Can you summarize how this assessment will help me or my child?

With extensive testing, data collection, and clinical interviews, a team of medical and health experts will help you determine whether an Attention Deficit Disorder—like ADD or ADHD—can explain challenges you are seeing. Based on our findings, we’ll suggest an individualized Action Plan. Our report will include accommodation suggestions. We’ll match you or your child to specific psychotherapy or coaching programs to support success. Experts on the Medical Team involved with your assessment will consult with your community doctor and provide a Medication Treatment Plan if you are also interested in medication options.

You might have heard that ADD and ADHD aren’t “real” disorders. Well, science says that viewpoint is wrong. ADHD is a real, physical, neurobiological brain difference. Thousands of scientific studies have proven that fact, so don’t let anyone tell you otherwise! Attention deficit disorders can look different in different people. A common theme is difficulty focusing, but some individuals are more hyperactive and impulsive, while others tend to daydream and are not at all hyperactive or impulsive.

Do I have Adult ADD or ADHD? Does my child have ADD or ADHD?

A detailed examination of attention can help you figure that out. And no, this is not something you need to figure out on your own. We can help. We’ve assessed thousands of children, teens, and adults at the Possibilities Clinic. We specialize in investigating, testing, and treating ADD and ADHD—so we know the best practices and strategies for success that can support a brighter future for you and your family.

Can a person be diagnosed with ADD or ADHD if they can focus really well in some situations?

Yes. When it comes right down to it, the word “deficit” in ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is misleading. It’s not that people with ADD or ADHD have no attention. More accurately, they can pay attention, but the brain struggles to regulate that attention. So when ADD or ADHD is present, the brain can hyperfocus during activities that are very interesting, but attention drops rapidly for tasks the brain would rather not do. To be clear—a person with ADHD does not choose to be interested in some tasks and disengaged from others. Differences in brain circuitry and in naturally occurring brain chemicals (called neurotransmitters) that support attention in individuals with ADD and ADHD mean that attention is not consistent across situations, no matter how hard someone tries to stay focussed. ADD and ADHD would be better named Attention Dysregulation Disorders, in our opinion, rather than Attention Deficit Disorders. It’s not the absence of attention that’s the challenge; it’s regulating attention so it’s available across all kinds of tasks—easy and difficult, interesting and less interesting.

Is diagnosing ADD or ADHD hard to do?

Yes. Diagnosing ADD and ADHD is complicated. No two people with ADD or ADHD are alike. How well the brain can focus changes with tasks the brain is working through and with time of day. To complicate matters further, symptoms that look like ADD or ADHD might not signal an attention disorder. Figuring out what’s going on takes time, detailed investigation, and expert knowledge. Bottom line: Diagnosing ADD and ADHD can’t be done with a simple checklist. It can’t be done in 15 minutes.

Does that mean treating ADD and ADHD is complicated too?

Yes, treating ADD and ADHD is very complicated—and possible. There are many medication and non-medication options out there. Some have scientific support and others don’t. How do you know what’s right for you or your family? How do you know what’s going to make real change happen? With our team of physicians, mental health, and educational professionals, we’ll devise a Treatment Plan that helps you achieve bigger goals and better outcomes. And we’ll only offer treatments that are supported by science. So yes, treating ADD and ADHD is complicated. But we’re confident our experts in attention—and in disorders that can go along with ADD and ADHD like depression and anxiety—will create a Treatment Plan that is backed by science and right for you.

What do ADD/ADHD Assessments look like at the Possibilities Clinic?

At Possibilities we offer Focus Forward 360, an exciting service where expert clinicians take an in-depth look at attention—whether for you or your child—and make recommendations backed by science to support functioning going forward. We also examine more than attention since challenges with focus can be associated with mental health and learning concerns.

Why is your service called Focus Forward 360?

Attention is a critical component in everything adults, teens, and children do. Whether we are reading, driving, talking, listening, learning, or playing, attention is a key ingredient for doing all tasks safely, accurately, and well. What attention looks like at any time, and in any activity, varies. To understand focus well, we can’t think of attention as one thing that looks and acts the same in all situations for all people at all times. We need to take a 360 degree perspective, thinking about focus in different situations and at different times for you or your child. That way we can figure out when focus is at its strongest and at its weakest—with various levels of strength in between—and begin to devise a Treatment Plan that helps make focus more reliable. The “Forward” part of the Focus Forward 360 name reminds us that it’s critical to investigate attention at regular intervals moving forward, to increase the chances of being successful as expectations in life change and demands increase. With a 360 view, we can develop a comprehensive, personalized, and meaningful profile to direct our decisions about diagnosis and treatment options now and going forward.

