Neuro Affirming Assessments for ADHD and Autism

A psychological evaluation is typically an extensive process - it is a time and sometimes cost intensive process of assessing cognitive, emotional, social and behavioral functioning. Psychological evaluation can encompass many types of information gathering including many types of psychological testing (sometimes called a battery of testing) and is conducted by a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. This type of assessment can be helpful for looking at a wide range of potential explanations for behavioral, social, emotional and neuro-differences, and is often valuable in evaluating developmental and neuro-cognitive differences, including evaluation for educational needs such as specific learning differences and disabilities.

For one thing, I am a Licensed Certified Social Worker- Clinical- or LCSW-C - not a Licensed Clinical Psychologist. This means there are key differences in my educational background and foundational training - though each individual in every field has areas of focus, specialization and training that may vary from others in their field - and there are slightly different core values, or guiding principles for my profession. Licensed Clinical Social Workers do not conduct psychological testing, however, in Maryland and Virginia, licensed clinical providers including LCSW-Cs are ethically and legally qualified to utilize the current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders(DSM-5) in the process of diagnosis of ADHD and/or Autism.

This means my process of assessment will include many forms of information gathering - social and developmental history, self-report inventories/questionnaires, and interview session(s) using neurodiversity affirming, evidence based diagnostic protocol. And it does not include full neuropsychological testing.

My evaluation process is intentionally limited in scope, as this is my area of specialization and expertise - Diagnostic Evaluations for Autism and/or ADHD are for the sole purpose of evaluating and identifying/diagnosing Autism and/or ADHD. Additionally, it is important to note that my diagnostic evaluation process does not seek to validate, nor reevaluate any previous mental health diagnosis, as the scope of the assessment process is limited to exploring differential diagnosis as part of identification/diagnosis of Autism and/or ADHD.

This means that I use my experience and training in assessment, trauma-informed practice and mental health disorders to consider a wide range of explanations for sensory, social, emotional, and behavioral differences for the purpose of clarifying ADHD and/or Autism using a neurodiversity affirming framework.

To make an accurate and non pathologized diagnosis, skills and training in assessment and use of psychometric measures is paramount. Measures were chosen for their validity, reliability and scope of assessing a wide variety of presentations. The measures listed below are those that I have been trained in and use in assessment:

For ADHD:

• ASRS - 5 Adult ADHD Self Report Scale

• DIVA - 5 - Diagnostic Interview for ADHD in Adults

• Brown’s Executive Functioning Assessment

• BDEFS - Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale

• Connors 4

• Trauma Symptom Checklists

• PCL-5 PTSD Checklist

For Autism:

• MIGDAS-2 Diagnostic Interview - Adolescent and Adult Version

• CAT-Q - Camoflauging Autistic Traits Questionnaire

• CAT-I - Comprehensive Autistic Traits Inventory

• Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness, Version 2 MAIA -2 or Youth Version

• Monotropism Questionnaire

• RBQ - 3A Adult Repetitive Behaviors Questionnaire

• Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale - YBOCS

• Sensory Processing Measure (SPM-2)

• Sensory Profile