Adult ADHD Services
ADHD Diagnostic Assessment
Do you think that you may have Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)? Has a loved one, or health care provider, suggested that you may have ADHD? Were you diagnosed with ADHD in childhood and are concerned that you are continuing to experience symptoms as an adult?
ADHD is one of the most common childhood disorders and can continue through adolescence and into adulthood. Clinical studies report that nearly two-thirds of persons with childhood ADHD remained symptomatic in early adulthood1. ADHD in adulthood can interfere with daily functioning through problems such as:
- Difficulties in school or work leading to underachievement
- Problems or inconsistent work performance (difficulty advancing or with maintaining work)
- Difficulties managing day-to-day responsibilities (completing household chores, maintenance tasks, paying bills or organizing things)
- Forgetting important things
- Relationship problems due to not completing tasks
- Stress and worry due to failure to complete tasks or meet responsibilities
- Feelings of frustration, guilt or blame
Adults with ADHD may experience such difficulties. However, other conditions or causes can also cause similar difficulties.
An assessment can help determine if the problems you are experiencing are due to ADHD or to some other cause.
- Faraone SV, Biederman J, Mick E. Psychol Med. 2006;36(2):159–165.
What an ADHD Diagnostic Assessment Can Offer
A Clinical Assessment can help determine if you may be experiencing adult ADHD.
As part of the assessment, you will be asked to complete a health and background questionnaire. You will meet the psychologist for a clinical interview, and will be asked to complete various assessment forms and tests. With your permission, the psychologist may also wish to have someone who knows you well (spouse or partner, close family members, long-time friend) complete an interview or questionnaires in order to better understand your current behaviours and difficulties.
If you still have the records, any information related to elementary or high school and college/university grades can also assist in your evaluation.
Following the assessment, the psychologist will meet with you to discuss your evaluation findings. You will learn at that time whether the changes and difficulties you have noticed are related to ADHD, or if a different cause may be responsible. If you wish, a written report can be prepared for you to share with your health care provider, family or others.
Contact us for more information regarding a Clinical Assessment for ADHD
Cognitive Assessment for ADHD
Learning that you may be experiencing ADHD can help with your understanding of why you may be experiencing difficulties.
Each person is different, and how ADHD interferes with different aspects of cognitive functioning can vary between individuals. For instance, causing more difficulties with memory for one person, and greater difficulties with planning and organization for another. Knowing that you have ADHD does not answer the important questions of:
- How is this condition affecting my thinking skills?
- What steps can I take to address my cognitive difficulties?
- Are there accommodations at my school or work that can help me be more productive and successful?
A Cognitive Assessment for ADHD can provide you with a better understanding of how ADHD is interfering with individual thinking skills and contributing to the difficulties you may be experiencing as home, school or work.
The Cognitive Assessment for ADHD supplements the Diagnostic Assessment by providing an objective assessment of your functioning in a variety of cognitive abilities, including:
- Intellectual potential including overall verbal and non-verbal skills
- Expressive and receptive language skills
- Short-term working memory
- Long-term verbal and visual memory
- Auditory and visual attention, short-term selective attention, long-term sustained attention, vulnerability to distractions, divided attention and multitasking
- Executive functioning such as behavioural self-control, mental flexibility, abstract thinking, organizing, planning, and problem solving
- Reading, spelling and mathematical calculation skills
Your functioning in these areas will be evaluated to determine what your pattern of cognitive strengths (and weaknesses) exists. This information is then used to help you better understand what steps you may take to limit interference, and maximize your cognitive strengths, while engaged in your normal life.
Following the assessment, the psychologist will meet with you to discuss your evaluation findings and recommendations. If you wish, a written report can be prepared for you to share with your health care provider, family or others.
Contact us for more information regarding a Cognitive Assessment for ADHD
