What to Expect From an ADHD, Autism, Learning, or mental health Assessment at Hola Therapy
Starting a psychological assessment can feel like a big step. You may be looking for answers about your child’s learning, questioning ADHD, trying to understand patterns that have never quite made sense, or seeking clarity due to a history of changing diagnoses. Whatever brings you in, the purpose of an assessment is not simply to arrive at a final diagnosis. It is to understand how you or your child thinks, learns, feels, and functions in everyday life.
Below is an overview of what the process involves, from the first appointment to the feedback session.
Administration - Onboarding for your ADHD/Autism, Learning or Mental Health Assessment
You’ll first make contact with the administration team. They’ll ask if you know what specifically you’re seeking an assessment for. Some people know this from the outset, as they have a particular question in mind or they’ve had another professional recommend the assessment. Others are not entirely sure and will either have a conversation with the administration and our clinical lead about this. Sometimes, we need to start the assessment before it’s fully defined.
For example, a parent has had their child’s school and psychiatrist recommend an assessment for ADHD and anxiety. There are school performance problems but it’s not clear if this is a result of ADHD or anxiety, or a specific learning disorder. Therefore, we may start the initial interviews and review of school reports before determining if testing for specific learning disorders is indicated or not.
You’ll receive a quote for the assessment from the outset. We ask for 70% to be paid at the outset, and 30% before final delivery. Many people with insurance choose to pay in one payment as this makes claiming back simpler. You’ll be sent consent forms to fill out. Once this onboarding is completed, the assessing psychologist will reach out to you to schedule your first clinical interview.
What Documents Should I Provide for the ADHD, Autism, Learning or Mental Health Assessment?
Best practice for diagnostic assessments is to not just interview and test the person, but to have multiple sources of information (client, parent/partner, teacher/old school reports etc), and multiple types of data (verbal, standardised measures, open-ended interviews etc).
Documents that are helpful for a diagnostic assessment include:
Medical reports: Relevant medical, developmental, or mental health records; and information about current medication or previous treatment.
Previous reports from allied health services: psychological, speech and language, or occupational therapy or other relevant services.
Reports of any previous diagnoses.
Educational reports: School reports (even as an adult, if you can access old school reports these are very helpful for assessment), teacher comments, or academic records. Particularly for the diagnosis of Autism or ADHD in adults, historical reports from childhood are important.
Existing learning support plans or documentation of school accommodations.
Work: performance reviews, or examples of workplace difficulties, if available.
Any other relevant reports - if you’re unsure, just ask the assessing psychologist.
You can start collecting these from the outset, however, it’s not necessary to have them all in order before you begin. Your psychologist will talk to you about this in the first clinical interview.
The Clinical Interview
The assessment process begins with an initial semi-structured, clinical interview with a psychologist. You do not need to arrive with a clear explanation of what is happening. That is what we are here to work out together. For young children, we usually start with a parent interview, and an observation and interview of the child happens during testing. For older children, we often meet with them from the outset, as well as having a parent interview. This is typically 90 minutes long. We will ask about the concerns you have noticed, how long they have been present, and how they affect daily life.
We will also discuss your/their history, which may include development, school or work experiences, relationships, emotional well-being, physical health, substance use, and any previous assessments or support. This provides the broader context for the assessment and also indicates if there are other differentials (potential diagnoses) that we should also include in the assessment.
For example, the referral reason may be ADHD due to observed inattention. In the clinical interview, we may learn about a history of anxiety and hypothesize that the inattention could be linked to anxiety. We would include anxiety as a diagnostic differential and also assess for this.
After the clinical interview, we explain the proposed assessment plan, including which appointments may be needed, who else we might speak with, and what information would be useful to gather.
How to Prepare for the Clinical Interview
It can help to think about the specific situations that concern you. When did they start? When do the difficulties tend to appear? What makes them better or worse? How do they affect school, work, relationships, or daily responsibilities?
The Assessment Plan
Following the initial clinical interview, an assessment plan is put together. If you haven’t already provided the documentation listed above, you’ll be asked for this. The therapist will put together a bespoke test battery of standardised assessments based on the referral question and any differentials (possible alternate explanations/diagnoses).
For all assessments, the majority of the testing occurs with the person receiving the assessment. It may take anywhere from 2 to 5 hours. For longer assessments and children, this is best broken into two testing sessions.
For adults undergoing assessment for ADHD/Autism, assessment often includes input from someone who knew you as a child; and from someone who knows you in your day-to-day life now. They may be sent written assessments to complete, and/or called for a phone interview (20-30 minutes).
For children, assessments include input from parents, and from teachers and/or school counsellors. This includes being sent standardised tests and participating in clinical interviews.
Sometimes people ask us to confirm that certain assessment tools will be used in their assessment. While some tools are quite standard and commonly used, we prefer to develop a unique test battery for each person rather than applying one battery to everyone.
How to Prepare for Standardised Testing
There is no need to study or practise for testing. In fact, preparation is less about performing well and more about arriving in a state that reflects your usual day-to-day functioning.
