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Chicago, Illinois

Psychological Testing & Autism Evaluations in Chicago, IL

Comprehensive evaluations for children, teens, and adults — with particular expertise in high-masking presentations, late-diagnosed teens and adults, and PDA profiles.

Community view of Chicago, Illinois

Chicago & surrounding communities

Clarity around autism, ADHD, learning, and development

Searching for psychological testing or an autism evaluation in Chicago, IL? Help & Healing Center provides comprehensive evaluations for children, teens, and adults who want greater clarity around autism, ADHD, learning concerns, cognitive functioning, and other developmental or psychological questions.

Our clinicians have particular expertise in high-masking presentations, late-diagnosed teens and adults, and PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance / Pervasive Drive for Autonomy) profiles — areas that can be overlooked when evaluations rely primarily on more traditional or externalized presentations of autism.

Our team serves individuals and families throughout Chicago and surrounding communities. Eligible patients may also have access to telehealth evaluation options, depending on the type of assessment and individual circumstances.

How we can help

Psychological Evaluation Services Near Chicago

Different concerns require different types of psychological assessments. Help & Healing Center offers evaluation services tailored to the individual’s age, concerns, history, and specific questions they want the assessment to address.

  • 01

    Autism Testing for Children, Teens, and Adults

    An autism evaluation can help clarify questions related to social communication, sensory experiences, repetitive behaviors, developmental history, and other characteristics associated with autism. Evaluations may be appropriate for individuals who have longstanding questions about whether autism may help explain their experiences, including people who were not identified earlier in life.

  • 02

    High-Masking & Late-Diagnosed Autism Evaluations

    Some autistic individuals learn to camouflage or “mask” their traits so effectively that autism may not be recognized during childhood or earlier evaluations. This can be particularly relevant for AFAB (assigned female at birth) individuals, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and students of color. Our clinicians are trained to recognize high-masking presentations and understand how masking may contribute to experiences such as anxiety, burnout, exhaustion, or feeling that previous diagnoses did not fully explain an individual’s experiences.

  • 03

    PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) Evaluations

    PDA is a profile within the autism spectrum characterized by an intense, anxiety-driven need to resist or avoid everyday demands and expectations, including demands an individual may genuinely want to meet. Demand avoidance can sometimes be interpreted as oppositional behavior, anxiety, or a behavioral or parenting concern. As part of a comprehensive autism evaluation, our clinicians can assess for characteristics associated with PDA and help individuals and families better understand their experiences and potential support needs.

  • 04

    ADHD and Psychological Testing

    Psychological testing can help evaluate concerns involving attention, executive functioning, organization, impulsivity, learning, and related areas. An assessment may help clarify whether ADHD or another psychological or developmental factor could be contributing to difficulties at school, work, home, or in daily life.

  • 05

    Psychological Evaluations for Children

    Parents may consider psychological testing when a child is experiencing ongoing concerns involving learning, attention, behavior, emotional regulation, development, or social interaction. An evaluation can help organize information about a child’s strengths and challenges while addressing the specific questions that led the family to seek testing.

  • 06

    Psychological Evaluations for Adults

    Adults may seek psychological evaluation when they want greater clarity about autism, ADHD, cognitive functioning, or other lifelong concerns affecting work, relationships, education, or everyday life. Some adults seek an evaluation for the first time in their 30s, 40s, or later after years of masking their traits or being told that their difficulties were simply related to anxiety or another concern.

  • 07

    Teen Autism Evaluations

    Adolescence can bring new questions about social communication, identity, sensory experiences, school demands, friendships, and relationships. A specialized autism evaluation can provide greater clarity for teens whose characteristics may have been overlooked because they mask effectively at school or in social settings.

  • 08

    Autism Second Opinions

    If you or your family previously received an autism evaluation and still have questions about the findings, a second opinion can provide another clinical perspective. This may be particularly useful when an earlier evaluation did not fully account for high-masking characteristics, internalized experiences, or PDA-related patterns.

Convenient for Chicago-area residents

Serving Chicago From Our Nearby Glenview Office

Help & Healing Center provides psychological testing and autism evaluations for Chicago-area individuals from our nearby Glenview office.

Our office is located at: 2700 Patriot Blvd, Suite 250, Glenview, IL 60026.

