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ADHD Assessment Burlington Vermont
Assessment for Executive Functioning for Older Teens and Adults

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Navigating ADHD: Your Personalized Adult Assessment Journey

When focus slips, tasks pile up, or overwhelm becomes constant, it can be difficult to decide whether the problem is burnout—or whether ADHD is quietly shaping your daily life. This assessment helps determine whether your challenges reflect ADHD, a learning disability, differences in processing speed, or another mental health or medical condition.

Your evaluation is conducted by licensed psychologists trained to assess executive functioning, attention, emotional regulation, and cognitive patterns with precision. The goal is simple: understand what’s happening in the brain, clarify the various aspects of your symptoms, and determine the right path forward.

ADHD assessment tools—such as validated self-report instruments developed with international research partners—help evaluate different types of symptoms across social settings, work environments, and everyday routines. Research in recent years confirms that ADHD is common in the general population, which makes accurate assessment essential for adults seeking clarity, stability, and long-term well-being.

Whether you’re a college student, a professional under pressure, or someone who has always struggled with organization, this assessment offers a structured way to understand your experience and identify meaningful interventions, with or without ADHD medication.

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ADHD in Adults: How It's Different and Why It Often Goes Undetected

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Explore the nuanced landscape of ADHD as it evolves into adulthood, uncovering shifts in symptoms, hidden challenges, and the transformative power of understanding and support for those on this often-overlooked journey

Whether you’re a student, professional, or simply feeling overwhelmed, this process can help you understand what’s happening and what to do next.

This Assessment Helps You Understand:

  • why tasks feel harder than they “should”

  • why trouble paying attention disrupts home, work, and relationships

  • why emotional responses feel sharp or disproportionate

  • why time management and follow-through remain inconsistent despite effort

  • why focus collapses under pressure

In many cases, adults discover they have been compensating for ADHD since childhood—through sheer effort rather than support. A comprehensive evaluation helps you break that cycle.

Identifying ADHD Symptoms

The diagnostic process is guided by the DSM-5-TR criteria and evaluates the ability to sustain attention, regulate impulses, complete tasks, and manage daily routines. Because ADHD can resemble other disabilities, educators, teachers, or family observations from childhood may also be considered—especially if you struggled in class environments.

Trouble Paying Attention

For many adults, inattention is not about being careless or unmotivated—it’s about inconsistent focus across multiple areas of life. Trouble paying attention often shows up in ways that affect relationships, work performance, and daily productivity.

Some people lose track of conversations or forget important details, creating strain in communication. Others struggle to stay engaged during meetings, organize information, or complete tasks that require sustained effort. These challenges are not character flaws; they reflect differences in processing speed, working memory, and cognitive load.

An adult diagnosis requires symptoms across social settings or roles (work, home, school, parenting). These symptoms must impair functioning and show clear consistency across time.

Because ADHD affects the brain’s capacity for focus, control, organization, and problem-solving, early identification leads to targeted interventions and long-term improvement.

What the Assessment Involves

In-Depth Conversation

The process begins with a collaborative conversation—not a checklist. You’ll have space to describe how ADHD may appear in your daily life, including routines, emotions, and patterns of overwhelm.

Cognitive Testing & Assessment for Executive Functioning, and processing speed

You’ll complete structured assessments that measure working memory, attention, processing speed, organization, and problem solving. These help differentiate ADHD from anxiety, depression, trauma, and burnout.

Results from your assessment for executive functioning guide intervention planning and identify where extra support may help. In many cases, this provides clarity that has been missing for years.

Mental Health Screening

Because ADHD frequently affects emotional regulation, the evaluation includes a screening for mood, stress, and patterns such as rejection sensitivity.

Why ADHD Is Often Missed in Adults

Symptoms shift over time. While kids may show impulsivity, adults often present with slowed motivation, inconsistent performance, or exhaustion from managing life with limited cognitive resources.

