Child ADHD Assessment

You will be emailed a screening pack which consists of a pre-screening questionnaire. This is to see whether enough traits are present to warrant a full child ADHD diagnostic assessment. If required, we can arrange a brief telephone call to discuss this further. If an ADHD assessment is deemed appropriate, you will be invited (along with your child) to attend a clinical ADHD assessment.

Before the assessment takes place, you will be asked to complete a series of questionnaires and forms including the Conners 4. The Conners 4 is a well-recognised tool that has three components (Teacher, Parent and Child) and is used to help your clinician gain an objective understanding of how your child’s ADHD symptoms may have affected them both at home and school. The clinician will email the Conners 4 to a chosen staff member at your child’s school and ask them to complete it before the specified assessment date. You will also be asked to provide the clinician with any other relevant information (such as previous assessment reports or school information that highlight your child’s ADHD related difficulties).

​Your child’s ADHD assessment is conducted in a 2-hour session. This can be conducted in person at a clinic in Bournemouth or virtually via Microsoft Teams. We use a series of assessment tools including semi-structured clinical interviewing along with the diagnostic ADHD Child Evaluation (ACE). The clinician will take a detailed assessment of your child’s presenting symptoms, psychiatric history, developmental history, past medical history, developmental history, and family history.

The clinician will review all the information gathered and map that against the DSM-V diagnostic criteria. Once a diagnostic decision has been finalised, the clinician will be in touch to confirm the outcome and discuss the best form of support for your child moving forward. Examples of support options include a recommendation for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) application and/or for a therapeutic intervention.

A comprehensive report will be produced and emailed to you. The wait for the report is typically two weeks. The report will include a detailed analysis of the assessment content, a formulation, a diagnostic outcome, and tailored recommendations. If you do not meet the criteria for a formal diagnosis, there is always a formulation as to why not and what else might be going on instead (e.g., mental health condition, alternative neurodevelopmental condition).