Child ADHD Assessment in London

The initial assessment will be with a registered and experienced Psychologist, who has been training in administering ADHD assessments. The assessment usually involves looking at all areas of your child’s development, particularly at any areas that they may be struggling with. The assessment will usually last between 60-90 minutes and in this time both you and your child will be asked some questions. In some cases, the assessment will be structured to be a play based developmental assessment for your child. A questionnaire will also be required to be completed by your child’s school teachers to gain an insight into what they are like in a classroom setting.

Following the completion of both the questionnaire and the assessment, the Psychologist will review the assessment, analyse and interpret the results from the questionnaires. They will then write a report based on whether the child meets the criteria for an ADHD diagnosis or not. 

The assessment for ADHD is often dependent on the symptoms and difficulties that are specific to your child. This allows for a treatment plan to be created that is well-suited to your child’s needs, to implement both at home and in school if needs be. There are many ways in which a child can be assessed, some being a clinical assessment, the use of Conners 4 assessment, which can be carried out by parents, teachers and as a self-report form for children over the age of 8. 

The complete evaluation for ADHD will often look at your child’s behaviour at home and at school, and in other extra-curricular activity that they take part in. it will also look at gaining information from you as a parent or guardian, teachers, and other individuals that may be involved in your child’s care. This is done as your child may be experiencing ADHD symptoms only in certain environments. It can also help to rule out other additional reasons for the behaviours that your child is displaying, which are not related or linked to ADHD. 

There are various psychometric tools used in an ADHD assessment. One of which is the Conners 4th Edition. The Conners 4th edition, provides a comprehensive assessment of symptoms associated with ADHD and common co-occurring problems in children and young people aged 6 to 18 years. It has forms for parents and teachers that illustrate how a child presents in the home and classroom. Children aged 8 and above, can also complete a self-report form that provides information about their experience of their symptoms. 

The assessment is a questionnaire that asks about the behaviours your child is displaying, how they are at school and their social life. The Conners 4 assesses symptoms such as hyperactivity, trouble paying attention, difficulties keeping friends, and impulsiveness, amongst others. 

The answers selected highlight which ADHD symptoms your child might have and the severity of them. It can also show how these symptoms may impact aspects of your childs life, such as their grades, home life, and relationships. When answering the questions you will be required to enter a number between 0 and 3 to indicate how often you notice a behaviour. A 0 means never, while a score of 3 means it happens very often. These scores are then added up to make a final T-score. If this is below 60, it usually means that your child doesn’t have ADHD. A score above 60 may indicate ADHD, and a score higher than 70 means that the symptoms of ADHD your child is displaying are more severe. 

The letter typically takes four weeks to receive. This is providing that the questionnaires are returned in a timely manner. If you require a letter sooner, please let us know as soon as possible and we will check if this is something we can accommodate. We have a speedy service available, please enquire for further information. We will do our best to be as flexible as possible.