ADHD

Test for attention and impulsivity problems

Testing and Diagnosis of ADHD: Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Is Your Child Struggling with Attention, Focus, or Impulsivity?

If your child or teenager finds it hard to concentrate, stay organised, or manage their emotions, you may be wondering if they have ADHD. At Mindworx Psychology, we offer comprehensive ADHD assessments for children and teens to provide clarity, support, and practical next steps.

Signs of ADHD in Children & Teens

ADHD presents differently in every child and teen, but common signs include:

  • Difficulty focusing or completing tasks
  • Struggles with organisation and following instructions
  • Impulsivity, acting before thinking
  • Frequent forgetfulness or losing things
  • Hyperactivity or restlessness
  • Emotional outbursts or difficulty managing frustration
  • Challenges with school performance

Previously referred to as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), ADHD is now categorised as three presentations:

  • Inattentive presentation – challenges with focus, organisation, and follow-through.

  • Hyperactive-Impulsive presentation – difficulty with impulse control, restlessness, and fidgeting.

  • Combined presentation – a mix of both inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity

Testing for ADHD

What’s Involved in ADHD Testing?

Our ADHD assessment process is thorough, supportive, and child-friendly:

  • Initial Consultation – We discuss your concerns, family history, and your child’s experiences.
  • Comprehensive Testing – We use clinical interviews, validated questionnaires, and if needed, cognitive assessments to evaluate attention, executive functioning, and emotional regulation.
  • Teacher & Parent Input – Feedback from school and home helps us build a full picture of your child’s strengths and challenges.
  • Diagnosis & Report – If ADHD is identified, we provide a detailed diagnostic report outlining findings, strategies, and next steps.
  • Personalised Recommendations – From school adjustments to behavioural strategies, we equip you with practical, neuroaffirming support tailored to your child.

How ADHD Testing Helps Your Child

An accurate ADHD diagnosis can unlock support, resources, and school accommodations to help your child succeed. Our assessments can help to provide:

  • A better understanding of how your child thinks and learns
  • Access to school adjustments, and additional support
  • Personalised strategies to improve focus, emotional regulation, and confidence

Flexible, Comprehensive, Individually Tailored ADHD Assessments and Reports

ADHD Testing

We know one size does not fit everyone.

Our testing is comprehensive – but as a practice we know that families have different reasons for seeking tests and diagnosis.

We work to industry gold standards, but equally – we won’t write or charge for extensive reports, or conduct a battery of tests if you don’t need them.

For general treatment, we can screen and make a provisional diagnosis based on clinical observations that allow us to begin treatment and to provide support for ADHD.

And, when a formal diagnosis is needed, we can undertake a gold standard assessment to check if your child meets the diagnostic criteria, along with a comprehensive series of tests and assessments to check for any other learning difficulties or disorders. Such testing includes a detailed report.

We’ll discuss with you exactly what testing is needed, and helpful for your situation.

Initial Session

Before you confirm any testing with us, we ask that you have an initial assessment session with the Psychologist.  This allows us to begin assessment.

There is no single test for ADHD – in the initial session, the Psychologist will assess your needs and recommend what testing will be best for your unique needs.

We make a distinction between neurodiversity and disability. People with ADHD tend to have high levels of creative thinking and empathy. They can also hyper focus on certain tasks. These ways of thinking can be strengths.

Equally, children with ADHD can neurocognitive deficits across working memory, set shifting, reaction time variability, response inhibition, vigilance, planning and organising. Without support these deficits can significantly impair a child’s ability to reach their full potential.

We want to meet your child. ADHD, especially inattention, can be hard to see in a one-on-one novel situation, but clinical observation forms an important part of our assessment.

Parent/Carer information forms an important part of assessment. We will want to take a comprehensive developmental history of your child and discuss any significant events in their life.

*For a formal diagnosis to be made, your child will need to see their GP or Paediatrician for a thorough check up, including eye sight and hearing tests. This allows us to rule out any medical conditions that could mimic ADHD symptoms.

The diagnosis of ADHD requires multiple sources of information. Usually this involves us talking with your child’s school teacher or year advisor.

We have a range of questionnaires we administer to teachers to check on your child’s social, emotional and academic functioning at school.

Previously, we used a test of attention called a Continuous Performance Test (CPT test).

CPT tests are task-oriented computerised assessments of attention. Some children loved these tests, and others found them incredibly boring.

Ultimately, the latest research says they have little diagnostic value for ADHD, so given the added expense for parents, and the lack of benefit from administering them, we have dropped these from our test battery.

Typically we use the Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children.

  • Fifth Edition (WISC-V, Australian Standard) for children aged 6 to 16 years.
  • Fourth Edition (WPPSI-IV, Australian Standard) for children aged 2 years and 6 months to 7 years and 7 months.

These tools can assess overall IQ, and they look at strengths across various domains and constructs of intelligence.

In terms of ADHD diagnosis, testing processes such as memory or processing speed helps us get a much more detailed picture of what is going on for your child. For example, a slow processing speed can mimic inattention, but processing speed and attention are very different. These types of tests allow us to benchmark your child against same age peers, which can be incredibly useful information.

Children with ADHD often underperform academically and these types of tests help us to understand what specifically is going on for your child, and make specific recommendations for them.

