What to bring to your child's autism or ADHD evaluation

What the evaluation team is trying to learn

There is no blood test for autism. The CDC puts it plainly: diagnosing autism can be difficult because there is no medical test, and doctors look at the child's developmental history and behavior to make a diagnosis. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), on its HealthyChildren.org site, lists the factors a diagnosis rests on, starting with your description of your child's development, alongside careful observation of certain behaviors, medical tests and your child's history. What you bring into the room is part of the evidence.

The NHS says a children's assessment team may ask about your child's development, such as when they started talking, do a physical examination, ask your child to do some tasks, watch how they play and interact with you, read reports from their GP, nursery or school, and speak to people who know them well. In England, the NICE guideline on autism in under 19s (CG128) says every autism diagnostic assessment should include detailed questions about the parents' or carers' concerns and about the child's experiences of home life, education and social care.

For ADHD, other settings matter even more explicitly. The CDC notes that the AAP recommends healthcare providers ask parents, teachers and other adults who care for the child about the child's behavior in different settings, including at home, at school or with peers. The DSM-5 criteria the CDC reproduces include that several symptoms are present in two or more settings. Deciding whether any criterion is met is the clinician's job. Your part is a clear account of what happens, where, and when.

Your notes: concerns, with real examples

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust tells parents to write down their concerns and bring them to any appointments, and to think about how their child experiences communication, social interaction, friendships, sensory differences, and the need for routine and predictability. Those are useful headings for a page of notes, whichever condition is being assessed.

A concern carries more weight with an example attached. "Doesn't answer to his name" is a summary. "Sunday, in the living room: called his name three times from the doorway while he was lining up blocks; he looked up when I touched his shoulder" is something a clinician can actually picture. For each example, note the date, the place, who was there, what happened just before, and what happened next, in your own words. Write what you saw rather than what you think it means; interpreting it is what the evaluation is for.

Put strengths on the same page. The NHS says the report after an autism assessment should say what your child is good at as well as what they might need help with, and NICE asks teams to build a profile of the child's strengths, skills and needs. What your child loves, what they figured out recently, and the moments that went well are information too, not padding.

Development history and records

Expect questions about early milestones. The NHS says an autism team may ask when your child started talking, and that at an ADHD assessment the specialist will ask how old your child was when they learned to do things like walking or reading. Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust suggests making a list of your child's developmental history, such as when they first walked or talked. Approximate ages on one page are fine. Baby books and old photos help with dates, and in the UK, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust suggests having your child's red book (the personal child health record) available.

Collect the paperwork you already have: letters from your child's doctor, any earlier therapy or developmental reports, and school or nursery reports. NICE says that once an autism assessment is decided, the team should gather health information including results from hearing and vision assessments, and seek a report from the pre-school or school if one is not already available. The AAP suggests asking your pediatrician whether your child has had a hearing screen.

Many services send questionnaires to you and to your child's nursery or school before the appointment. Chelsea and Westminster's service says it is important that questionnaires are returned before the assessment appointment, so give teachers or childminders time to fill in theirs.

Photos and short videos

A child can look different in an unfamiliar room. NICE recommends that when what parents report differs from what clinicians observe in clinic, the team consider gathering more information from other sources or carrying out further observations in other settings, such as school, nursery or home. A short clip of an ordinary moment can show an assessor what you have been describing.

Some NHS services suggest looking back through recordings. The children's autism and ADHD assessment team at Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust says it can be helpful to prepare for the first appointment by looking at pictures or videos from when your child was younger. Services differ, so ask the clinic before the day whether they would like to see recordings and how they prefer to see them.

Choose clips that show a typical moment rather than only the hardest ones, keep them short, and note the date and what was going on.

On the day

Chelsea and Westminster's service tells families that they do not need to prepare anything in particular, and lists what some families find helpful: your questions, toys or books for the wait, snacks or drinks, the completed pre-assessment questionnaire, and someone you trust to support you and take notes. Humber's team asks families to bring anything the child needs for the tasks, such as glasses or hearing aids, and to tell them if anything significant or upsetting happened before the appointment.

Evaluations are not all the same length. The AAP says some happen in one day while others are divided across several days. As one example, Humber's first appointment lasts between one and two hours, and its face-to-face observation between 30 minutes and an hour and a half. Afterwards, the AAP recommends reading the evaluation report and asking for a copy for your records.

Common mistakes when preparing

Relying on memory. Months pass between a referral and an appointment, and the vivid examples fade first. Notes written on the day keep the dates and details that a summary loses.

Writing conclusions instead of observations. Labels and checklist words tell the team what you have read, not what you saw. Describe the moment and leave the interpretation to them.

Bringing only the hard days. Reports are meant to describe strengths as well as needs, and a record of difficulties alone is a narrower picture of your child than the one you live with.

Bringing everything unsorted. Hundreds of photos with no dates are hard to use in a time-limited appointment. A few chosen clips with dates, and notes in date order, are easier to go through. If you keep notes on your phone, EvalReady, an observation log for parents, files each note by date and category with any photo or clip attached and binds them into one PDF with the notes in date order and a numbered video list, while the videos stay on your phone to play at the appointment.

This guide summarizes public information from the CDC, the AAP, the NHS and NICE. It is not medical advice, and assessment services differ. Your child's doctor or assessment team can tell you exactly what they need from you.

Frequently asked questions