How is your Focus Forward 360 service different from other ADD/ADHD Assessments?

At Possibilities we approach assessments from a unique team perspective. That means we involve experts from multiple health fields—like psychology and medicine—in every single assessment that we do, including our comprehensive analysis of attention in our Focus Forward 360 service. Our experts in ADD and ADHD, and in other conditions that can mimic or contribute to attention problems, meet as a team to examine and discuss the data before we make any decisions about whether ADD or ADHD can be diagnosed. A team approach to ADHD—where experts from multiple health fields like psychiatry, paediatrics, family medicine, and psychology come together in real time to discuss your results—makes our assessments of attention comprehensive, firmly grounded in current brain science, and unique. Our 360 degree perspective is also noteworthy when it comes to treatment. Our specialists have deep expertise in conditions beyond ADD and ADHD. That’s important because ADD and ADHD often occur with other challenges. If we hyperfocus on attention, we might miss other concerns. If that happens, treatment won’t be as successful as it could be. Experts on the 360 Focus Forward team have rich expertise in attention deficit disorders and in other conditions like anxiety, depression, learning challenges and tic disorders. So our specialists, working as a team, can think meaningfully about focus in context and determine how best to treat all challenges that may be present in your profile to maximize success.

Is this service helpful only for people who end up being diagnosed with ADD or ADHD?

No, it is not. People can find it hard staying focused for many reasons. A student may have poor focus during math class—not because of ADHD but because of specific challenges with math. A parent may feel scattered and forgetful—not because of ADHD but because of job and parenting demands that leave little room for planning and organization. A corporate executive may feel overwhelmed at work—not because of ADHD but because she is doing the work of three people. Focus Forward 360 offers an in-depth analysis of attention by multiple experts through clinical interviews, direct testing, questionnaire ratings, and an investigation of medical history, how development unfolded years ago, and how focus operates at various times and in different contexts. At the end of the process, ADD or ADHD might be diagnosed, or it might not. You’ll receive information to help you or your child maximize focus and follow-through in various situations, whether a diagnosis is made or not.

Who can benefit from your ADD/ADHD Focus Forward 360 service?

Anyone who is concerned about their focus, or their child’s focus, can benefit from our Focus Forward 360 service. If an assessment has never been done, but you wonder if ADD or ADHD can explain challenges, then our service is right for you. If you’ve already been diagnosed with ADD or ADHD—or your child has been diagnosed previously—then our service is right for you. Even if you’re already getting treatment for ADD or ADHD, then our service is right for you. Our experts don’t see focus as a static thing. Focus is dynamic—it expresses itself differently over time and across different situations. So our expert team needs to understand how attention is behaving right now in current situations to know how best to treat it for maximum success.

If I’ve gotten a recent ADHD diagnosis somewhere else, do I still need to have the full 360 Service at Possibilities to ensure my treatments are working the best they can? Isn’t ADHD testing standardized, so the information clinics get is all the same?

If you want to work with our Assessment Team—including the physicians who prescribe medications as part of our personalized Focus Forward 360 service—you or your child will need to participate in the entire assessment. In terms of testing, ways of determining whether someone has ADD or ADHD varies from clinic to clinic. Focus isn’t static either; it can vary over time and over tasks. All experts on the Focus Forward 360 team make recommendations only after an extensive analysis of focus is completed using our 360 process. We do not regard ADD or ADHD as something an adult, teen, or child either has or doesn’t have based on an assessment at a previous point in time. How focus is functioning—right here and right now in all kinds of situations—is our biggest concern. Of course, we’ll look at the results of your previous assessment if you would like us to. But we’ll pursue our own comprehensive 360 analysis of focus in context so we can propose targeted treatments to optimize functioning in areas causing difficulty.

What if I’ve already had an ADHD assessment at another clinic but I want to start from scratch or get a second opinion? Can I still be seen at your clinic?

No problem! We can see you or a family member as usual! You or your child would have access to our complete Assessment Team through our Focus Forward 360 service. As part of that service, you will meet with a physician directly to discuss various treatment options, including medication. The physician on your Focus Forward 360 team would then consult with your doctor about the ADHD medications that are best for you or your child based on all the information our team collects. You will also be advised on additional treatment options like coaching and therapy to maximize success. Feel free to provide us with results from your previous ADHD assessment; those results can be useful in our information gathering. However, because our assessments are comprehensive and involve extensive data collection about focus in context—including direct testing of attention with our unique 360 process—our team of experts from psychology, psychometry, and medicine will not be swayed by previous assessment results in a way that decreases our accuracy in making the right diagnosis.