The Glenview location provides a convenient option for individuals and families in Chicago and surrounding North Shore communities who are looking for psychological testing near Chicago. We also welcome patients from communities throughout the greater Chicago area, including Glenview, Northfield, Wilmette, Winnetka, Skokie, Deerfield, and Highland Park. For eligible evaluations, telehealth may also be available depending on the type of assessment, clinical requirements, and individual circumstances.

Night skyline with waterfront reflections near Chicago, Illinois — convenient to our Glenview office
Easy access from Chicago Nearby Glenview office for Chicago-area families
Psychological testing evaluation session near Chicago, Illinois — discussing concerns with a clinician

Is testing right for you?

When Should You Consider Psychological Testing?

You may want to consider an evaluation if you or your child have ongoing questions about:

Autism or other neurodevelopmental differences, including high-masking or PDA presentations, ADHD and attention difficulties, learning or academic challenges, social communication, executive functioning, cognitive abilities, emotional or behavioral concerns, a previous diagnosis that does not seem to explain your experiences, recommendations following a previous evaluation, or a demand-avoidant pattern that seems to involve more than “just” oppositional behavior or anxiety.

The purpose of psychological testing is to address specific clinical questions and provide information that can support a clearer understanding of an individual’s strengths, challenges, and support needs.

What to expect

A Clearer Path From Questions to Answers

Psychological testing is more than completing a series of assessments. A comprehensive evaluation brings together information from the individual’s history, interviews, observations, and appropriate standardized measures. Depending on the evaluation, the process may include:

  1. Consultation
    Discuss the concerns and determine what questions the evaluation should address.

  2. Assessment
    Complete the interviews and testing appropriate for the individual’s age and evaluation needs.

  3. Clinical Interpretation
    Results are reviewed in the context of the individual’s history and presenting concerns, including masking patterns and demand-avoidant behavior when relevant.

  4. Written Findings
    A detailed report explains the findings and provides relevant recommendations.

  5. Feedback
    Results are reviewed with you so you can ask questions, understand the findings, and discuss possible next steps.

A Chicago-Area Practice Focused on Individualized, Neurodiversity-Affirming Evaluations

Help & Healing Center takes an individualized, neurodiversity-affirming approach to psychological assessment. Our clinicians have particular depth in high-masking, late-diagnosed, and PDA presentations.

Evaluations are available for different ages and concerns, allowing the assessment process to focus on the clinical questions that matter most to the individual and family.

Patients seeking psychological testing near Chicago can access services including:

  • Autism evaluations
  • High-masking and late-diagnosis evaluations
  • PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) evaluations
  • Psychological evaluations
  • ADHD-related assessment
  • Child and teen evaluations
  • Adult evaluations
  • Autism second opinions
  • Eligible telehealth services

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can Chicago residents get an autism evaluation?

Help & Healing Center provides autism evaluations from its nearby Glenview office at 2700 Patriot Blvd, Suite 250, Glenview, IL 60026. Evaluations are available for children, teens, and adults, including individuals with high-masking or PDA presentations.

Is Help & Healing Center near Chicago?

Help & Healing Center’s Glenview office provides a convenient option for Chicago-area individuals and families seeking psychological testing and autism evaluations. The office is located at 2700 Patriot Blvd, Suite 250, Glenview, IL 60026.

Do you evaluate adults for autism, including late-diagnosed adults?

Yes. Adult autism evaluations are available for individuals who have questions about lifelong social, communication, sensory, behavioral, or developmental patterns. Some adults seek an autism evaluation for the first time later in life after years of masking their traits or receiving diagnoses that did not fully explain their experiences.

What is a high-masking autism evaluation?

High-masking refers to autistic individuals who have learned to camouflage their traits, sometimes making autism more difficult to recognize through traditional evaluation approaches. Our evaluators are trained to recognize more subtle or internalized presentations, including presentations that may have been overlooked during childhood or earlier assessments.

Do you evaluate for PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance)?

Yes. PDA is a profile within the autism spectrum involving an anxiety-driven need to avoid everyday demands and expectations. Our evaluators assess for PDA characteristics as part of a comprehensive autism evaluation and can help clarify whether this profile may fit an individual’s experiences.

Can my child receive psychological testing?