Domains and constructs of intelligence tested may include:

  1. Verbal Comprehension : the ability to use a range of vocabulary to understand and express general knowledge and explain concepts
  2. Perceptual Reasoning : the ability to solve complex non-verbal problems
  3. Working Memory : the ability to learn, manipulate and retain information to complete new tasks
  4. Processing Speed : the ability to quickly process and make judgements about information

We screen for a range of psychiatric disorders and neurodivergence, not just for ADHD.

Many children have co-occurring challenges such as anxiety, or other forms of neurodivergence such as autism.

We use a wide range of gold standard assessments, these are chosen by the Psychologist based on your child’s functioning and developmental history.

*please note that ADHD testing screens for AuDHD, but is not a diagnostic test for Autism.

These tests and assessments are used to measure your child’s academic ability in a range of areas including reading, writing, spelling, arithmetic, listening comprehension, and oral expression.

Results can provide a profile to assist parents and schools with the development of individual intervention and learning plans.

Report writing is typically the most time-intensive part of the assessment process for your psychologist. They carefully score and interpret all test results to ensure an accurate and meaningful diagnosis.

The complexity of the assessment determines how long this process takes – more comprehensive evaluations require detailed analysis to provide a thorough understanding of your child’s strengths and challenges.

Our reports go beyond just presenting test results; they offer clear explanations of what the findings mean and include personalised, practical recommendations to support your child at home, in school, and in daily life.

We will provide the written report, read through the report and discuss the results with you, giving you the opportunity to ask questions.

We aim to have our feedback sessions within two weeks of testing when possible.

Specific, tailored to your child and included as standard in your report.

Optional.

– billed at your Psychologist’s hourly rate.

Neuroimaging research on ADHD continues growing in extent and complexity, although it has yet to become clinically meaningful.

Current Australian guidelines, and the DSM5-TR, 2022 state that no form of neuro-imaging can be used for the diagnosis of ADHD.

Therefore, in line with the guidelines we do not use neuroimaging to inform clinical practice or for diagnosis of psychiatric disorders.

Gold standard, evidence based testing is individually tailored to your specific needs.

After the initial assessment, we will be able to provide a quote for testing based on your specific needs.

At Mindworx Psychology our Psychologists charge by the hour for their time. Our team are experienced and we work efficiently.

As a general guide, for comprehensive testing we suggest to allow 2-3 hours for developmental history/school liaison, and up to 4 hours for IQ and academic testing.

Scoring, interpretation and report writing time will be from 4 hours, and dependent on the volume of administered tests and complexity of diagnosis. We can quote this for you when the Psychologist confirms which tests are being administered.

Our feedback sessions are usually an hour, when the written report and written recommendations are provided to you. You will be able to share this report with others involved in your child’s care if you wish.

You may be able to access Medicare rebates or private health fund rebates (check with your fund what is covered) for part of the process, we can discuss this with you.

Early identification of ADHD can make a significant difference in your child’s well-being and success.

Our team at Mindworx Psychology includes Psychologists with ADHD. We are neuroaffirming and here to guide you through the process with care and expertise.

TIPS FOR PARENTING CHILDREN WITH ADHD

ROUTINES

Try to keep the same routine every day, from wake-up time to bedtime. Use visual reminders.

Include time for homework, outdoor play, and indoor activities – and allow extra time to reduce stress.

Keep copies of your schedule on the fridge, or on a bulletin board in the kitchen.

ORGANISE EVERYDAY ITEMS

Have a place for everything, and keep everything in its place. This includes clothing, backpacks, and toys.

Use age appropriate labels and pictures.

Encourage children to complete tasks e.g. part of taking off shoes is putting them away in the right place

BE CLEAR AND CONSISTENT

Children with ADHD need consistent rules they can understand and follow.

Having a neuro-atypical brain means that routines can be more challenging to learn. Make it easier by being as consistent as possible.

GIVE PRAISE OR REWARDS WHEN RULES ARE FOLLOWED

Children with ADHD often receive a lot of criticism, even when they may be trying their best.

Look for good behaviour, and praise it. Don’t wait for perfect, praise the attempt, praise the effort.

BE KIND TO YOURSELF !

Parenting children with ADHD can be filled with joy, and it can also be complex, challenging, frustrating and demanding!

Make it a priority to build in time for yourself to recharge and refresh, even if it is just a five minute walk each day.

GET PROFESSIONAL SUPPORT

It is important that children learn how to successfully master tasks. This can’t happen if they are placed in situations they are not able to cope with.

Professional advice can help you understand exactly what your child struggles with, and provide you and their teachers with strategies and solutions to help.

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Our Location

Suite 206, 10 Century Circuit, Norwest Central, Baulkham Hills, NSW 2155

Appointment Times

Monday – Thursday 8:00AM – 8:00PM
Friday 8:00AM – 7:00PM
Saturday 9:00AM – 3:00PM
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Fees & Insurance

You do not need a GP referral to book an appointment at Mindworx Psychology.

Medicare Rebates are available if you have a valid referral from a GP, Psychiatrist or Paediatrician.

Your Private Health Fund may offer cover for Psychology Services – you can check this directly with your fund.