test of Everyday Attention (for ADHD only)
- Feedback of results and recommendations, 60-minutes.
- Final comprehensive and detailed written report.
All diagnostic assessment will be handled confidentially and respectfully and careful
consideration will be taken to ensure there is a significant clinical reason for undertaking such assessments. All this will be decided and discussed at an initial screening assessment.
Important note regarding private assessments
AT Clear Sky Therapies, we are mindful that the private route can be costly. It is understandable that people will therefore wish to shop around. I would advise though that it is very important however, to make sure that the clinician / service chosen has sufficient qualifications, knowledge and experience and uses the appropriate assessment tools that will constitute an official diagnosis.
The NICE Guidelines for Adult ADHD Assessment, first published in March 2018, and last updated in September 2019 stipulate the necessary requirements:
For more specific details about assessment quality standards, please refer to the UKAAN adult ADHD assessment quality assurance standard:
Robust assessment
In both my private work, and more often in my previous role in the Northamptonshire Adult ADHD, Autism and Tourette’s Team NHS work, where I worked as the Consultant Clinical Lead, I encountered private assessment reports that lacked necessary rigour and robustness necessary.
Regrettably, many of these were subsequently rejected by GPs and specialist services. If a company is offering an assessment / diagnostic process that seems far cheaper than most, then there may well be a good reason for that, and clinicians may have a lot less experience, or experienced supervision and guidance than would be necessary.
Neurodevelopmental conditions are LIFELONG conditions, so if there is not consideration of childhood factors, then the assessment is not sufficiently robust.
[As a Psychologist, I do not prescribe medication. Therefore following an assessment, and a confirmed ADHD diagnosis, if the person wishes to consider ADHD medication, I have various contacts I can share. Please see associate services under ‘Proudly working with…’ on the home page. Please enquire for more details if you have further questions.]
CST Payment Information:
Payments can be made in cash, debit and credit cards, or by bank transfer. Payment must be made at least 24 hours before the start of each appointment.
I generally recommend a follow-up appointment approximately two months after a diagnostic assessment which gives people the opportunity to address any questions, and discuss the impact of diagnosis / outcome. It is common for a diagnostic outcome to cause varied, sometimes unexpected emotional responses which benefit from space to consider further. This is not included in the assessment package, but generally felt to be very valuable.