ADHD Assessment for Children & Adolescents

At Healthy Little Minds Psychology, we provide comprehensive ADHD assessments for children and adolescents. An assessment can help develop a clearer understanding of your child’s attention, executive functioning, behaviour, development and individual strengths across different environments.

Our approach considers the whole child and recognises that attention and executive functioning can look different from one child to another.

Make an Enquiry

What Is an ADHD Assessment

An ADHD assessment is a comprehensive process that explores a child’s attention, executive functioning, activity levels, impulsivity and everyday functioning.

Assessment also considers developmental history and how these characteristics may present across different environments, such as home and school.

The aim is to develop a balanced understanding of your child’s individual profile and determine whether their experiences are consistent with ADHD and whether further support may be helpful.

What Is Involved in an ADHD Assessment?

An ADHD assessment is a comprehensive, individualised process. It involves gathering information about your child’s development, attention, executive functioning and everyday experiences, alongside psychological assessment where appropriate.

Initial Consultation

We meet with parents or caregivers to learn more about your child’s development, strengths, experiences and individual needs. We discuss what you would like the assessment to help you understand and gather relevant background information about your child’s learning, behaviour, relationships and everyday functioning.

Information Gathering & Assessment

We gather information from relevant sources to develop a comprehensive understanding of your child. With parent or caregiver consent, this may include information from teachers, paediatricians, speech pathologists or other health and education professionals.

Your child then completes assessment activities appropriate to their age and individual profile. These may explore areas such as attention, working memory, processing speed, executive functioning and other aspects relevant to the assessment.

Information about your child’s functioning across different environments is considered as part of the assessment process.

Feedback Session

Following the assessment, we meet with parents or caregivers for a feedback session. We discuss the assessment findings, your child’s individual pattern of strengths and areas requiring support, and what the results may mean in the context of their everyday experiences.

There is an opportunity to ask questions, discuss the findings and consider practical ways to support your child at home, school and in other relevant environments.

Report & Recommendations

A comprehensive report is provided outlining the assessment findings and conclusions, together with practical recommendations tailored to your child’s individual profile.

Recommendations may include strategies to support attention and executive functioning, learning and classroom participation, as well as suggestions for home, school and other relevant environments.

What Does an ADHD Assessment Explore?

Attention: Sustaining, shifting and directing attention across different activities and environments.

Executive Functioning: Planning, organisation, working memory, task initiation, flexibility and self-management.

Activity & Impulsivity: Patterns of activity, impulse control and regulation.

Development: Developmental history and the ways your child has experienced attention and regulation over time.

Everyday Functioning: How attention and executive functioning may influence learning, relationships and daily activities.

Strengths & Interests: Your child’s capabilities, interests, preferred ways of learning and areas of confidence.

ADHD and Other Experiences

Attention, activity levels, executive functioning and emotional regulation can be influenced by many different factors. During an ADHD assessment, it is important to consider your child’s broader developmental, learning and emotional profile and how they experience different environments.

Anxiety & Emotional Wellbeing

Anxiety, stress and emotional experiences can affect attention, concentration, working memory and participation in everyday activities. Understanding your child’s emotional wellbeing can help provide context for their experiences with attention and executive functioning.

Autism & Neurodivergence

Autistic children and adolescents may experience differences in attention, sensory processing, communication, social interaction and executive functioning. These experiences can sometimes overlap with characteristics associated with ADHD, so the assessment considers the child’s broader developmental profile.

Learning & Language

Learning differences and language difficulties can affect attention, classroom participation and the ability to follow, process or remember information. Understanding your child’s learning and communication profile can help clarify how these factors may relate to their everyday experiences.

Sleep & Physical Wellbeing

Sleep difficulties, fatigue and other aspects of physical wellbeing can influence attention, energy levels, emotional regulation and cognitive functioning. These factors are considered as part of developing a broader understanding of your child.

Development & Environment

Children’s attention and behaviour can vary depending on their developmental stage, environment, relationships and the demands placed upon them. Information about how your child functions across home, school, kindergarten and other settings can help provide a more complete picture.

Understanding the Whole Child

An ADHD assessment does not consider attention in isolation. We look at your child’s individual strengths, development, learning, emotional wellbeing and everyday experiences to develop a balanced understanding of their profile and identify supports that may be helpful.

A Neuroaffirming Approach to ADHD Assessment

At Healthy Little Minds Psychology, we take a strengths-based and neuroaffirming approach to ADHD assessment. We recognise that children and adolescents have different ways of thinking, learning, communicating, regulating and engaging with the world.

An ADHD assessment is not about identifying what is “wrong” with a child. Instead, it aims to develop a balanced understanding of their individual profile, including their strengths, interests, abilities, challenges and support needs.

Understanding Individual Differences

ADHD can look different from one child to another. Some children may be highly active or impulsive, while others may experience difficulties that are less visible, such as maintaining attention, organising tasks, managing time or remembering information.

