A proper ADHD assessment as outlined by ADHD New Zealand, should do two things:

• determine whether a person has ADHD and rule out other potential reasons for the symptoms, plus
• identify any other potential challenges — i.e. Anxiety, Depression, Dyslexia, Autism, Auditory Processing Disorder or OCD.
• Depending on the complexity of your needs the Specialist assessment may take anywhere from an hour to more than eight hours and may require several appointments. The usual length of time in the appointment is 90 minutes but that is with having already done questionnaires and forms

Common assessments include:

• ADHD rating questionnaires (called psychometrics)
• Cognitive Assessments (assessing cognitive strengths, weaknesses and IQ)
• Mental Health broad screener questionnaires (psychometrics to help narrow down the areas the Specialist will need to focus on in the assessment), and/or
• Neuropsychological assessment of the Attention system or Executive Functioning (functional tests completed by a Psychologist).