Why Assess For Autism AND ADHD?
At Badger’s Place we offer a combined autism and ADHD assessment and evaluation which we call the NeuroDivergent - Assessment & Evaluation or ND-AE for short. This assessment process aims to determine any neurodivergence that meets criteria for autism and/or ADHD. This approach is informed by research showing statistically you are more likely to be autistic and ADHD. In fact, somewhere between 40% and 70% of individuals diagnosed autistic also received an ADHD diagnosis (Rong et al., 2021).
Even if you do not meet full criteria for ADHD it is probable that you may experience some regulatory control challenges associated with ADHD. Our ND-AE package will detail your strengths and difficulties and provide recommendations. Knowing your personal strengths and how to support your needs may help to improve your daily functioning irrespective of diagnostic impressions.
At Badger’s Place we provide up to 3 hours for a combined clinical intake and conversational interview, via Telehealth, to seek information related to sensory, language and social functioning. Alongside this we provide multiple questionnaires (self-report and informant) to assess for social and communicative development, executive functioning, adaptive functioning, autistic masking, and behavioural / attentional strengths and challenges.
Based on the information gathered, our psychologist will provide a clinical opinion specifying whether an individual meets DSM-5-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – 5th edition Text Revision) criteria for Autism Spectrum Disorder and / or Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD)*.
In addition to the intake and conversational interview, we extend the ND-AE package with a one-hour feedback session to discuss assessment outcomes and a chance to ask questions. Our ND-AE written report is also provided after the feedback session. It details:
background information,
assessment outcomes,
strengths,
difficulties,
recommendations, and
diagnostic impression(s).
The report may also be used to obtain support from agencies or institutions.
This is why our ND-AE package provides the best approach to understanding your neurodivergence.
We thank all of our assessment clients who have trusted in us to support them on their journey to greater self-knowledge and awareness. We welcome client feedback and regular supervision so as to meet our clients needs and remain up to date on best practices and assessment tools.
If you would like further information about our ND-AE package or are ready to take the next step and want to book an assessment appointment please contact us.
* The ND-AE does not assess for any co-morbid mental health, cognitive or academic conditions.