Factors contributing to missed diagnosis include:

  • strong coping or masking strategies

  • changes in life demands (job stress, parenting, college)

  • overlap with anxiety, depression, or trauma

  • incorrect assumptions about what ADHD “looks like”

Untreated ADHD may lead to chronic stress, emotional fatigue, relationship difficulties, and low self-esteem. Early evaluation and tailored interventions prevent long-term strain.

A graphic design icon showing a figure surrounded by clocks and question marks, representing the concept of ADHD being often missed in adults due to overwhelming distractions, time management challenges, and cognitive overload.

Why a Formal ADHD Diagnosis Can Help

Clarity

Your diagnosis explains persistent patterns such as time blindness, difficulty initiating tasks, or emotional overwhelm.

Direction

You receive a roadmap for moving forward—with or without ADHD medication. For some, coaching or therapy is enough. For others, medication provides essential cognitive stability.

Support

A diagnosis gives access to accommodations at work, school, and home. Under federal law, documented disabilities—including ADHD—may qualify for workplace adjustments or academic flexibility.) to the reader

Frequently Asked Questions About ADHD Assessments

Who should consider testing?

Adults who struggle with organization, time management, communication demands, or sustained focus—especially students, professionals, and parents—often benefit from an assessment.
For example, a patient who repeatedly makes careless mistakes at work, or a professional who feels overwhelmed by competing deadlines, may be experiencing symptoms consistent with ADHD. Individuals who have spent years developing compensatory skills, masking difficulties, or adapting under pressure are often surprised to learn how much clarity the assessment provides.

What does the process involve?

The evaluation includes detailed interviews, structured cognitive testing, emotional screening, and a personalized analysis of your results. These methods help determine how ADHD affects your thinking patterns, daily functioning, and long-term goals.
Your therapist will assess how you solve problems, manage tasks, and respond under stress. The process also considers developmental history and—when relevant—reflections on childhood challenges, since many adults can recall instance after instance where symptoms were present but misunderstood.

Will a diagnosis help with accommodations?

Yes. Under federal law, a documented diagnosis can open access to academic and workplace accommodations, disability services, and specialized supports.
These adjustments may include extended time on tasks, organizational tools, modified communication expectations, or other forms of extra support tailored to your different needs. Such accommodations are designed to help individuals meet expected job or school requirements with greater stability and confidence.

Is the assessment remote or in-person?

Some components—such as interviews or questionnaires—can be completed remotely. However, to ensure clinical accuracy and ethical practice, at least one in-person session in Burlington is recommended.
This allows for standardized testing conditions and ensures that results for processing speed, attention, and executive functioning reflect your actual cognitive abilities.

What guides the diagnostic decision?

The diagnostic process is grounded in DSM-5-TR criteria, clinical judgment, cognitive testing, and your developmental history.
Your evaluator considers several aspects of your functioning, including attention, memory, organization, regulation, and communication.
In many cases, additional background from earlier life stages is helpful—such as recollections from a child, or insights offered by parents or teachers when available—because ADHD often begins early but goes unrecognized until adulthood.

What about insurance?

Coverage varies depending on your plan and whether the evaluation is for diagnostic clarification or medical purposes.
Some plans reimburse part of the assessment, while others require pre-authorization or offer reimbursement only for certain components. Your insurance provider can help determine what is covered, including follow-up treatment, consultations, or ADHD medication management.
A detailed receipt is provided upon request for clients seeking reimbursement.

What if I need ADHD medication?

If your assessment indicates that ADHD medication may be beneficial, you will receive a written referral letter summarizing your results and diagnostic findings.
This letter can be shared with a prescribing provider—such as a primary care physician, psychiatrist, or psychiatric nurse practitioner—who will evaluate medication options and dosage based on your different needs.
Medication is never required, and many clients benefit from behavioral strategies, executive-function coaching, and other interventions. If medication is appropriate, the written referral helps ensure continuity of care and supports timely access to treatment.

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