ADHD Testing & Assessment · NYC & Tokyo
ADHD is one of the most misunderstood — and most treatable — conditions in psychology. A comprehensive assessment replaces years of self-blame with clarity, and opens the door to support that actually works.
What people are often told
"You just need to try harder."ADHD has been misread for decades as a motivation problem. It is not. It is a neurobiological difference in how the brain regulates attention and executive function.
What the science actually shows
Your brain is wired differently.Differences in dopamine and norepinephrine systems shape how effort, reward, and attention work — not your character, your discipline, or your potential.
What a diagnosis makes possible
A roadmap, not just a label.Formal evaluation gives you language, legal access to accommodation, and targeted strategies — grounded in your specific profile of strengths and challenges.
Who We Help
We evaluate adults, adolescents, and children. Many of our clients come in wondering — for the first time — whether there is a name for what they have been experiencing.
Many adults with ADHD were high-achieving enough to compensate — until life's demands increased and the strategies stopped working. If chronic disorganization, missed deadlines, difficulty finishing projects, or relationship strain feel familiar despite genuine effort, an evaluation can provide answers and a way forward.
Academic pressure escalates sharply in high school. For teens with ADHD, the gap between potential and performance can be painful — and confusing. An assessment identifies what is actually happening, supports school accommodation planning, and gives teens language for their own experience.
Early identification means earlier support. We assess children who are struggling with focus, impulsivity, or behavior in ways that teachers and parents have noticed — and we translate findings into practical guidance for home and school environments.
The Assessment Process
No single test diagnoses ADHD. We build a complete, evidence-based picture across multiple methods and data sources.
We begin with an in-depth conversation covering childhood, school history, work functioning, relationships, and current challenges. ADHD must be present across multiple settings and traceable to early development — we take this history seriously, not as a checklist but as a clinical picture.
Validated tools such as the Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scales or Conners 3 are completed by you and, where relevant, a partner, parent, or employer. These quantify symptoms across environments and provide normative comparison data that anchors the clinical impression.
This is the core of the evaluation. We administer objective cognitive tests — including the Conners CPT-3 for sustained attention and impulsivity, and the WAIS for cognitive profiling — to measure working memory, processing speed, executive functioning, and attention directly. This distinguishes ADHD from other conditions and maps your specific profile.
Anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, learning disabilities, and trauma can all produce ADHD-like symptoms. We evaluate the full picture to ensure the diagnosis reflects what is actually driving your experience — not just the most visible surface.
You receive a comprehensive written report with diagnostic conclusions, your neuropsychological profile, and specific recommendations for treatment, accommodation, and daily life strategies. We hold a dedicated feedback session to walk through results together — turning data into direction.
The Science
ADHD is one of the most extensively studied conditions in all of psychiatry and psychology. Heritability estimates consistently run between 70–80% — making it more heritable than most physical conditions. It is not caused by parenting style, diet, or screens, though these can interact with symptoms.
At the neurobiological level, ADHD involves differences in dopamine and norepinephrine pathways that regulate motivation, reward anticipation, and executive control — particularly in the prefrontal cortex. This is why attention is so dependent on interest and urgency for people with ADHD: the brain's internal reward system is calibrated differently.
Emerging research also highlights the heterogeneity of ADHD — distinct subtypes with different cognitive and neurological profiles. This is why individualized neuropsychological testing matters. An aggregate label tells you something. Your specific profile tells you far more.
"ADHD is not a deficit of attention. It is a difference in how attention is regulated — including the capacity for profound focus when the conditions are right."
Assessments follow DSM-5 and ICD-11 diagnostic criteria and are conducted by doctoral-level psychologists. Our reports are accepted by schools, employers, universities, and professional licensing bodies in the United States and internationally.
What a Diagnosis Opens
A diagnosis is an investment. It creates legal access, clinical direction, and — often most importantly — a coherent explanation for a lifetime of experiences.
Workplace
Employees with ADHD are entitled to reasonable accommodations including flexible scheduling, remote work options, noise-reduction tools, extended deadlines, and task-management support. Our reports provide the clinical documentation HR and disability offices require — in the United States and for international workplaces.
Education
Schools and universities require formal documentation to authorize accommodations. Our evaluations meet standards required by K-12 programs, colleges, graduate schools, and professional licensing bodies — including bar exam, LSAT, MCAT, and GRE accommodation applications.
Treatment
ADHD is highly treatable. A neuropsychological profile guides the selection of evidence-based interventions — including medication, CBT adapted for ADHD, executive functioning coaching, and behavioral strategies — matched to your specific pattern of strengths and difficulties.
Personal
Many adults describe their diagnosis as one of the most meaningful experiences of their life. Patterns that felt like personal failure suddenly have a name — and an explanation. This is not a small thing. It is, for many people, genuinely transformative.
Frequently Asked Questions
Herald Square Psychology GK offers English-language ADHD assessments for expat professionals, international school families, and adults across Japan. Same doctoral-level clinical standards. Fully in English. Reports accepted by international institutions, employers, and licensing bodies worldwide.
Get Started
A consultation call costs nothing and commits you to nothing. It is simply a chance to ask questions, understand the process, and decide whether an evaluation is the right next step for you.