Try to sleep reasonably well the night before, eat beforehand, and bring anything you normally use, such as glasses, hearing aids, or other necessary supports.
If you take medication, do not stop or change it on your own. Check with the clinician beforehand, particularly if you take medication for attention or another condition that might affect testing.
The assessment is not a pass-or-fail experience. Honest, ordinary examples are often more useful than trying to give the “right” answer.
What Happens During Psychological Testing?
Psychological testing usually involves a series of structured activities, questions, and questionnaires selected around the concerns being assessed.
Some tasks may look at cognitive abilities, executive functioning, memory, language skills, educational level, including reading, writing and mathematics; emotional wellbeing; personality; behvaiour; everyday functioning and/or social communication. Many of these tests are done in person in a face-to-face setting. Others are sent via email to either the adult, parents and/or child to complete; as well as those sent to informants (partner, teacher, etc.).
For children, parts of the appointment may feel similar to puzzles, games, or school-based activities. For adults, the experience may involve answering questions, completing computer-based tasks, and working through different problem-solving exercises.
The clinician also pays attention to how the person approaches tasks. For example, they may notice whether instructions need to be repeated, whether frustration builds quickly, or whether concentration changes over time.
Sessions can be adjusted to the person’s age and needs, and breaks are offered when appropriate.
No single test tells the whole story. The results are interpreted alongside background information, observations, and information from other relevant sources.
Why Do We Speak With Parents, Teachers, Partners, or Other Informants?
People do not experience difficulties in the same way across every setting. Someone may appear focused during a one-to-one appointment but struggle to organise homework, manage deadlines, or follow conversations in a busy environment.
Speaking with parents, teachers, partners, or other relevant people helps us understand what everyday functioning actually looks like outside the assessment room.
For children, parents may provide developmental history and describe behaviour at home, while teachers can share observations about learning, attention, peer relationships, and classroom demands.
For adults, a partner, parent, or someone who knows them well may help describe current difficulties or recall patterns from earlier in life.
Different perspectives do not always match, and that does not mean one person is wrong. Differences can tell us something important about context, expectations, stress, and the types of support that are already in place.
Information is gathered with appropriate consent and shared only as agreed.
What Happens After Testing Is Completed?
Once the assessment portion is finished and all information is collected, the clinician scores the assessment measures and reviews the information gathered throughout the process.
This usually includes test performance, questionnaires, interview information, observations, and any relevant records or feedback from other people.
The next step is to look at the overall pattern. Are the difficulties consistent across settings? Do the results support a particular explanation? Are there emotional, developmental, medical, or environmental factors that also need to be considered?
The goal is not to match someone to a label as quickly as possible. It is to understand which explanation best fits the evidence and what that means in practical terms.
The clinician then prepares a written report and recommendations. These may address school or workplace support, therapeutic needs, further consultation, or strategies that can make daily life more manageable. From receiving all the information, this process typically takes around two weeks.
You will then be invited to a feedback session to discuss the findings.
What to Expect From an Assessment Feedback Session
The feedback session is where we bring the different parts of the assessment together and explain what they mean.
We will usually discuss the main concerns that brought you in, the person’s strengths, the areas that were more difficult, and whether the findings support a diagnosis or another explanation.
Just as importantly, we will talk about how the results relate to everyday life. For example, what might explain why a child understands material verbally but struggles to put ideas into writing? Why might an adult function well in some situations but feel overwhelmed by planning and follow-through?
It is important for the person being assessed to participate in the feedback session whenever appropriate. The findings will be explained in a clear and accessible way, adapted to the person’s age, level of understanding, and individual needs.
Recommendations are discussed in practical terms, and there is time to ask questions.
You do not need to absorb everything immediately. Some people feel relieved, some feel emotional, and others need time to think through what the information means.
The purpose of the session is not simply to give you results. It is to help you leave with a clearer understanding and a realistic sense of what comes next.
And if later you have more questions, we will be here to answer them!
Understanding Your Psychological Assessment Report
A psychological assessment report brings together the information collected throughout the assessment and explains what the findings mean for the person’s everyday life.
The report is organised into two main parts. The first provides an integrated summary written for the person being assessed, their family, and others who may not have a background in psychology. It explains the main concerns, relevant history, strengths, areas of difficulty, conclusions, and recommendations in clear, accessible language.
The second part provides a more detailed account of the assessment measures used and the findings from each. This section includes more technical psychological terminology and may be particularly useful for other professionals involved in the person’s care or support.
Here, you may see terms such as standard scores, percentile ranks, or descriptive ranges. These indicate how someone performed compared with other people of a similar age, but they should not be interpreted in isolation.
A lower score does not automatically mean a person has a disorder, and a higher score does not mean they cannot experience meaningful difficulties. What matters is how the results fit with the person’s history, daily functioning, strengths, and support needs.
If anything in the report is unclear, ask. The report is there to help you understand the findings and know what to do next.
Comments