Getting Diagnosed With ADHD

Getting Started

Finding the right place for an ADHD evaluation depends on your location, budget, and whether you prefer in-person or virtual care. Because ADHD often "overlaps" with other conditions (like autism or anxiety), a comprehensive evaluation is usually better than a quick screening.

Here is a categorized list of reputable diagnostic services and centers.

1. National Directories (Best for Local Specialists)

These are the gold standard for finding vetted professionals in your specific area. They allow you to filter by insurance, age group (adult vs. child), and specialty.

• CHADD Professional Directory: The largest US organization for ADHD. Their directory includes doctors, psychologists, and clinics specifically trained in ADHD.

• ADDA (Attention Deficit Disorder Association): Specifically focused on adults. This is an excellent place to find practitioners who understand how ADHD affects careers and adult relationships.

• Psychology Today Directory: Use the "Find a Therapist" tool and filter by "ADHD" and "Testing and Evaluation." You can also filter by your insurance provider.

2. Specialized ADHD Centers of Excellence

These centers are famous for their deep expertise and multi-disciplinary teams (meaning they have psychiatrists, coaches, and therapists in one building).

• The Chesapeake Center (Maryland/Virtual): One of the oldest and most respected ADHD centers in the US, founded by Dr. Kathleen Nadeau. They specialize in complex cases and "high-functioning" adults.

• CAMH Adult ADHD Clinic (Canada): The Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto provides specialized diagnostic services for adults in Canada.

• ADHD 360 (UK): A leading UK provider that offers both NHS-partnered and private assessments via a structured, clinician-led digital pathway.

• University Psychological Clinics: Most major universities (e.g., UCLA, NYU, University of Washington) have "Psychological Services Centers" where doctoral students provide high-quality, comprehensive testing on a sliding scale based on your income.

3. Telehealth Options (Fastest Access)

Telehealth has made diagnosis much faster, but quality varies. Some "quick-fix" sites have faced regulatory scrutiny, so it is safer to choose platforms that emphasize thorough evaluations.

• ADHD Online: Provides a formal, clinician-reviewed assessment that is accepted by many (but not all) primary care doctors for treatment.

• Circle Medical: A primary care-based app that treats ADHD. They are generally more thorough than "subscription-only" ADHD sites because they treat your overall health.

• Talkiatry: A high-quality psychiatry platform that takes most major insurances. They pair you with a psychiatrist for a full clinical interview.

Who Can Provide a Formal Diagnosis?

Not all mental health professionals can diagnose ADHD in a way that allows for medication or workplace accommodations.

Except in a few specific US states. *Varies by local regulations and insurance requirements.

Neuropsychological evaluations

A neuropsychological evaluation (often what people mean when they say "neuro eval" in the context of ADHD or Autism) is much more than a simple diagnosis.¹ It is essentially a "deep dive" into how your specific brain processes information, manages emotions, and executes tasks.²

While a standard psychiatric evaluation might focus on symptoms (e.g., "Do you struggle to focus?"), a neuropsychological eval uses objective testing to see why those symptoms are happening.

1. The "Battery" of Testing

An evaluation typically involves several hours of standardized tests.³ These aren't like school exams; there is no "passing" or "failing."⁴ Instead, they measure your performance against a massive database of people in your age group.

• Executive Functioning: This is the "CEO" of your brain. Testing looks at your ability to plan, organize, initiate tasks (addressing that task paralysis), and shift your attention from one thing to another.⁵

• Processing Speed: How quickly your brain can take in information and produce an output.⁶

• Working Memory: Your brain's "RAM"—how much information you can hold in your mind while actively working with it.

• Intellectual Functioning (IQ): Identifying your baseline cognitive strengths.⁷ Often, neurodivergent people have "spiky profiles," where they score in the 99th percentile for verbal logic but the 10th percentile for processing speed.

• Emotional & Personality Testing: This helps distinguish if struggles are coming from a neurodevelopmental condition (like ADHD) or are being influenced by anxiety, trauma, or depression.⁸

2. What the Final Report Provides

After the testing, you receive a comprehensive report (often 10–20 pages). This document serves several critical purposes:

• The "Operating Manual": It explains your unique cognitive blueprint. You might discover that you aren't "lazy," but rather that your brain has a specific deficit in inhibition or verbal memory that requires a different strategy than what works for others.

• Legal & Academic Accommodations: This report is the "golden ticket" for receiving formal support at a university or workplace (e.g., extra time on tests, a quiet workspace, or written rather than verbal instructions).⁹

• Differential Diagnosis: It can untangle overlapping conditions.¹⁰ For example, it can determine if your "zoning out" is ADHD-inattentive type, a sensory processing issue, or a dissociation response to anxiety.¹¹

• Treatment Roadmap: It provides specific recommendations for therapists or coaches. Instead of "general therapy," the report might suggest "Occupational Therapy for sensory integration" or "CBT specifically for executive dysfunction."

3. Neurological vs. Neuropsychological

It is helpful to know the difference between the two, as they involve different specialists:

Why it matters for ADHD/Autism

For many adults, the most valuable part of an evaluation is the validation. It moves the conversation away from "character flaws" and toward "brain mechanics." If you struggle with task paralysis, the eval might show that your "Activation" score is low, proving that the struggle is a physiological hurdle, not a lack of willpower.