Yes. Help & Healing Center provides evaluations for children and teens when there are concerns involving development, learning, attention, behavior, social interaction, or emotional functioning.

Can an evaluation be completed through telehealth?

Telehealth may be available for eligible evaluations. Whether an evaluation can be completed remotely depends on the type of assessment, clinical requirements, and individual circumstances.

Google Reviews

Help and Healing Center

Based on client reviews

See all reviews on Google

Grateful Client

Recently

Thank you for this. It is bringing tears to my eyes because I wish we could have had this conversation 30 years ago. We finally have someone who understands. You are doing good work.

Parent Client

Recently

I don’t have the words to describe the way you have helped our family. It has taken me over 30 minutes just to figure out how to write this because words like help, healing, gratitude, respect, and appreciation don’t even come close to what you’ve actually given us. It’s so much bigger than that. You’ve changed our lives, and I don’t say that as a figure of speech. I truly wish I had the words to express the magnitude of what you’ve done for us. This diagnosis isn’t just about receiving labels. It’s about finally understanding who I am. It’s about giving myself permission to stop trying to become someone I was never meant to be. I realize now that I spent most of my life hiding my true self. I’ve always felt like my brain was broken. It’s like the world I’ve been living in speaks a language I only half way understand. But the world thinks I’m fluent because I can speak the language but I don’t always understand everything they are saying. In my mind I see it playing out like the world took a baby dolphin out of the ocean after it was born and put it on dry land and expected the dolphin to thrive on land. But the baby dolphin spent its life trying so hard to survive on land and was so close to death until you found the dolphin as an adult who somehow managed to grow on land and put me back in the ocean where I can live a more comfortable life and where I’m supposed to be. I can now find other dolphins and be myself. Not only do I have the chance to survive, I can live now with the hope of being able to actually enjoy life and maybe even have the chance of being truly happy sometimes. My whole life I have believed things about myself that simply weren’t true. Those beliefs shaped the way I saw myself and made life feel unbearable a lot of the time. Every day often felt like pain, suffering, and survival, so I found ways to cope, and they weren’t always healthy. When I first found your videos and saw how thoughtful and thorough your evaluations were, I knew you were different. I could tell your goal wasn’t simply to diagnose people — it was to help them understand themselves. In doing so it allows them to access the world in a way they haven’t been able to before. Your work didn’t just help me understand my daughter. It led me to question my own childhood, my own experiences, and the way my brain works. Most importantly, you validated feelings I’ve had my entire life but never understood. That validation has changed everything. For the first time, I feel like I’m allowed to build a life that actually works for me instead of constantly trying to force myself into one that never did. I also feel hopeful that I can help my daughter grow up with that same understanding and acceptance. Tonight, I’ll go to bed excited to wake up tomorrow instead of dreading another day. That is a gift I can never repay. Thank you. Thank you again for everything you’ve done and continue to do. I am beyond grateful that our paths crossed and that I had the opportunity to work with you.

Sarah M.

2 months ago

Everything about the process was great, regardless of the diagnosis. All of the communication, your approach, and your demeanor. I really commend you.

Michael R.

3 months ago

Dr. Jessica made me feel at ease throughout the consultation and assessments. It has changed almost every aspect of my life – relationships, self esteem, how I view myself.

Jennifer L.

4 months ago

We brought our son to Dr. Myszak recently; she was patient, flexible and kind and helped him feel comfortable. At first he was very anxious but she was willing to meet him where he was.

David K.

5 months ago

The experience felt validating, compassionate, and non-judgmental. I was able to reveal information that I wasn’t comfortable revealing to previous psychologists.

Amanda T.

6 months ago

I felt heard, understood, and not judged. It totally changed my life. It validated my experiences and took away the guilt and shame that my challenges were just character flaws.

Chris P.

7 months ago

I was really intimidated to start this process but you made it easy and comfortable, so thank you. This was a 10 out of 10.

Compassionate care. Expert insight.

Looking for Psychological Testing Near Chicago?

If you are considering an autism evaluation, high-masking or late-diagnosis evaluation, PDA evaluation, ADHD assessment, psychological evaluation, or autism second opinion, Help & Healing Center serves Chicago-area residents from its nearby Glenview office.

Dr. Jessica Myszak Licensed Psychologist — free phone consultations available

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