Combined Autism and ADHD Assessments in Sydney
A combined autism and ADHD assessment is $3,500. Where both are in question, we assess for both in one process rather than putting your child through two separate assessments. One set of appointments, one clinician, one report covering both. A first appointment is usually available within one to two weeks; your report follows about four weeks after that.
Why assess for both at once?
They frequently occur together. A substantial proportion of autistic people also meet criteria for ADHD, and many people with ADHD also meet criteria for autism. Assessing for one while treating the other as a separate question later is, more often than not, the long way round.
They share surface features. Difficulty with focus, with social situations, with regulating emotions and with the demands of a school day can arise from either, or from both. From the outside they can look similar while being quite different underneath, and the treatment and adjustments that help are not the same.
Assessing one in isolation risks a partial picture. Look only for autism and find it, and the attention difficulties can end up filed under autism and left unaddressed. Look only for ADHD, and social differences can be read as a consequence of inattention. Neither leaves you with a complete answer.
Going through it once is easier on the person being assessed. A child who finds new people and new rooms hard should do that once, not twice, several months apart with a different clinician each time.
How do I know if we need both?
You don't have to know. That's the conversation at enquiry, not something you need to have already decided beforehand.
Tell us what you're noticing. We'll talk it through and recommend what fits whether that’s a single-focus assessment, a combined one, or in some cases perhaps an assessment isn't the right next step at all. Working out which questions are worth asking is part of what an initial assessment consultation is for.
What the assessment involves
An initial conversation about what you’re noticing and what you want the assessment to answer.
One developmental and background history interview, covering both questions simultaneously rather than the same ground twice.
Direct assessments - the ADOS-2 alongside an intellectual assessment and standardised measures of attention and thinking, in the same block of appointments (usually two separate appointments).
The ADI-R, a detailed structured clinical interview with a parent or carer covering development and behaviour across the person’s life.
One set of questionnaires to gather collateral covering both questions.
Scoring, integration and one report.
One feedback session covering both.
The point of the structure is that the overlapping parts happen once. The history interview, the school questionnaires and the feedback session all cover both questions rather than being repeated months, or even years, apart.
What the report covers
Both questions answered in one document: whether criteria are met for autism, for ADHD, for both, or for neither, with the reasoning set out either way.
Where both are present, the report also covers how the two interact for this particular person. That is the part two separate reports are unable to provide a coherent narrative for. A school or a paediatrician holding two documents written months apart by different clinicians has to do that integration themselves, from incomplete information. In a combined autism and ADHD assessment, we are doing that for you.
The report covers strengths as well as difficulties, and sets out recommendations for home and for school or work concretely enough to be acted on.
What it costs
Autism assessment - Autism assessed on its own - $2,500
ADHD assessment - ADHD assessed on its own - $1,800
Combined autism and ADHD - Both assessed in a single process, one report - $3,500
The combined fee covers the whole process - the initial conversation, all appointments, all assessment materials, questionnaires, scoring, the written report and the feedback session.
Assessments are private pay. NDIS funding cannot be used for a diagnostic assessment, whether you are seeking access to the NDIS or already have a plan. If you are referred by a paediatrician under MBS 135, you may have access to Medicare rebates to the autism components only.
Where the assessment happens
In our consulting rooms on the Northern Beaches or the Lower North Shore. Mobile assessment is available by arrangement at a premium to the clinic fee - read more about mobile assessment.
FAQs - Combined autism and ADHD assessment
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The overlapping parts happen once instead of twice - one history interview, one set of school questionnaires, one feedback session - and both questions are answered in a single report that also covers how autism and ADHD interact and present in your child. It's one process for the person being assessed, rather than two, months or even years apart.
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No. That's what the initial consultation is for. And if we begin with one question and it becomes clear the other should be looked at too, we'll tell you, explain what it changes, and confirm the fee before anything goes ahead.
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There's more ground to cover, but it's spread across a block of appointments and it's paced to the person in front of us. Compared with two separate assessments months or even years apart, most families find one process easier to get through.
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$3,500, covering the whole process for both questions.
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Assessments are usually private pay.
NDIS does not cover diagnostic assessments.
Medicare rebates may be available for the Autism component (only) if you are referred by a paediatrician or consultant psychiatrist under the Complex Neurodevelopmental Disorder Medicare item number where the young person is under 25 years.
Enquire about a combined autism and ADHD assessment
We will be in touch within two business days to arrange an initial conversation. You don’t need a referral, and there is no obligation to proceed. You don’t need to have worked out which assessment you need before you call.