What should a university accessibility advisor know about a Finding Focus assessment?

Who assesses the student, and what methods are used?

Finding Focus assessments are conducted by licensed Canadian nurse practitioners, independent clinicians working with Finding Focus. The adult assessment is an online video appointment of up to 75 minutes, using validated clinical methods, DSM-5-TR criteria and CADDRA-aligned practice. It evaluates whether the student’s presentation is consistent with ADHD.

Relevant diagnostic questions include developmental history, symptoms in different settings, functional impairment and whether another explanation fits. The American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-5-TR and CADDRA’s Canadian ADHD Practice Guidelines provide the diagnostic and practice frameworks. Alignment with CADDRA guidance is not approval of an individual report.

Check what the clinician actually records as having been reviewed. Do not assume a particular questionnaire or collateral interview was completed. Record the author’s professional designation accurately, rather than classifying every ADHD document as a psychological assessment. An assessment can conclude that the student does not have ADHD.

Reports and letters answer different documentation questions

Finding Focus provides assessment results and a treatment plan. A student may also request a standard diagnosis letter or healthcare-provider report. Identify the information missing from the existing file before asking for an additional paid document.

Look for the student’s identifying details, the assessment and document dates, the clinical conclusion, and the author’s professional designation and contact details. If a required item is absent, request clarification rather than filling in the gap yourself.

The document’s name or fee does not establish its suitability for your review. Confirm exact document contents with Finding Focus before requesting an additional paid document.

An ADHD diagnosis does not itself demonstrate formal testing

Do not interpret an ADHD diagnosis as evidence that cognitive ability or academic achievement has been formally tested.

If your office needs standardised scores, identify the specific unanswered question before requesting another assessment. Missing scores do not, by themselves, establish whether the existing clinical evidence is sufficient. A diagnosis and a test profile answer different questions. Explain the required assessment type and confirm with Finding Focus what testing, if any, was performed.

Therapy is separate. A Registered Social Worker working with Finding Focus provides cognitive behavioural therapy and ADHD coaching for adults physically located in Ontario. The therapist does not diagnose, conduct psychological testing or write third-party reports. Therapy is not a way to obtain missing test results or an accessibility report; see therapy scope.

Which academic information is still missing?

A useful clarification request identifies the academic task and the missing functional information, without asking for unrelated health history.

In Ontario, the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Policy on accessible education for students with disabilities emphasises disability-related limitations and accommodation needs. That is Ontario guidance, not a single documentation rule for every Canadian university. Apply your institution’s requirements alongside the relevant provincial obligations.

• Which course or assessment demands are affected?
• What functional limitations are described, and are their duration and variability clear?
• Which information comes from the clinician’s findings, the student’s account or another source?
• What connection still needs explaining between a limitation and a proposed adjustment?

Distinguish a missing statement from a finding that the student has no difficulty in that area. Your office should determine what further evidence, if any, is needed under applicable policy and law. Request the relevant clarification rather than a blanket release of clinical records.

How can you verify authorship and registration?

A licence check and a source check answer separate questions: is the clinician registered, and did they issue this document?

1. Match the student’s identifying details and the relevant dates. Resolve discrepancies with the student before relying on the document.
2. Check the issuing nurse practitioner with the relevant provincial nursing regulator. In Ontario, use the College of Nurses of Ontario’s Find a Nurse public register to check registration and any listed restrictions.
3. Ask the student for consent to contact the issuer and explain what you need confirmed. Follow your institution’s consent and privacy process.
4. Use Finding Focus’s published contact details to ask about document verification, rather than relying solely on a phone number or email printed on the submitted copy.

Ask only for the clarification needed, such as authorship, the date issued or the accuracy of submitted wording. A register entry confirms professional information, not document authenticity. A logo, letterhead or scanned signature alone should not settle a concern about authorship.

Keep the document and any verification response within your institution’s approved confidential records process. Asking about verification does not authorise disclosure of the student’s wider clinical record.

A report does not transfer clinical responsibility

Neither receiving the assessment nor forwarding it to a campus clinic establishes who is providing follow-up care.

When adult care continues through Finding Focus, follow-up is by check-in. Outside clinicians decide independently whether to accept any handover. Finding Focus does not assume another professional has accepted care because documentation was sent.

Stimulant medications and non-stimulant options are managed by the prescribing clinician, not your office or the therapist. That clinician weighs possible benefits against side effects and other risks and arranges monitoring. The therapist does not prescribe or adjust medication.

Keep clinical follow-up arrangements separate from accommodation review. If responsibility is unclear, seek explicit confirmation from the clinicians involved rather than interpreting a report as acceptance.