ADHD Assessments

Why an ADHD assessment?

For many children, challenges regulating the focusing center of the brain can interfere significantly with learning, development, and social experiences with peers at school and beyond. 

This can show up as:

  • – difficulties learning at school, college, or university
  • – challenges with peer interactions
  • – issues with sleep
  • – not being able to follow “chained commands” (do this, then do this, then do this)
  •  – being always on the go or appear as if driven by a motor
    – behavioural challenges at school
  • – concern that a student’s true potential is not being realized in the classroom

Our Approach

At The Wishing Star, our clinicians are expertly trained in considering the WHOLE person in order to support in charting a path forward. We don’t just get a list of “attention problems” or “activity problems”, nor do we just administer parent and/or teacher completed rating scales. Our approach to ADHD assessment and diagnosis is multifaceted. We administer several different direct assessment measures to the student, collect complete developmental history information, and seek out information from other sources including parents and teachers via rating scales and questionnaires. All of this information is considered alongside the expertise of the parent as the ones who know the child best to thoroughly and competently diagnose ADHD when and if appropriate.

The Next Steps

If you think your child may benefit from an ADHD assessment, connect with one of our skilled administrative team members who can walk you through the whole process from intake to debrief to follow-up supports.

We understand that this can feel like a big decision, and we are here to support you each step of the way.

FAQ’s ADHD Assessments

Have questions about ADHD assessments? Have a read through our FAQ’s here for more information.

We invite you to read through our FAQ’s if you have questions as we have probably already thought of the answers! If after reading through our FAQs you still do not have the answers you need, please feel free to reach out via email to info@wishingstarclinic.com.

An ADHD assessment is intended to explore the relevance of an ADHD (all types) diagnostically for your child. A lot of times ADHD is “diagnosed” based on simple questionnaries and clinical judgement. After meeting with the leading minds in ADHD diagnosis and treatment, we created our ADHD assessment process which relies on data from various raters (you, your child (if appropriate), your child’s teacher), and direct assessment of the academic skills and cognitive processes often implicated in ADHD.

We are pleased to offer our ADHD assessment to children and students who are in grade school, or engaged in post-secondary study.

An ADHD assessment does not allow for diagnoses of learning disabilities, mental health challenges (anxiety, depression, etc.), cognitive exceptionalities (giftedness, intellectual disability), autism or developmental differences.

Many parents wonder what to tell their child about the assessment. We encourage an honest response that includes discussion of the purpose of the assessment, which is to make sure that all of the big people (parents, caregivers, educators, other professionals) are doing their jobs in the best way possible for learning to be fair for the student.

Tips:
1. Make it normal – like a checkup that many students go for;

2. Give them a concrete expectation – You can stay in the assessment appointments with your child if they would refer that or for however long they love. Let them know they will do some brainy kinds of activities, and some other things that will feel more like schoolwork. Some of it will be very easy and other parts will feel hard, but never too hard that it becomes too much;

3. Bridge the connection – link your child’s assessment clinician to familiar people, such as preferred teachers (e.g. Did you know Dr. Vanessa knows your teacher Mr. Brown?), or maybe a shared interest with your child (did you know Dr. Vanessa also LOVES baseball just like you?)

*These sessions are student-lead in terms of work-load, frequency and length of breaks, etc. It is important to us that the student is functioning at their best during these sessions and we work hard to be very encouraging and to keep things comfortable for the student, including giving the student’s brain the rest required be attentive and engaged.

Please make the following documents available to the clinic (which you can do via our client portal) prior to your intake appointment:

1. Background Information Questionnaire (we will send to you): this is a questionnaire that allows us a complete history and understanding of your child. It will require some time to complete.*We are unable to prepare the final report without this completed document.

2. Teacher Checklist (we will send to you): Please make sure the teacher who knows your child best completes this form.

3. Past report cards – last report for each grade and most recent report for current grade. 

4. Any previous assessments or other relevant reports

Please Note: Our office is not able to make photocopies or provide scanning services on site of your original documents.
 
 
What other documents might I be asked to complete prior to the debrief appointment?

Your clinician may decide to collect additional information from you via rating scale questionnaires that are sent directly to you from the corresponding assessment company. Your clinician will discuss this with you if they decide to pursue this, and our office will provide additional instructions if/when the time comes.

If you are looking for something to pass the time during your child’s assessment session, we are close in proximity to the following:
 
The Indigo Café (right around the corner in our building)
Shops at Morgan Crossing (5 minutes)
Grandview Corners Shopping Centre (5 minutes)
Starbucks (5 minutes)
White Rock Beach (10 minutes)
Crescent Beach (10 minutes)
 
We are happy to provide you with directions if you are new to the area. Just ask! Of course you are welcome to make yourself comfortable in our waiting room. We do have wifi available to parents who wish to make use of that.

The total cost for the assessment is $3065, which will be paid as follows, and includes allocation of a required $500 deposit to hold your assessment booking (which you will be prompted to pay upon booking your intake via our online booking system): 
 
First appointment receipt: 
Parent intake session of 1 hour; 2 hours of psychological support time
3 hours @ $271.82/hour = $815.46 
 
Second Appointment Receipt:
Assessment session 2 hours; 3 hours of psychological support time
5 hours @ $271.82/hour = $1359.10 
 
Third Appointment Receipt: 
Parent debrief session of 1 hour; 2 hours of psychological support time
3 hours @ $271.82/hour) = $815.46 
Add “library fee” to cover cost of materials $75 
 
 
TOTAL: $3065.02