At what age should I consider obtaining a detailed examination of focus for either myself or my child?

Early intervention always works best! However, it’s never too late. Interventions continue to be effective if they begin in high school, university, and into adulthood. We’ve seen thousands of preschoolers, college students, and seniors. Our Focus Forward 360 assessments begin at 5 years of age and continue through adulthood—from college students to senior citizens! Our Treatment Plans are tailored for the unique challenges our clients face across the lifespan.

Will the information and test results you get from the assessment help us develop the right Treatment Plan?

Yes! At Possibilities, our expert team works with you to coordinate medication and non-medication treatments in one clinic. Our specialists know that recommendations can’t be general, and they can’t be vague. Recommendations must be targeted, specific, and supported by science. And they must be personalized for you or your child. For example: For the college student moving away from home, we can request a single residence room if we have concerns about poor sleep and high distractibility. For students who struggle to start work and meet deadlines, we can offer programs like ADHD Coaching or therapy. For the corporate executive challenged with increasing demands, we can identify a plan to parse work and hit targets through ADHD Coaching that adds a corporate lens. For the person requiring medication support, we can provide a medication plan to the referring physician.

Do you recommend a re-examination of attention at regular intervals if challenges with ADD or ADHD can look different over time and in different situations?

Yes. Experts on our Focus Forward 360 team recognize that demands for attention change over time. New grades, new jobs, new circumstances all present new challenges for attention as time goes on. We recommend a complete Focus Forward 360 analysis of attention, along with the multi-expert treatment review that goes along with our analysis, every 2 years.

How much does the ADHD/ADD Assessment cost?

The cost for our Comprehensive Multidisciplinary ADHD Assessment through the Focus Forward 360 service is $2500. This cost is often covered by private insurance plans. Post-secondary students may be eligible for an OSAP bursary that covers a portion of the assessment cost.

I don’t live in Ontario; can I still be tested for ADHD remotely?

At this time, all our physicians and psychologists are licensed to see people only in Ontario. If you live anywhere in Ontario, you can be accessed remotely. If you do not live in Ontario, you or your child can still be assessed but you will need to come down to our central Toronto office. We may be able to change this rule in the future, so stay tuned!

What if I’ve already had an ADHD assessment at another clinic? I would like to make use of your experts but I don’t want to undergo a whole new assessment. I just want medications from my doctor. Can you help?

Good news! Your doctor can obtain advice about ADHD medication from our medical experts using an eConsult on the OTN platform if you have received an ADHD assessment elsewhere. Talk to your doctor about this eConsult option. This doctor-to-doctor e-consultation is fully publicly-funded. To be eligible for this service, the ADHD assessment you received elsewhere must meet the same high standards of diagnostic investigation that define the assessments we conduct at Possibilities. We request that your ADHD diagnosis be derived from a Psychoeducational Assessment or a comprehensive ADHD Assessment that includes data from direct testing, relevant information derived from detailed clinical interviews, and ratings from standardized, norm-referenced questionnaires. These diagnostic assessments must be relatively current, and not more than 3 years old. Since we will base our eConsult with your doctor on this previous assessment, you will not be seen directly by our physicians. Instead, we will advise your doctor on potential medication treatment based on the information garnered from the assessment you received elsewhere.

How do I start a full assessment through your Focus Forward 360 service?

Please fill out our Child and Adolescent Intake Form for children and teens, or our Adult Intake Form for adults. Once we have this form and the physician referral, our Team will call you to set up an appointment. For any questions, email us at info@possibilitiesclinic.com or call 1-833-482-5558.

Learning Disability Psychoeducational Testing

Click here for Psychoeducational Testing for Students Learning in French.

Signature Psychoeducational Assessment:

A Comprehensive Psychoeducational Assessment of Learning, Attention, and Mental Health from a Multi-expert Team

If you or your child is struggling at school, a Learning Disability might be the reason. How do you know for sure? A comprehensive Psychoeducational Assessment from the Possibilities Clinic—called a Signature Psychoeducational Assessment—can help you figure that out. Our Telemedicine Assessment services extend from Toronto to Ottawa, Hamilton to London, Oakville to Kingston, Oshawa to Thunder Bay, Kitchener-Waterloo to Windsor, and any other location in Ontario! So you can access our comprehensive Signature Psychoeducational Assessment—and our multi-expert team that examines learning, attention, and mental health as part of the assessment—without coming to our central office in Toronto.

