Looking for a psychological assessment in N.L.? Be prepared to wait
Jenna Head | CBC News | Posted: March 20, 2025 8:30 AM | Last Updated: March 20
Demand is growing for ADHD and autism assessments, N.L. Health Services says
Karleena Squires had to wait three years or spend nearly $3,000 to get an assessment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Squires, who was 32 at the time of her diagnosis, chose to spend the money.
"I decided that if I was going to wait a long time, it would probably be best to go private," she told CBC News.
There is a growing demand for autism spectrum disorder referrals and ADHD psychodiagnostic assessments, according to Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services.
Wait times for psychological evaluations vary across the province. For adults, they can range from 18 months to five years. For children, wait times range between 12 to 27 months, depending on the type of assessment and location.
Squires, who is now 34, says her diagnosis wasn't on her radar until her TikTok feed started to feel too personal.
"I started seeing more and more videos of women around my age getting late diagnoses for ADHD, and they started explaining their symptoms. I felt like it was a checklist," Squires said.
Those symptoms include choice paralysis, hyperfixations on topics or hobbies, forgetfulness, impulsivity and procrastination.
"I grew up thinking ADHD was, you know, bouncing in your seat, unable to pay attention, but it's so much more than that," Squires said.
NLHS told CBC News that waitlists are only maintained in some parts of the province. Where waitlists do not apply, individuals are prioritized based on clinical need and resource availability of the province's registered psychologists and psychiatrists.
Acting Health Minister John Haggie told CBC News he doesn't think the wait times for psychological evaluations provided by NLHS are accurate.
"Until we get accurate data, I think it would be unwise to speculate too much," he said.
"Quite frankly, our problem is we have a challenge recruiting and retaining psychologists within NLHS."
But, not all mental health physicians diagnose adults with ADHD or autism.
Kay Snow and Angie Follett both received autism diagnosis — or confirmation, as Follett describes it — as adults.
Snow has been on the public waitlist for three years. Following the advice of her doctor, they received her autism diagnosis through the private system.
"I'm just waiting to see how long it takes," Snow said. "He said to me, 'If you wait publicly, that's years and years, you'll never get in. You have to go private, especially if you think that you're going to lose your job.'"
Follett received her diagnosis through a public research program conducted by a psychologist at Memorial University. Meanwhile, she says, her husband has been waitlisted for five years.
"I got to be a guinea pig, but I got lucky. I didn't have to fork over a lot of money, and my process was nowhere near as difficult as what a lot of other people experience," Follett said. "I managed to get one, and my husband didn't."
If her husband pursues a psychological evaluation privately, the couple will have to pay upwards of $3,200, she said.
"I don't know where it's going to come from," Follett said.
Follett wants the province to cover the expenses of private health-care if it has to rely on the private system.
"Political will is going to be a really, really big thing to get this stuff moving, and I don't get the sense that the people who are currently in power really understand how desperate this is," she said.
Haggie said NLHS has considered funding private providers to deal with backlogs and waitlists. He said it's been done with ophthalmologists and cataracts.
"If we need to buy in expertise or skills to help with waitlists, we've done it before, and I'm perfectly prepared to have those discussions with psychologists and psychiatrists," he said.
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