Dr Coleman will send out Conners 4 questionnaires to the parent or guardian, your child (if aged 8 or older), and your child’s teacher. Following your consultation, you should briefly discuss the upcoming assessment with your child’s teacher and check that they are willing to complete the Conners 4 teacher questionnaire. You should forward the full name and email address of your child’s teacher to Dr Coleman’s email address: drsarahcoleman@proton.me. Once received, this information will be stored securely in your child’s file until the questionnaires are distributed prior to the assessment date.

The assessment takes place in person and typically lasts between 1.5 to 2 hours. Dr Coleman conducts assessments at her Fairview office, located at Brighton House, 29 Fairview Strand, Dublin 3. Please buzz Room 4 upon arrival. The location is wheelchair accessible.

A child ADHD assessment includes: a cognitive assessment (using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – WISC-V), behavioural observations, a continuous performance test, and a clinical interview (The ADHD Child Evaluation). Additional assessment tools may be incorporated as needed to clarify the presence of ADHD or to assess for co-occurring difficulties.

To assess for a specific learning difficulty, such as dyslexia or dyscalculia, additional neuropsychological tests must be added to your child’s assessment protocol. This additional testing must be booked in advance of your assessment date and carries an additional cost. You will also be asked to submit further information about your observations of these difficulties at home and in school to help guide the assessment.

The consultation and assessment process is designed specifically to explore symptoms that may be related to ADHD. While Dr Coleman may use screeners for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and provide a brief comment on whether further ASD assessment might be indicated, this is not a diagnostic ASD assessment. If you are interested in pursuing an autism assessment, you can discuss this with Dr Coleman during your consultation or contact the main Arduna office for more information.

Where all questionnaires have been returned and no additional information or testing is required, a full feedback session will be scheduled within four weeks. This session will take place via Zoom and last up to 50 minutes. You will receive your child’s report in advance and are encouraged to review it beforehand, bringing any questions or suggested amendments to the session. The report will outline whether your child’s profile meets the diagnostic criteria for ADHD as defined in the DSM-5. It will also include a summary of assessment findings and tailored recommendations for support at home and in school.

During the consultation and assessment process, both you and your child will be asked to share personal and sometimes emotionally charged experiences. This can feel intense and may bring up a range of feelings. It’s helpful to plan ahead and try to ensure you have few or no other demands on your time following these appointments, and that support is available to you where possible.

Assessment day can be tiring for children, so it’s important to ensure your child is well rested and has had something to eat before attending. Planning a small reward after the assessment—such as a treat, time together, or a preferred activity—can help your child feel positively about the process and encourage their engagement.

Information shared during consultation and assessment is treated as confidential and private. However, as a Chartered Clinical Psychologist and a mandated person under Irish law, Dr Sarah Coleman is legally obliged to report any information that raises concerns about serious harm to yourself or another person. In such cases, she is required to notify appropriate legal or child protection authorities. Wherever possible, Dr Coleman will discuss this with you in advance of sharing any such information.

All personal information is managed in accordance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) professional standards.

Your records are encrypted and securely stored on Dr Coleman’s password-protected laptop for a minimum of seven years. Psychometric data from tools such as the WISC-V are stored using Pearson’s Q-interactive platform, hosted on a secure server located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Canada has been recognised by the European Commission as providing adequate data protection. All data will be handled in line with GDPR and Irish data protection laws and will be used exclusively for the purposes of psychological assessment and reporting.

All digital questionnaires and test results are anonymised using a unique identification number known only to Dr Coleman. Identifying information is never stored on third-party testing platforms.