Assessments
We provide comprehensive, evidence-based assessments to support accurate understanding of neurodevelopmental, learning, behavioural, and emotional differences across the lifespan. Our services support children, adolescents, and adults, including individuals who have never previously received a diagnosis and have long experienced a sense of difference.
Our approach is clinically rigorous, neuroaffirming, trauma-informed, and person-centred, translating assessment findings into practical recommendations that support everyday functioning, education, employment, and access to appropriate supports (including NDIS where applicable).
Assessments
- Autism Spectrum Disorders (including updated diagnoses and identification of DSM V level)
- Educational & Learning Problems – Cognitive Functioning (intellectual impairment and giftedness). Specific Learning Disorders eg dyslexia, dyscalculia
- Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
- Global Developmental Delay
- Attachment difficulties, Anxiety Disorders, Mood Disorders, and Trauma
Assessment Types
- ASD Assessment
- Educational Assessment
- ADHD Assessment
- Developmental Assessment
Our Assessment Philosophy
Our assessments are grounded in the understanding that neurodevelopmental and psychological differences are part of human diversity, not deficits to be “fixed”. We balance diagnostic clarity with respect for lived experience, cultural context, and individual identity.
We are committed to:
- Neuroaffirming, evidence-based practice
- Trauma-informed assessment processes
- Careful and thoughtful differential diagnosis
- Clear, functional recommendations that support real-world outcomes
While diagnostic clarification is often helpful, our primary goal is to support understanding, access to supports, and improved quality of life. Diagnosis is never considered in isolation from context, history, or functional impact.
For Professionals & Referrers
Assessment Overview
Our assessment services utilise standardised, evidence-based tools to support differential diagnosis, functional formulation, and intervention planning across neurodevelopmental, learning, behavioural, and emotional domains.
Assessments are available for children, adolescents, and adults, including late-identified presentations characterised by lifelong masking, chronic effort, internalised distress, burnout, or functional difficulties across education, employment, relationships, and daily living.
Assessment tools are selected based on clinical appropriateness, age, presentation, and referral question, rather than a fixed battery approach.
All assessments are conducted by clinicians with specialised training in neurodivergence, developmental psychology, trauma-informed practice, and complex presentations across the lifespan. Reports are suitable for NDIS applications and reviews, educational planning, workplace adjustments, and multidisciplinary care.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
ASD assessments are conducted in accordance with DSM-5 diagnostic criteria and contemporary best-practice guidelines.
Assessment includes:
- Comprehensive developmental and psychosocial history
- Standardised autism diagnostic tools (including ADOS-2 and ADI-R, where clinically appropriate)
- Assessment of adaptive functioning
- Multi-informant data (caregivers, educators, or significant others)
- Differential diagnosis, including masking and camouflaging
- Identification of DSM-5 severity levels and individualised support needs
- Assessment of late-identified autism, including the impact of lifelong masking, burnout, and co-occurring anxiety, depression, or trauma
Cognitive & Educational Assessment
Cognitive and educational assessments clarify intellectual functioning, learning profiles, and differential diagnosis across the lifespan, including intellectual disability, Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs), ADHD, and mood- or anxiety-related
functional impacts.
Cognitive Ability (Intellectual Functioning)
- Standardised IQ testing (Wechsler scales)
- Adaptive behaviour assessment
- Functional impact evaluation
- Identification of mild, moderate, or severe intellectual impairment
- Differential diagnosis between global cognitive delay and domain-specific
learning difficulties
Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs)
- Cognitive profile analysis
- Standardised academic or functional achievement testing
- Review of response to intervention or compensatory strategies
- Diagnosis of:
- SLD in Reading (Dyslexia)
- SLD in Mathematics (Dyscalculia)
- SLD in Written Expression (Dysgraphia)
ADHD Assessment
ADHD assessments are conducted in alignment with the Australian Evidence-Based ADHD Clinical Practice Guidelines (AADPA).
Assessment includes:
- Clinical and psychosocial interview
- Review of developmental, medical, and mental health history
- Wechsler IQ and WIAT-III achievement testing (where indicated)
- Assessment of executive functioning and emotional regulation
- Functional impairment analysis across settings and life stages
- Differential diagnosis (including ASD, anxiety, trauma, and learning disorders)
- Assessment of adult ADHD, including impacts on employment, relationships, daily living, and emotional wellbeing
Global Developmental Delay (GDD)
Assessment includes:
- Developmental history
- Standardised developmental testing
- Evaluation across communication, motor, cognitive, social, and adaptive domains
- Identification of contributing medical, genetic, or environmental factors
- Early intervention recommendations and NDIS-aligned reporting
Behavioural, Emotional, and Regulation-Related Concerns
Assessment is conducted within a biopsychosocial and neurodevelopmental framework, recognising behaviour and emotional responses as meaningful signals rather than pathology.
This includes consideration of:
- Behavioural and emotional regulation difficulties
- Co-occurring neurodevelopmental conditions
- Environmental, relational, and systemic contributors
- Trauma-related attachment and regulation difficulties
Emotional, Attachment, and Trauma-Related Concerns
Assessment includes:
- Multi-informant data collection
- Screening for anxiety, mood disorders, and trauma-related impacts
- Evaluation of emotional regulation, coping strategies, and functional impairment
- Integration with learning, attention, occupational, and relational functioning
Reports integrate diagnostic findings with functional impact and include clear, prioritised recommendations relevant to education, employment, daily living, and support planning.
For Parents, Carers & Adults Seeking Assessment
Understanding Through Assessment
Seeking assessment can bring uncertainty, concern, relief, or a sense of long-awaited clarity — whether for a child, a teenager, or yourself. Our role is to support understanding, not judgement, and to help make sense of patterns that may have been present for many years.
Many adults present after years of compensating, masking, or attributing difficulties to personal failure rather than underlying neurodevelopmental differences.
We take a compassionate, collaborative approach, ensuring assessment is experienced as respectful, thoughtful, and meaningful.
Autism Assessments Across the Lifespan
Autism presents differently in different people. Some individuals show clear signs early in life, while others adapt, mask, or over-function — often at significant personal cost.
Our autism assessments explore:
- Communication and social connection
- Sensory processing and regulation
- Thinking, learning, and problem-solving styles
- Emotional regulation and stress responses
- Strengths, challenges, and support needs
For adults, assessment often provides clarity, self-understanding, and relief, offering a more compassionate framework for understanding lifelong experiences.
Learning, Attention, and Daily Functioning
Assessment can help explain why learning, focus, organisation, or daily tasks feel harder than expected — at school, at work, or at home.
We assess:
- Learning profiles and processing styles
- Attention, executive functioning, and emotional regulation
- Strengths and areas of vulnerability
- Practical supports across education, employment, and daily life
Behaviour, Emotions, and Wellbeing
Emotional distress and behavioural challenges often reflect unmet needs, overwhelm, or chronic stress rather than personal failure.
Our assessments help identify:
- Contributing factors to emotional or behavioural difficulties
- Anxiety, mood, or trauma-related impacts
- Environmental or relational influences on wellbeing
- Support strategies that promote stability, regulation, and resilience
A Respectful, Person-Centred Process
Across all ages, we aim to ensure individuals and families feel:
- Listened to
- Respected
- Clearly informed
- Supported in next steps
We pace assessments to support psychological safety, recognising that assessment itself can be activating for individuals with trauma histories or prior negative experiences with systems. Findings and recommendations are explained in clear, accessible language, with time for reflection and discussion.
Our aim is not simply to assess, but to support understanding, dignity, and meaningful change.