ADHD9 September 2026

ADHD Assessment in Perth: What Families Need to Know

If you're wondering whether your child might have ADHD, a formal assessment is the clearest path to answers. Here's what the process looks like at Little Minds Psychology.

ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental conditions in childhood, affecting around 1 in 20 children in Australia. Yet for many families, getting a clear diagnosis can feel like a long and confusing process. A formal psychological assessment cuts through the uncertainty — giving you a definitive answer, a detailed profile of your child's strengths and difficulties, and a practical roadmap for support.

At Little Minds Psychology, our ADHD assessments are designed specifically for school-age children and adolescents. Here's what you need to know.

ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by persistent difficulties with attention, impulse control, and — in some presentations — hyperactivity. It is not simply a matter of being energetic or easily distracted. ADHD reflects genuine differences in how the brain regulates attention and behaviour, and it affects children across all intellectual ability levels.

There are three presentations of ADHD: predominantly inattentive (sometimes called ADD), predominantly hyperactive-impulsive, and combined presentation. Many children — particularly girls — present with the inattentive type, which is often missed because it doesn't involve the disruptive behaviour that draws attention in the classroom.

Our ADHD assessment involves two sessions. The first is the assessment session itself, which typically runs for two to three hours. We gather detailed background information from parents, review school reports and any previous assessments, and administer standardised rating scales completed by parents and teachers. We also conduct direct observation and clinical interview with your child.

The second session is the feedback session, where we walk you through the results in plain language, explain what they mean for your child, and provide a written report with specific recommendations for school, home, and any further support. The report can be used to access school-based adjustments, support applications for NDIS funding, and to inform decisions about medication (in consultation with your GP or paediatrician).

Our ADHD assessment fee is $1,500, which covers both sessions and the written report. We recommend requesting a Mental Health Care Plan from your GP before your first appointment — this may entitle you to a Medicare rebate on the assessment fee. We also offer a payment plan for families who need it.

If you're concerned about your child's attention, behaviour, or school performance, the first step is a brief phone consultation. We'll listen to your concerns, answer your questions, and help you decide whether a formal assessment is the right next step. There's no obligation, and we're happy to talk through what you're seeing before you commit to anything.

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How to Prepare Your Child for a Psychology Assessment

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For Families19 August 2026

How to Prepare Your Child for a Psychology Assessment

Helping your child feel calm and ready for a psychology assessment makes a real difference to how they perform. Here are practical tips from a child psychologist.

Booking a psychology assessment for your child is a significant step. Once the appointment is confirmed, many parents find themselves wondering: how do I talk to my child about this? What if they're anxious? Will nerves affect the results?

These are completely understandable questions. The good news is that there are practical things you can do to help your child feel calm, comfortable, and ready — and that preparation genuinely makes a difference.

Children generally cope better with new experiences when they know what to expect. Avoid the temptation to keep the appointment a surprise — most children do better with some advance notice and a simple, honest explanation. You don't need to go into a lot of detail. The key messages are: what it is ("You're going to meet a psychologist — that's a person who helps kids and families understand how their brain works"), what will happen ("You'll do some activities and games together — some will be easy, some might be tricky, and that's completely normal"), and why you're going ("We want to understand how you learn best so we can help you at school").

Children often have questions — and some can catch parents off guard. If they ask "Am I in trouble?", reassure them clearly: "You haven't done anything wrong." If they ask "Will it hurt?", explain it's not like a doctor's appointment with needles. If they ask "What if I get things wrong?", this is especially important to address — explain that some tasks are designed to be challenging, and that's how the psychologist learns about how their brain works.

A few practical things make a real difference on assessment day. Prioritise sleep — cognitive performance is significantly affected by tiredness. Have a good breakfast — hunger affects concentration. Allow plenty of time so you're not rushing. For younger children, bring a small familiar toy or comfort object. And stay calm yourself — children are perceptive, and if you're visibly anxious, they'll pick up on it.

When you arrive, the psychologist will check in with you briefly before the session. This is a good opportunity to mention anything relevant: how your child slept, whether they're feeling anxious or unwell, any recent stressors, or anything that helps your child feel comfortable. This information helps the psychologist interpret results accurately and adjust their approach if needed.