We consider how your child’s individual characteristics and environment interact, including the demands placed on them at home, school and in other settings.

Recognising Strengths

Children with ADHD may have many strengths, including creativity, curiosity, enthusiasm, problem-solving abilities, energy, spontaneity and the ability to become deeply engaged in areas of interest.

These strengths are an important part of understanding your child and are considered alongside areas where they may benefit from additional support.

Looking Beyond Behaviour

We aim to understand what may be underlying a child’s experiences rather than focusing solely on observable behaviour. This may include considering attention, executive functioning, emotional regulation, learning, sensory experiences, communication, relationships and the child’s broader developmental profile.

Where appropriate, information from parents, teachers and other professionals can help us understand how your child experiences different environments.

Supporting Your Child’s Individual Needs

The purpose of an ADHD assessment is not simply to provide a diagnostic label. It is also to develop useful information that can help families, schools and other professionals understand the child and consider appropriate supports.

Recommendations are tailored to the individual child and may focus on their strengths, learning environment, executive functioning, emotional wellbeing, relationships and everyday participation.

Our goal is to help children and adolescents feel understood, supported and empowered to use their strengths while accessing the support they need to thrive.

Who Can Be Involved?

An ADHD assessment may involve information from people who know your child well across different areas of their life. Understanding how your child experiences attention, executive functioning and everyday activities in different environments can help provide a more complete picture of their individual profile.

Parents & Caregivers

Parents and caregivers provide important information about your child’s development, strengths, experiences and everyday functioning. This may include information about attention, activity levels, emotional regulation, learning, relationships, routines and behaviour across different situations.

Teachers & School Staff

With parent or caregiver consent, information from teachers or relevant school staff may be considered to understand how your child experiences attention, organisation, learning, classroom participation and relationships within the school environment.

Paediatricians & Other Health Professionals

Where appropriate and with consent, information may be gathered from your child’s paediatrician, GP, speech pathologist, occupational therapist or other relevant health professionals. This can help place your child’s experiences within their broader developmental and wellbeing context.

Your Child or Adolescent

Your child’s or adolescent’s own experiences are an important part of the assessment. Depending on their age and developmental stage, they may share their experiences of attention, learning, friendships, emotions, organisation and everyday activities.

Working Together

Not every assessment will involve all of these people. The information gathered is tailored to your child, the questions being explored and the circumstances of the assessment. Any contact with schools or other professionals occurs with the appropriate parent or caregiver consent and in accordance with the purpose of the assessment.

ADHD Assessment FAQs

ADHD can be assessed in children and adolescents, including younger children where there are ongoing questions about attention, activity levels, impulsivity or executive functioning. The assessment approach is adapted to the child’s developmental stage, individual circumstances and the questions being explored.
Not necessarily. Children may experience ADHD characteristics differently across environments. Some children may manage well at school but experience greater difficulties with organisation, attention, emotional regulation or routines at home, while others may experience challenges more noticeably at school. An assessment considers information across relevant settings.
An ADHD assessment involves gathering information about your child’s development, strengths, experiences and everyday functioning, together with psychological assessment activities where appropriate. Information from parents, teachers and other relevant professionals may also be considered, with consent. The process concludes with a feedback session and comprehensive report with recommendations.
Psychological assessment activities may form part of an ADHD assessment, depending on your child’s age, circumstances and the questions being explored. These may explore areas such as attention, working memory, processing speed and executive functioning. Assessment is individualised rather than relying on a single test or score.
Yes. ADHD can occur alongside autism, anxiety, learning differences and other developmental or emotional experiences. The assessment considers your child’s broader profile and how different experiences may interact, rather than considering attention and executive functioning in isolation.

Yes. ADHD can present differently between individuals, and some children may develop strategies to compensate for or mask differences, particularly in environments where they are able to meet expectations. An assessment considers the child’s individual experiences across different settings rather than relying on a particular presentation of ADHD.
Where appropriate, information from your child’s school may form part of the assessment. This may include questionnaires, teacher information or consultation with relevant school staff. Any contact with the school occurs with the appropriate parent or caregiver consent.
The duration of an ADHD assessment varies depending on your child’s age, individual circumstances and the information required. The assessment process may involve an initial consultation, information gathering, assessment sessions, a feedback session and report preparation
An ADHD assessment is designed to develop a comprehensive understanding of your child’s attention, executive functioning, development and everyday experiences. Where appropriate, the assessment may contribute to determining whether your child’s experiences are consistent with ADHD, taking into account the information available and relevant diagnostic criteria.
Following the assessment, parents or caregivers receive feedback about the findings and their child’s individual profile. A comprehensive report is provided with practical recommendations tailored to the child’s strengths and support needs. Recommendations may be relevant to home, school and other environments.

Considering an ADHD assessment?

If you would like to discuss whether an ADHD assessment may be appropriate for your child, we’re happy to talk through your questions and explain the assessment process.