Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

Do I need a referral for an adult autism or ADHD assessment?

No. You can start directly — no physician referral is required. Simply complete the intake and informed consent form to begin.

Do I have to book a consultation call first?

No — and you don't have to wait for one to get started. We're genuinely happy to answer any questions you have and talk things through with you: you're welcome to email us, and if you'd like a consultation call, we can arrange one. But a call isn't a required first step. Our intake and consent form does the work a consultation call normally would, so you can move forward on your own timeline without waiting on scheduling.

Where do you offer virtual adult assessments?

Our adult assessments are fully virtual and available anywhere in British Columbia, the Yukon, and Ontario.

Can an autism or ADHD assessment really be done virtually?

Yes. Adult autism and ADHD assessments are well suited to virtual delivery — the components that matter most for adults are the clinical interview, developmental history, questionnaires, and collateral information, all of which are completed just as thoroughly online.

Can I be assessed for both autism and ADHD?

Yes. Autism and ADHD frequently co-occur — often called AuDHD — and many adults arrive suspecting one and discover both are part of the picture. We offer autism-only, ADHD-only, and combined assessments. If your assessment suggests the other may be present, we'll talk it through with you before proceeding.

What if I have anxiety, depression, PTSD, or trauma as well as autism or ADHD?

This is common, not a complication. Autism, ADHD, trauma and PTSD, anxiety, depression, and personality functioning frequently overlap, and they can look like one another — which is a major reason adults are so often misdiagnosed or told their assessment "didn't fit." We specialize in comprehensive assessment of exactly these complex, overlapping presentations. You don't need to book a separate trauma or mental health assessment: where relevant, we build additional components into your autism or ADHD assessment so you get one clear, integrated picture rather than several partial ones.

What if I don't have report cards or records from childhood?

This is very common, especially for adults who masked well enough that nothing was ever flagged at the time. Missing childhood records is not a barrier. We gather developmental history through a questionnaire and, where possible, a brief interview with someone who has known you a long time — and we use whatever documentation you do have access to, without requiring it.

Will my report be accepted for university or workplace accommodations?

Assessments are completed by a Registered Psychologist, and reports are written to meet the documentation standards typically required for university accommodations, workplace accommodations, and disability or funding applications. Because requirements vary between institutions, we recommend checking what your specific university or employer asks for.

How much does an adult autism or ADHD assessment cost?

ADHD-only assessment starts at $3000, Autism assessment starts at $3500 and a Combined ADHD+Autism Assessment starts at $4500. All prices are estimates. If complexity emerges during the assessment that requires additional time to complete the diagnostic picture, your psychologist will have a transparent conversation with you, and together you'll decide how to proceed.

How long does the assessment process take?

Anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. This depends largely on how quickly questionnaires and collateral information are returned, and how quickly appointments are scheduled — so the timeline is partly in your hands.

Do you assess children and teens?

Yes — autism, ADHD, psychoeducational, and other assessments for children and youth are offered in person rather than virtually, and are described on our general Psychological Assessments page. If you're seeking an assessment for your child, that's the right place to start.

What happens after the assessment?

You'll receive a full written report and meet with your psychologist for a feedback session to go through the findings, ask questions, and talk through what your recommendations mean for you — in plain language, personalized to your situation rather than a template.

Do you offer neurodivergent-affirming, queer-affirming, trauma-informed, or culturally safe assessment?

Yes, and not as an add-on. Our psychologists are racialized, queer, and neurodivergent. We bring lived experience of being assessed, diagnosed, and moving through systems that weren't built for us — alongside years of specialized professional training in conducting these assessments with diverse populations. A diagnosis can reshape your identity, your access to support, and your quality of life. We don't take that lightly.

Here's what each of these actually means in our practice:

Neurodivergent-affirming means we don't treat autism or ADHD as a deficit to be corrected or a failed version of a neurotypical person. Traits are understood in context: masking is a survival strategy, not a social skill; stimming is regulation, not a symptom to suppress; and difficulty in an environment is often information about the environment. Assessment is a way of understanding how you experience the world and what would actually make your life more workable.

Queer-affirming means your gender and sexuality are not the thing being assessed. They aren't treated as symptoms, as confusion, as a phase, or as something to be explained by a diagnosis. We're also aware that autistic and ADHD people are far more likely to be queer or trans than the general population — this is well established, and it means you won't have to spend your assessment explaining or defending who you are.

Trauma- and violence-informed — we say trauma- and violence-informed, not just trauma-informed, deliberately. "Trauma-informed" can suggest that trauma is a past event living inside an individual. Naming violence points to what is often still happening: poverty, racism, colonialism, transphobia, ableism, and interpersonal violence are ongoing conditions, not just history. It also names something closer to home — psychology and the mental health system are not neutral observers of that violence. They have participated in it, and the assessment process itself can reproduce it: being observed, questioned, and categorized can echo experiences of being surveilled, disbelieved, and pathologized. So we don't locate every difficulty inside you and call it pathology, and we don't pretend the process is happening outside of power. We build in safety, choice, and collaboration, and we stay accountable for our part in it.

Culturally safe — cultural safety is not the same as cultural competence or cultural sensitivity. Competence suggests a clinician can become sufficiently knowledgeable about someone's culture; safety asks something more demanding of us. It requires examining our own power, position, and assumptions, and reckoning with psychology's documented history of harm — pathologizing, misdiagnosing, and serving as an instrument of colonial violence, particularly against Indigenous, Black, and racialized people. It also means that whether care is safe is something only the person receiving it can determine. That isn't a claim we can make on your behalf, which is why we treat it as an ongoing responsibility: to keep asking, to keep listening, and to change what we're doing when it isn't working.