Assessment Details

The autism assessment (i.e., autism recognition and discovery) process is straightforward and transparent when you do it here. See below for details on how things will go if you proceed.

Last updated: Dec 29, 2023

Our assessment process is explained in-depth once you sign up, but here’s an overview:

  1. Sign up and send the payment (any time!)

  2. You fill out the tests and written questions online (ASAP, ideally within ~6 weeks or less)

  3. We book and then complete your interview (often within ~4 weeks of test completion)

  4. I write your final report (within ~1 week of your interview)

  5. We chat to debrief your results and then I send you your final report and various resources (ASAP)

This service is for adults who are in Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Yukon at the time of the assessment. Our assessments specialize in identifying autism and ADHD, and we address any arising differential diagnostic information to assure comprehensive understanding of underlying issues, with the aim to provide clear insights for appropriate support.

1. Choose your assessment option and then sign up

All autism assessments here use the same foundational tests and a detailed clinical interview, differing only in report detail and some additional services in extended options. You can opt to add a thorough ADHD assessment as an additional service.

The features from the assessment “price cards” are detailed below:

  • The Comprehensive Assessment and final report provides a very thorough approach and includes:

    • A thorough assessment and final report, with official diagnosis (when applicable).

    • Personalized recommendations, actionable insights, and a set of resources and general recommendations—based on what you request and also what I think may benefit you.

    • Diagnostic impressions, including a summary of major themes observed, any substantial clinical findings, and notable patterns that arose during the interview and testing.

    • Evaluate results using DSM5-TR criteria: we consolidate and map each test, its subscales, and interview results against DSM criteria, depicting the collective evidence of each autistic trait, to offer an overview of your results.

    • Test results, subscales, & interpretation: the appendix details your test scores, with select tests further elaborated in this section, complemented by graphs illustrating your results against established norms or thresholds.

    • Behavioural Observations or “mental status examination”: these are derived from the clinical interview, a standard practice where the interviewer notes aspects of your presentation during the conversation.

    • Comparative graphs of your test scores analyze convergent validity patterns among various tests. Established statistical relationships between well-studied tests, like correlations between AQ’s social skills and CATI social interactions scores, are observed to reinforce confidence in results.

    • A final debrief/feedback session (30-60 minutes, as needed) to review the report, discuss findings and rationale, answer questions, and process your reactions to the results.

    • Support: continued availability for follow-up questions and resource suggestions. In the months or years after we complete your assessment, you can always contact me (Iain) with any questions you may have.

    • Letter of accommodation: provided for requests in workplaces or academic settings, where a statement from the assessor is required. More complex requests may incur a fee, but a standard template letter is typically provided at no cost.

  • The Extended Assessment and final report includes everything from the previous tier, as well as:

    • Advanced testing suite for auxiliary clinical domains: for enhanced thoroughness this option includes tests covering areas like executive functioning, , OCD, etc., to provide supplementary information.

    • Screening for learning difficulties: this is a thorough ‘screening test’ looking at areas such as reading, writing, listening, math, time, organization, and similar. It is not in-depth cognitive or educational testing, and we would not be able to diagnose learning differences or similar as a result of this screening, though of course it can provide some indications about strengths and weaknesses and perhaps suggest if further inquiry seems merited.

    • A more robust set of summative comments in the diagnostic impressions section. The ‘comprehensive’ option includes this section generally, and in this ‘extended’ report option, more detail is included in the section.

    • Background information related to relevant medical and family health.

    • Overview of differential Diagnosis considerations. A thorough assessment must carefully evaluate possible alternate explanations for the experiences in question, and all versions of assessments here do so. In this report option, some of the details of your differential diagnosis will be noted.

    • Free access to everything in my Pay What You Want store.

    • Discussion of discordant results and client strengths: These additional sections in the report discuss any discordant results, detailing how the assessor made sense of such disparities—examining relevant test questions, written answers, collateral, and the interview.

    • Optional three month follow-up phone call: A 15-45 minute call approximately three months post-assessment to discuss how you’re progressing on your journey of self-discovery, process thoughts, ask questions, find additional resources as needed, and so on.

Once you’ve decided between the assessment options, get started by submitting the Get Started form and submitting the payment for the assessment. Once both have been received, we will email you the tests and a receipt of payment.

2. Testing

You will be filling the tests out online, and it’s recommended that you complete the tests within 6 weeks or less, to avoid outdated data and to keep the process advancing. The entire assessment is completed in a manner that maintains confidentiality. You will also be sent an extensive list of written questions to fill out. These questions are to gather background information and to give you space to share in writing to give more details and really take your time to say things how you’d like to. Some people prefer writing to speaking, so these questions allow for that. Most of these questions require perhaps 1 to 5 sentences each, and there are approximately 60 questions.

