Assessments
Our ADHD and Autism assessments are provided by our neurodivergent and neuro-affirming team members. We have experience assessing 'internalised' or 'masked' Autism and ADHD profiles in people who don't fit the mainstream stereotypes.
We are also able to provide differential diagnoses between neurodivergence, other neurodevelopmental differences, complex trauma, and mental health conditions. We offer a trauma-informed service and understand that Autistic people and ADHD'ers are more likely to have experienced trauma than their neurotypical peers. We are often looking for neurodivergence AND trauma together, rather than thinking it has to be one or the other.
Warning: chunky page incoming!
As fellow neurodivergents, we know what you want is all the information about our assessments right here on our website, rather than having to call to ask these questions (ick!)
It is a lot of information though, so here is an in-page menu to help you navigate through everything we think you might want to know about our assessments.
Autism Assessments
Our neurodiversity-affirming Autism assessments consist of around 3 to 4 hours of talking about your possible Autistic traits using the MIGDAS-2 interview tool, which is considered the most neuro-affirming Autism assessment tool currently available. Depending on your preference, this assessment can be broken into a 2-hour plus 1-hour appointment, or 3 x one-hour appointments.
We will ask you about Autistic traits in adulthood and childhood and ask you to complete online questionnaires about possible Autistic traits. If you're around 25 years of age or under, we will ask you to bring a parent, carer, or another adult who knew you during childhood to some of the assessment appointments. If you're over 25 years of age you may also bring a support person to the appointments if you wish to do so.
Fees for Autism assessments
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with a full report: $2000 to $2500
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with a confirmation letter: $1250 to $1500
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There are different assessment rates, depending on your assessor's experience. Please see the psychologist's profile page for the cost of an assessment with your assessor.
*The fees listed here are based on a standard assessment with up to 4 hours of interview time. If your assessment is complex and we estimate more time is needed, the fee will be higher. Our admin team will contact you if your assessment may require more work so we can provide you with an updated quote.
ADHD Assessments
Our neurodiversity-affirming ADHD assessments consist of 2 to 3 hours of talking about your possible ADHD traits using a structured diagnostic interview - the DIVA-5. Depending on your preference, this assessment can be broken into 1 x two-hour appointments or 2 x one-hour appointments.
We will ask you about ADHD traits in adulthood and childhood and ask you to complete online questionnaires about possible ADHD traits. If you're around 25 years of age or under, we will ask you to bring a parent, carer, or another adult who knew you during childhood to some of the assessment appointments. If you're over 25 years of age you may also bring a support person to the appointments if you wish to do so, but this is not mandatory.
*A note about ADHD assessments for adults: if you are an adult and you are interested in trialling ADHD medication, you have the option of seeing your GP to get a referral to a psychiatrist who specializes in ADHD, which may save you from having to undergo two separate assessments. We are happy to help you with ADHD-related difficulties without a formal diagnosis if you'd prefer this option. We understand that some people prefer to be assessed by a psychologist before getting a referral to a psychiatrist, and some people don't wish to see a psychiatrist at all and we are happy to provide ADHD assessments to anyone who would prefer to see a psychologist for an ADHD assessment.
Fees for ADHD assessments
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with a full report: $1500 to $2000
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with a confirmation letter: $1000 to $1300
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There are different assessment rates, depending on your assessor's experience. Please see the psychologist's profile page for the cost of an assessment with your assessor.
*The fees listed here are based on a standard assessment with up to 3 hours of interview time. If your assessment is complex and we estimate more time is needed, the fee will be higher. Our admin team will contact you if your assessment may require more work so we can provide you with an updated quote.
Auti-ADHD Assessments
Our neurodiversity-affirming Auti-ADHD (i.e. Autism & ADHD) assessments consist of around 4 to 5 hours of talking about your possible Autistic and ADHD traits using the MIGDAS-2 and DIVA-5 interview tools. Depending on your preference, this assessment can be broken into 2 x two-hour appointments or 4 x one-hour appointments.