Some children — particularly those with anxiety, sensory sensitivities, or previous negative experiences with testing — may need more support. If your child is significantly anxious, let us know when you book. We can arrange a brief familiarisation visit, provide more detailed information about what to expect, build in additional breaks, or discuss strategies for managing anxiety in the moment.

When the session is finished, keep things low-key. Avoid quizzing your child about what they did or how they think they went. A simple "Well done, I'm proud of you" and a treat or enjoyable activity afterwards is the right approach. Psychology assessments are designed to be child-friendly and low-pressure — your job is simply to help your child arrive rested, fed, and feeling safe.

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Is My Child Gifted? Understanding Giftedness and Twice-Exceptionality

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Cognitive Assessment29 July 2026

Is My Child Gifted? Understanding Giftedness and Twice-Exceptionality

Gifted children are often misunderstood — and those who are also twice-exceptional can be especially hard to identify. Here's what giftedness actually looks like, and when a cognitive assessment can help.

When parents describe a child who is intensely curious, asks relentless questions, taught themselves to read at four, or seems bored and disengaged at school despite being clearly bright — they're often describing a gifted child. Yet giftedness is one of the most misunderstood and underidentified differences in childhood. And when a gifted child also has ADHD, dyslexia, or autism — a combination known as twice-exceptionality — the picture becomes even more complex.

Giftedness refers to significantly above-average intellectual ability, typically defined as an IQ score in the top 2–5% of the population (roughly 130 and above on a standard IQ test). But giftedness is more than a number. Gifted children often show asynchronous development — their intellectual abilities race ahead of their emotional and social maturity, which can create real difficulties at home and school. They may be reading chapter books at six while still having meltdowns over minor frustrations. They may be capable of sophisticated abstract reasoning while struggling to sit still or manage transitions.

Gifted children are frequently misidentified — or missed entirely. Some are identified as having ADHD because their boredom in an under-stimulating classroom looks like inattention. Some are identified as anxious or oppositional because they resist tasks they find pointless or beneath them. Some are simply labelled as "difficult" or "too sensitive." Girls, in particular, are often missed because they mask their giftedness more effectively and present as compliant even when profoundly under-challenged.

Twice-exceptional children — those who are both gifted and have a learning difficulty, ADHD, autism, or another neurodevelopmental difference — present the greatest diagnostic challenge. Their gifts and difficulties can mask each other, producing a child who appears to be performing at an average level when in fact they are simultaneously far above and far below average in different areas. A twice-exceptional child might have a verbal IQ in the 99th percentile and a processing speed in the 25th percentile. Without a comprehensive cognitive assessment, neither the gift nor the difficulty is likely to be identified.

A cognitive assessment — sometimes called an IQ assessment or psychoeducational assessment — is the most reliable way to identify giftedness and twice-exceptionality. At Little Minds Psychology, we use the WISC-V (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition), the gold-standard measure of cognitive ability for school-age children. The WISC-V provides a full-scale IQ score as well as detailed scores across five cognitive domains: verbal comprehension, visual-spatial reasoning, fluid reasoning, working memory, and processing speed. This profile is far more informative than a single number — it shows where a child's strengths lie, where they face genuine difficulty, and how those two things interact.

For gifted children, a cognitive assessment provides the evidence needed to access extension and enrichment programs, selective school entry, or subject acceleration. For twice-exceptional children, it provides the evidence needed to access both extension (for their gifts) and support (for their difficulties) simultaneously — something that is very difficult to achieve without a formal assessment. The written report we provide can be used directly with schools, the QDAA (Queensland Gifted and Talented program), or selective entry processes in Western Australia.

Parents sometimes worry that labelling a child as gifted will create pressure or unrealistic expectations. In our experience, the opposite is usually true. Understanding that a child is gifted — and understanding what that actually means for their development, their emotional intensity, and their need for intellectual challenge — is almost always a relief. It gives parents and teachers a framework for understanding behaviour that previously seemed puzzling, and it opens doors to support and programming that genuinely fits the child.

If you suspect your child may be gifted, twice-exceptional, or simply not being well-served by their current educational environment, a cognitive assessment is a worthwhile investment. The assessment takes approximately three hours, and the feedback session gives you a detailed, plain-language explanation of your child's cognitive profile and what it means in practice. We're happy to talk through your observations before you book — contact us for a brief phone consultation.

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