The Benefits of Cognitive Assessment
Understanding ADHD, Autism and Learning Difficulties
If your child is struggling at school, or you're an adult trying to understand longstanding difficulties with attention, learning or organisation, you may have come across terms such as WISC, WAIS or WIAT.
You might wonder: What do these assessments actually tell us? And can a cognitive assessment diagnose ADHD, autism or a learning difficulty?
The short answer is that cognitive and academic assessments don't diagnose ADHD or autism on their own. Instead, they can provide important information about how a person thinks, learns, processes information and approaches different types of tasks.
When combined with developmental history, behavioural information and other relevant assessment measures, this information can help build a much clearer picture of the individual.
What is a cognitive assessment?
A cognitive assessment looks at different aspects of thinking and problem-solving.
For children and adolescents, the WISC (Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children) is commonly used to understand areas such as verbal reasoning, visual-spatial skills, fluid reasoning, working memory and processing speed.
For adults, the WAIS (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) provides information about similar areas of cognitive functioning.
These assessments don't simply produce an overall IQ score.
A person's pattern of strengths and weaknesses can often be much more informative than a single number.
For example, someone might demonstrate strong verbal reasoning but find tasks requiring working memory or processing speed more difficult. Understanding this pattern can help explain why certain tasks feel easier than others.
What is an academic or achievement assessment?
Cognitive ability is only part of the picture.
An academic assessment looks at what a person has learned and how they are performing in key academic areas.
The WIAT (Wechsler Individual Achievement Test) can assess areas such as reading, writing and mathematics.
This can help answer questions such as:
Is my child's reading developing as expected?
Are they having difficulty with spelling or written expression?
Is mathematics more difficult than other areas?
Is there a significant difference between their cognitive ability and academic achievement?
Could a specific learning difficulty be contributing to their struggles?
Looking at cognitive and academic skills together can provide much more useful information than looking at either in isolation.
Can a cognitive assessment diagnose ADHD?
Not on its own.
ADHD is diagnosed through a comprehensive assessment that considers symptoms, developmental history and the impact of difficulties across different areas of life.
However, cognitive assessment can provide useful information when ADHD is being considered.
For example, difficulties with working memory, processing speed or maintaining attention during assessment tasks may provide additional information about how a person approaches different types of cognitive demands.
Importantly, these patterns are not specific to ADHD. A person can have difficulties in these areas for many different reasons.
This is why cognitive testing should be considered as one part of the broader picture rather than as an ADHD test.
Can a cognitive assessment diagnose autism?
Again, not on its own.
Autism assessment involves looking at areas such as social communication and interaction, restricted or repetitive patterns of behaviour or interests, developmental history and everyday functioning.
A cognitive assessment can nevertheless be valuable in understanding an autistic person's individual cognitive profile.
For example, it can help identify areas of relative strength and challenge and provide information that may be useful for education, work or everyday support.
This is particularly important because autism is a spectrum, and there can be considerable variation in cognitive abilities and learning profiles.
How can assessment help identify learning difficulties?
This is where cognitive and academic assessment can be particularly valuable.
A child may be working hard but still struggling with reading, writing or mathematics. Parents and teachers may wonder whether they are simply not trying hard enough, whether attention is the problem, or whether there is an underlying learning difficulty.
A comprehensive assessment can help distinguish between different possibilities.
For example, it may identify a significant and specific difficulty in reading, written expression or mathematics that requires targeted educational support.
It can also help determine whether academic difficulties are occurring alongside ADHD, autism or another developmental difference.
Why look at cognitive ability and academic achievement together?
One of the most useful aspects of a comprehensive assessment is being able to look at how someone learns compared with what they are capable of learning.
Imagine a child with strong reasoning skills who is significantly struggling with reading.
The important question isn't simply:
“Why isn't this child reading at the expected level?”
It is also:
“What is getting in the way of this child demonstrating their ability?”
Similarly, a child may have broadly average cognitive ability but experience a specific and significant difficulty in mathematics.
Understanding these differences can change the conversation from “Why aren't they trying?” to “What support do they need?”
What if ADHD, autism and learning difficulties all seem possible?
This is one of the reasons a comprehensive assessment can be so helpful.
The characteristics of ADHD, autism and learning difficulties can overlap, and they can also occur together.
For example, a child who is struggling at school may have:
ADHD affecting attention and executive functioning
a specific learning difficulty affecting reading
autism affecting social communication and sensory processing
anxiety affecting their ability to engage with learning
or a combination of these factors.
Parents shouldn't necessarily have to work out which diagnosis to pursue before seeking help.
The goal of assessment is to understand the bigger picture.
Why a comprehensive assessment can be more useful than a single test
A single test can answer a specific question.
A comprehensive assessment can help answer the questions that sit behind it.
Rather than looking only at whether someone meets criteria for a particular diagnosis, an assessment can consider:
cognitive strengths and weaknesses
academic achievement
attention and executive functioning
social communication
emotional and behavioural functioning
developmental history
everyday functioning
information from home, school or work.
This can be particularly valuable when the initial question isn't actually “Does my child have ADHD?” but rather:
“Something isn't quite working. Can you help us understand why?”
What can you do with the results?
The value of assessment isn't simply receiving a report.
The results can help explain how someone learns and functions, identify areas requiring support and guide practical recommendations.
For children, this might include recommendations for classroom adjustments, learning support or targeted intervention.
For adults, it may help explain longstanding difficulties with study, work, organisation or everyday functioning.
Most importantly, understanding a person's profile can help shift the focus from their difficulties alone to their strengths, needs and the environments in which they are most likely to thrive.
Do I need to know which assessment I need?
Not at all.
If you're unsure whether your concerns relate to ADHD, autism, a learning difficulty or something else, you don't need to diagnose yourself before seeking help.
At thegrowspace, we take a comprehensive approach to assessment, considering the questions that brought you to us and determining which areas need to be explored.
This means you don't have to choose between an ADHD assessment, autism assessment or learning assessment as we help you understand the bigger picture.
Want to understand how you or your child learns and functions?
A comprehensive assessment can provide more than a score or a diagnosis.
It can help explain strengths, identify areas of difficulty and provide a clearer pathway towards the support that is needed.
Get in touch with thegrowspace to discuss whether an assessment may be appropriate.