Here are questions we are asked often about our Signature Psychoeducational Assessment along with our answers.

When you or your child is struggling at school, our Signature Psychoeducational Assessment can help you figure out why. Our assessment involves a team of experts—from medicine and psychology—and is comprehensive, examining learning, attention, and mental health. Data we collect might indicate a Learning Disability, ADHD, other concerns like anxiety—or a combination of difficulties. Once we find answers, we can create a scientifically supported Treatment Plan to build skills and support success. A Learning Disability diagnosis can also help you secure support and accommodations at school.

People with learning differences share a common story; they are bright and curious, but they aren’t doing as well as expected academically. A Psychoeducational Assessment looks for the underlying cause. It examines brain functioning in many areas: memory, processing speed, academic abilities, visual and verbal problem-solving skills, and expression of ideas. Once strengths and problem areas are identified, our team can recommend targeted and scientifically supported treatments.

In Ontario, Psychoeducational Assessments for Learning Disabilities must be overseen by a neuropsychologist, clinical psychologist, school psychologist, or psychological associate. At Possibilities, we have psychologists in all these specialty areas to match your needs. We provide assessment services for children, adolescents, and adults. French psychoeducational services are available for children and adolescents.

Yes, if your school board hires licensed psychologists or psychological associates who provide assessments in schools, then you may be able to access testing this way. As a first step, we recommend that you request a Psychoeducational Assessment through your school. If you’re fortunate, you’ll be able to obtain an assessment at the school in a quick and timely manner. If that is not the case, you may wish to pursue a private assessment.

At Possibilities, we approach Psychoeducational Assessments and Learning Disability assessments from a unique team perspective. That means we involve both psychology and medical experts in every single Learning Disability assessment that we do. A team approach—where MD expertise is added to psychology—makes our assessments of Learning Disabilities unique. Beyond cognitive and learning issues that are typically the focus of Psychoeducational Assessments, our team expertise allows for a comprehensive examination of a full range of abilities—from Attention Deficit Disorders like ADD and ADHD to mental health concerns like anxiety, depression and Tourette Syndrome.

Since we examine learning in a much broader context with added medical expertise, we do not call our offerings “Psych-ed” or “Psychoeducational” Assessments. We call them Signature Psychoeducational Assessments. Think of what we offer as Psych-Ed/MD Assessments—a combination of psychology and medical expertise to ensure that nothing gets missed. Another unique feature of our Signature Psychoeducational Assessments is that we offer them from the safety and comfort of your home through secure video connection. Ask us whether this Telemedicine Signature Assessment is right for you.

Learning differences rarely appear alone. If a Learning Disability such as Dyslexia exists, there is a very high chance that ADD or ADHD is also in the mix. And when ADD or ADHD is present, mental health challenges, like anxiety, might be in the mix, too. Strategies focused only on learning won’t be that effective if attention and mental health issues are also present and not addressed. Medical and psychological treatments may be necessary—in addition to educational interventions for learning difficulties—to ensure wellness in a full range of functioning.

Research shows that early assessment and treatment result in better learning and mental health outcomes. If you have concerns about your child’s learning at the end of Grade 1 and into Grade 2, consider a psychoeducational assessment at that time. Research shows that evidence-based treatments can help your child overcome Dyslexia when delivered early.

However, it’s never too late! Interventions for learning challenges continue to be effective in high school, university, and into adulthood.

Yes! Amazing change can happen with the right treatment at the right time. But recommendations can’t be general or vague. Recommendations must be targeted, specific, personalized, and supported by science. At Possibilities, everything we do is data driven, from the results we receive from your Signature Psychoeducational Assessment to what brain science tells us will improve skills.

Accommodations work around challenges, but evidence-based treatments can change the brain in fundamental ways. We’ll make recommendations for accommodations because they will always be important and helpful. But evidence-based treatments exist that can change brain circuits in remarkable ways and we offer these treatments at Possibilities.

With the right treatment at the right time, brains with Dyslexia can become reading brains; we’ve seen it at Possibilities in countless clients. Parents often say it’s a miracle but we say, “it’s neuroscience!”

For example, we offer Rewire 4 Reading, a program with lots of support showing atypical brain circuits in Dyslexia can be changed to produce stronger reading skills.