  • Neurodivergent people often face challenges in a neurotypical world, which is sometimes reflected language used in tests. I've excluded overly stereotypical tests, carefully selecting recognized ones balancing the slow evolution of academic and medical standards against a neuro-affirming perspective. This ensures that any diagnosis made is thorough and withstands scrutiny.

    All versions of the assessment include these tests related to autism:

    • Autism Quotient, Adult version (AQ)

    • Adult Repetitive Behaviour Questionnaire-2 (RBQ-2A)

    • Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS-5)

    • Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10)

    • Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q)

    • Ritvo Autism Asperger Diagnostic Scale-Revised (RAADS-R)

    • Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS-2)

    • Comprehensive Autistic Trait Inventory (CATI)

    • Modified Girls Questionnaire for Autism Spectrum Condition 2020 (GQ-ASC)

    • Sensory Perception Quotient (SPQ)

    • Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20)

    • Adverse Childhood Experiences Quiz (ACE)

    • Prodromal Questionnaire (PQ-B)

    • PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5)

    • Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale Self-Report (WFIRS-S)

    A collection of written questions are also sent to you. Some are brief questions, and some are open-ended, so you can provide detail if you want to.

    If you chose to include the ADHD add-on service, you’ll also receive the following tests:

    • Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale-IV (BAARS-IV) for current symptoms

    • Barkley Adult ADHD Rating Scale-IV (BAARS-IV-C) for childhood symptoms

    • Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS)

    • Barkley Functional Impairment Scale (BFIS)

    • Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS-25)

    • Conners' Adult ADHD Rating Scales (CAARS)

    • Diagnostic Interview for Adult ADHD (DIVA-5) semi structured interview

      Note: this ADHD assessment does not include cognitive or psycho-educational testing, nor does it involve the use of any software for continuous performance tests such as the Test of Variables of Attention (TOVA), MOXO CPT, QbTest, or the Conners’ CPT 3rd Edition. If you want an assessment that includes those forms of tests, you’ll have to look elsewhere (it will also likely need to be completed in-person)

    Given the distinct nature of each individual, supplementary tests (e.g., the MMPI3) may be occasionally introduced in addition to our standard procedures, on an as—needed basis. The incorporation of these tests, when pertinent, ensures a thorough examination.

3. Clinical Interview

After your tests are completed, we will schedule your online semi-structured clinical interview, usually within two to four weeks. During the interview, there are no expectations for your behaviour; as best as you’re able to, feel free to be yourself. There is no need to mask, maintain eye contact, engage in small talk, suppress any stims, and so on.

We spend approximately 90 to 120 minutes doing a clinical interview based on the DSM5-TR, ADOS2, and MIGDAS2:

  • Online call (must be video)

  • I’ll ask any follow-ups on relevant history and family background

  • You can take approximately 10 minutes to share about what lead you to believe that you are autistic, and what is most salient about your experiences related to autism

  • I’ll ask many in-depth questions about your experiences related to the DSM5-TR criteria for autism

    • Of course, you don’t have to answer any questions you’re not comfortable with

  • At the end, we consider possible alternate explanations for your experiences (i.e., a differential diagnosis)

4. Assessment Report

I review all collected information and prepare your assessment report, including any relevant diagnoses and accommodation letters if necessary. Typically, the report is sent within one week post-interview, after a debrief call between us.

5. Debrief Call

We chat on a regular phone call as a debrief session (30-60 minutes, as needed) to review the results of your assessment, your report, discuss findings and rationale, answer questions, and process your initial reactions to the results.

Important Notes

We only assess adults (18+) who are in Canada: in Alberta, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the Yukon. By contacting us for this service, you are implicitly confirming that you will be in one of those places during the assessment. See the policies page for more details.

Keep in mind that this is a single clinician assessment and is best suited for cases that can be assessed by one person and diagnosed with a high degree of certainty (which is almost all people who contact me). Cases that are extremely complex are often better served in-person by a team of multiple healthcare professionals of varying backgrounds—see the FAQ for more details.

In-person assessments are may be preferable to online assessments when assessing autism. This service (NDpsych) is generally intended for people who cannot attend an in-person assessment, for all kinds of reasons (e.g., due to sensory sensitivities, no assessment services in your area, anxiety, etc.).

  • If you are unable to communicate with us via email yourself as well as fill out the tests and attend the video interview independently, this form of online assessment is probably not appropriate—and an in-person assessment with more support is likely a superior option. See my FAQ page for more information on this.