Adolescents with ADHD may experience difficulties with concentration, organisation, time management, motivation, memory, emotional regulation, and social relationships. These challenges can become more noticeable as academic and social demands increase.
Common areas of difficulty include:
Focus – Difficulty sustaining attention and resisting distractions.
Effort & Motivation – Difficulty starting homework, projects, or other tasks and difficulty maintaining effort and persistence, particularly with less interesting tasks.
Memory & Organisation – Forgetting instructions, deadlines, belongings, or important information.
Time Management – Difficulty estimating how long tasks will take and meeting deadlines.
Emotional Regulation – Difficulty managing frustration, stress, disappointment, or strong emotions.
Impulse Control – Acting or speaking without fully considering the consequences.
Social Functioning – Difficulties with turn-taking, interrupting, reading social cues, or maintaining friendships.
ADHD can look different from one adolescent to another. Some may appear restless or impulsive, while others may seem quiet, distracted, forgetful, or frequently daydream. Difficulties can also vary depending on the environment, level of interest, and amount of structure and support available.
What does ADHD look like in Adolescents?
Phase 1: Initial Consultation. A 15-minute consultation call to discuss your concerns for your adolescent and determine whether a full assessment is appropriate.
Phase 2: Questionnaires. You, your adolescent, and their teacher complete validated online questionnaires before the assessment. This provides perspectives from home, school, and the adolescent's own experience. Your adolescent will also answer a couple more questionnaires as well to help rule out any other potential comorbidities.
Phase 3: Parent Interview. A 60-minute clinical interview with parents (or primary carers) conducted in person or virtually to explore developmental history, family context, and concerns.
Phase 4: Adolescent Interview. A 60-minute individual clinical interview with the adolescent conducted in person or virtually to explore their experience, functioning, and symptoms.
Phase 5: Feedback Session. A 50-minute feedback session with parents to review the comprehensive assessment report and discuss findings. Available in person or virtually.
Optional Phase 6: Cognitive Assessment (if needed). A 2–3 hour cognitive assessment may be recommended if you require documentation for educational support or other purposes. This must be conducted in person and costs an additional €500.
What to Expect from the Assessment
Comprehensive written report outlining findings, diagnostic conclusion (if applicable), and specific recommendations for school and home.
Guidance on accommodations and support strategies tailored to your adolescent's profile.
Information for school regarding exam access arrangements and educational support.
Follow-up support available at €120 per session.
It is important to note that we do not have psychiatrist support for adolescents at this time.
What You'll Receive
Still uncertain if your adolescent may be struggling with ADHD?
Here are some questions that would be helpful to ask them.
Do you often lose or forget things?
Is it often difficult for you to go to bed when you intend to and shut down your brain to sleep?
Do you get “in the zone” when you’re interested in something, often focusing so deeply that everything else falls away?
Are you always on the go, rarely able to relax, even when you want to?
Do you have a difficult time gauging the time it will take to do something and/or the time it will take to get somewhere?
Is it a challenge to get started on something, especially when you don’t understand it, or it’s not interesting?
Do you tend to act impulsively, without anticipating the consequences?
Are you a procrastinator?
Do you rely on the pressure of deadlines to get things done, often at the last minute?
These questions were pulled from a questionnaire developed by Don Baker. If your adolescent answered “yes” to any of these questions, it may be helpful for them to complete the full questionnaire. Their responses can provide useful additional information and help inform your decision to proceed to an assessment. It is important to note that the results of a questionnaire are not, in themselves, sufficient to provide a definitive diagnosis. Rather, they are intended to support and inform the overall psychological assessment process.
Click here for the full questionnaire.