Our team approach involves multiple experts and several sessions. Here is a roadmap:

Medical Intake: You’ll meet with the physician to discuss concerns, share relevant background information, and review medical history. This initial appointment also helps us make sure our services are right for you, matching your needs to the types of assessments we offer.
Psychology Consent Review: You will meet with a psychologist or psychological associate who will explain the next steps, and review consent for testing.
Testing: Next, a psychometrist will test over a series of sessions. There are approximately 8 hours of direct testing in total. The psychologist or psychological associate will also be involved in the testing.
Team Meeting to review results: Before we meet with you for feedback, the clinicians involved in the assessment will meet to examine test results and discuss diagnoses. They will also devise the next steps in a personalized, evidence-based Treatment Plan.
Psychology Feedback: Next you’ll meet with a member of the psychology team to discuss the results of testing and the recommended Treatment Plan.
Physician Feedback: Our physician will meet with you following the assessment to discuss medication options if applicable. If you decide to proceed with medications, the physician will work with your family doctor or pediatrician to find the right treatment.
Assessment Report: You’ll receive a written report signed by your Assessment Team that can be shared with school/work for support and accommodations.

After the assessment, share the report with the school—or an employer if you choose—to help secure support and accommodations. If you choose to try non-medical treatments through the clinic, like Rewire 4 Reading or ADHD Coaching for kids, teens, or adults, please contact us.

The cost for the Signature Psychoeducational Assessment is $4850. For students receiving schooling in French there is an additional fee for French testing. The cost may be covered by private insurance plans. If you are a post-secondary student, you may be eligible for an OSAP bursary that covers assessment costs. If you do not require full psychoeducational testing, and would like to focus the assessment on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, consider our Focus Forward 360.

No! Our assessments are available throughout Ontario over secure video. We conduct direct testing for the Signature Psychoeducational Assessment over the internet, as well as all interview sessions with clinicians. If you have a computer and a high-speed internet connection, all appointments and testing can be done from the comfort of your home. During the COVID-19 pandemic, all assessment and therapy sessions offered at the clinic are being conducted through secure video sessions. For your convenience, no matter where you live in Ontario, we will continue to offer video sessions for our Signature Psychoeducational Assessment service even after the threat of the pandemic has subsided.

At this time, all of our clinicians are licensed to see people in Ontario only. Therefore, you must be physically present in Ontario, even for our virtual appointments, in order to be eligible for this option. We may be able to change this arrangement in the future, so stay tuned!

Yes. Specialized physicians are involved in all of our team Signature Psychoeducational Assessments, so a doctor’s referral is required. If you are not seeking an assessment of attention, but wish to proceed directly with therapy or coaching, a doctor’s referral is not required.

We can help! At Possibilities we offer a complimentary 20-minute session with a member of our Next Steps Navigation Team. Members of this team are professionals from education and healthcare. During this session a member of the Navigation Team will listen to your questions, discuss your concerns, and help you clarify your next steps. If you would like to book an appointment with the Navigation Team, please begin by completing our Intake Form. If you have already completed an Intake Form, please contact us at info@possibilitiesclinic.com or 1-833-482-5558 to request an appointment.

If you would like to book a Signature Psychoeducational Assessment, or a session with our Next Steps Navigation Team, you can get started by filling out our Intake Form. If you have already completed a Intake Form, please contact us at info@possibilitiesclinic.com or 1-833-482-5558 to request an appointment.

Get in touch with us

Name(Required)

Email(Required)

Telephone(Required)

What services are you looking for?(Required)

Message

Subscribe today to our newsletter and be the first to know of workshops, new products in our shop, interviews, tips and guides offered by the clinic for our community.

Subscribe today to our newsletter and be the first to know of workshops, new products, interviews, tips and guides offered by the clinic for our community.

CAPTCHA

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Page: Signature Psychoeducational Assessment

Signature Psychoeducational Assessment

DIRECT INSTRUCTION

COACHING

PARENT SUPPORT

SCHOOL OUTREACH

ASSESSMENT TREATMENT

BLOG

GET IN TOUCH WITH US

Signature Psychoeducational Assessment:

A Comprehensive Psychoeducational Assessment of Learning, Attention, and Mental Health from a Multi-expert Team

Get in touch with us

About Us

Assessment

Treatment

Academic Services

Coaching

Get the latest News

What best describes you?

Parent/Guardian

Teacher

Physician