Structured Adult ADHD Self Test

A free twenty-two-question self-screening tool for adults aged seventeen and over who may have undiagnosed ADHD. It takes about five minutes. Answer each question honestly based on how you generally feel and behave. Your answers are private and your report is sent to you by email.

This screener or the ASRS

There are two adult ADHD screeners on this site, and it is worth knowing which is which before you spend five minutes on one.

The ASRS is the validated one. It was developed by the World Health Organization with a Harvard research team, it has published thresholds behind it, and it is what a clinician will recognise if you mention your result. If you only take one, take that one.

This one is our own. It covers similar ground in slightly plainer language and includes some reflective questions the ASRS does not ask. It is useful for thinking with. It does not carry validation behind it, so read your score as a prompt rather than as a measurement.

What ADHD actually looks like in adults

The stereotype is a boy who cannot sit still. Adult ADHD is frequently nothing like that, which is a large part of why so many people reach middle age without anyone having raised it.

Inattention

Difficulty finishing the last ten per cent of a task. Losing the thread mid-conversation. Misplacing things constantly. Putting off anything that requires a sequence of steps. Careless errors in work you are perfectly capable of doing well. Difficulty organising anything with several moving parts.

This is the presentation most often missed, and it is missed disproportionately in women and girls, who are more likely to present this way and less likely to be referred for it.

Hyperactivity and impulsivity

In adults this usually turns inward. Instead of visible motion it becomes restlessness, fidgeting, an inability to settle even when exhausted, talking over people, difficulty waiting, and acting on a decision before the reasoning has finished. The description people most often give is of being driven by a motor that will not switch off.

How it is scored

Eighteen of the twenty-two questions are scored, giving a total between 0 and 54. The last four are reflective questions - they are there to think about rather than to count, and they do not affect your score.

Low ADHD traits - 0 to 24

Your answers showed relatively few of the traits this screener looks for.

Moderate to high ADHD traits - 25 to 54

Your answers showed enough of these traits that ADHD is worth looking into properly. This is a wide band - a score of 25 and a score of 54 describe quite different pictures, so the number itself is worth noting alongside the band.

What can look like ADHD here but is not

This matters particularly for people who arrive at this page from elsewhere on this site.

• Autistic burnout. Executive function collapse, difficulty starting things, losing the thread and exhaustion all read as inattention on a questionnaire like this. If you are currently depleted, the burnout screener is worth taking first - a positive ADHD result during burnout may be measuring the burnout.
• Monotropic attention. Difficulty switching tasks, and losing track of everything outside the current channel, can produce the same answers by a completely different mechanism. The monotropism questionnaire looks at that directly.
• Sustained masking. Running a social performance in the background consumes the same cognitive budget concentration runs on.
• Anxiety, depression, poor sleep, and thyroid or hormonal change, all of which impair attention and are frequently missed in the other direction.

None of that makes a high score wrong. It means the score identifies a question rather than an answer, which is what a screener is for.

About this questionnaire

This screener was written in-house. Its questions are drawn from the difficulties adults with ADHD commonly report, but unlike the ASRS it has not been validated through formal research, and its score thresholds are not derived from published data.

That does not make it useless - a well-chosen set of questions is worth answering whether or not it has been through a validation study. It does mean the number at the end is a prompt for a conversation rather than a measurement against a norm.

What this screener is not

This assessment is for information and self-reflection only. It is not a diagnostic tool and does not replace professional medical or psychological advice. It cannot diagnose ADHD and it is not a route to medication.

A proper ADHD assessment considers developmental history, whether difficulties show up in more than one setting, the functional cost, and the alternative explanations above. No questionnaire does that.

What happens after you finish

You receive your score and a report by email. Nothing is shared with anyone unless you ask us to send it somewhere. If you would like to talk the result through, or want to know what a formal assessment involves, you can tell us at the end and we will follow up.

If you want a formal assessment

We provide adult ADHD assessment, autism assessment, and dual assessment for both. Autism and ADHD co-occur often enough that if either question is genuinely open, the dual assessment is usually the better choice. There are also add-on evaluations for alexithymia and demand avoidance.

If what you need is documentation rather than a diagnosis - for work or for study - our page on neuroaffirming accommodations explains that process. You can also meet the clinicians, read our frequently asked questions, or browse the rest of our free tools on the self-discovery page.

About Adult Autism Assessment

We assess and support neurodivergent adults - people seeking a first diagnosis in adulthood, people who have known for years and want documentation, and people who are still working out what fits. Our approach is neurodiversity-affirming: an assessment here is about accurate self-understanding and practical accommodation, not about finding out what is wrong with you.

Adult Autism Assessment is part of New Path Family of Therapy Centers, Inc.