We will ask you about Autistic and ADHD traits throughout adulthood and childhood and ask you to complete online questionnaires.
If you're around 25 years of age or under, we will ask you to bring a parent, carer, or another adult who knew you during childhood to some of the assessment appointments. If you're over 25 years of age you may also bring a support person to the appointments if you wish to do so, but this is not mandatory.
Fees for Autism + ADHD assessments combined
- with a report: $2500 to $3000
- with a confirmation letter: $1500 to $2000
- There are different assessment rates, depending on your assessor's experience. Please see the psychologist's profile page for the cost of an assessment with your assessor.
*The fees listed here are based on a standard assessment with up to 5 hours of interview time. If your assessment is complex and we estimate more time is needed, the fee will be higher. Our admin team will contact you if your assessment may require more work so we can provide you with an updated quote.
Do I need a report?
This often depends on the purpose of the assessment. Our full reports are comprehensive and include your personal information and history, the results of questionnaires and assessment tools, and an analysis and examples that document which parts of the diagnostic criteria you meet. A full report is useful if you are interested in applying for funding through a government department (for example, the NDIS), to have your needs recognised and accommodated by your school or workplace, or if you are the kind of person who needs to know all the details of how we came to the conclusion we did.
If you are interested in an assessment of Autism, ADHD or Auti-ADHD for your own personal knowledge and understanding of your neurotype, but you do not need a full report, we provide a 'no report' option to save you money. If you choose this option, we will provide you with a two to three page confirmation letter to document the results of the assessment and whether you meet the criteria. Think of this as more as a summary or an overview, rather than the full details.
Of course, you don't need to decide right now. You are welcome to meet with your assessor first and discuss this with them to help you make a decision.
Yvonne Daly
Available!
Senior Psychologist
Zoe Smith
Waitlist
Psychologist
Wendy Singer
Waitlist
Psychologist
Lucy Wise
Long waitlist
Provisional Psychologist
Gabby Desmond
Waitlist
Provisional Psychologist
Jhailyne de Guzman
Waitlist
Provisional Psychologist
Fiona Bissell
Waitlist
Psychologist
Ryan Montoya-Val
Long waitlist
Psychologist
Dr. Cristina Cavezza
Waitlist
Psychologist
Haffy Kediye
Waitlist
Psychologist
Kristel Stillman
Waitlist
Senior Psychologist
Anna Aminov
Books closed
Clinical Psychologist
Funding and Rebates
You can pay privately for an assessment and report.
You may be able to receive a health fund rebate, depending on your health fund, level of cover, and who will be assessing you - you will need to see a registered psychologist (not a provisional psychologist) to receive a health fund rebate.
You may be able to use your NDIS funding to pay for an assessment, depending on your plan goals. If you are plan-managed, you should check with your Support Coordinator or Plan Manager to see if your assessment can be covered.
If you are under 25 years old, you may be able to access a Medicare rebate for your Autism assessment if you have a referral from a paediatrician or psychiatrist. Unfortunately, your GP will not be able to write you a referral for this type of assessment.
If you are over 25 years old, unfortunately, due to Medicare rules, you will not be able to access Medicare rebates to pay for your assessment. This means you do not need a referral or mental health care plan from your doctor to book or attend an assessment.
What happens now?
Get in touch!
Please click here to fill in our intake form to join the waitlist for our psychology assessments
If you have any questions, you can email the Very Helpful Chats admin team: admin@veryhelpfulchats.com.au
Before your first appointment for your assessment, our dedicated admin team will send you our full assessment intake form. This form includes questionnaires for the assessment and requests information about your developmental, educational, social and mental health history. Our senior clinicians will then review the form and allocate you to the assessor who has the skills and experience to meet your needs.
We also request your credit card, debit card, or PayPal details. Rest assured that we take card security seriously, and your details are stored securely on our client management system, Halaxy. This security measure helps us prevent theft and fraud. No one at Very Helpful Chats will have access to your card details. If you have any concerns or questions regarding the security of your card details, we encourage you to read more about Halaxy's card security here: Halaxy Card Security FAQs.