Preparing for your evaluation

1. Questionnaires, about thirty minutes

You will receive several short questionnaires through the client portal. They cover mood, anxiety and sleep. These are not the evaluation. They exist so that if something else is affecting your concentration, we know about it before we interpret the testing rather than after.

Please complete them at least a week before your appointment.

2. Your own rating forms

You will also receive forms asking about attention and related difficulties, both as they are now and as they were when you were a child. Answer the childhood section as honestly as you can, even where memory is thin. Approximate is fine. Guessing to be helpful is not.

3. Two people who can describe you

This is the part that takes time, so please begin as soon as you book.

Someone who sees you regularly now. A spouse or partner, a close friend, an adult child, someone you work with closely. They complete a short form about how things look from the outside.

Someone who knew you before you were twelve. A parent, an older sibling, an aunt or uncle, a close family friend. They complete a short form about your childhood, or if that is not workable, I can speak with them briefly by phone instead.

I will send you both forms. You pass them along to the two people. All I need from you is their names.

Why the second one matters more than it looks.

Almost every condition that affects attention in adulthood begins in adulthood. The ones that begin in childhood are a much shorter list. So what someone remembers about you at nine years old does more to answer your question than almost anything measured on the day. It is also the piece that outside reviewers look for first if this report is ever going to a school, a licensing board, or an employer.

4. Records, if they exist

Please gather whatever you can find of the following. Do not worry if you have none of it. Most adults do not.

• School records of any kind. Report cards, transcripts, anything with a teacher’s written comment
• Any previous psychological or educational evaluation, of any kind, however old
• Any record of accommodations you have ever received, such as extra time on an exam, an IEP or a 504 plan
• Anything else you think tells the story

5. Medical

• A list of every medication you take, including anything over the counter, with doses
• Recent bloodwork from the last year, if you have any
• Your primary care provider’s most recent note, if you can get a copy

Several ordinary medical conditions produce difficulty with concentration and memory. Ruling them in or out matters, and it is not something a questionnaire can do.

6. On The Day 

• Photo identification
• Glasses or hearing aids if you use them
• A normal night of sleep, and your usual amount of caffeine. Not more, not less. We want a typical day, not your best day
• Eat beforehand. Testing runs several hours with breaks