NEXA

What NEXA describes

NEXA describes, it does not score. Ninety-six questions across eleven areas of how a mind works, and what comes back is a plain read of your own answers, area by area. There is no total, no band and nothing to pass or fail.

For each area you get your average answer out of 4 and how many of those questions you answered at the middle option or higher. The middle option is 'Sometimes / Moderately'. A higher average means you recognised yourself in more of those questions, more strongly. It does not mean anything is wrong with how your mind works.

The eleven areas are sensory processing, body signals, repetitive movement and stimming, routine and predictability, focused interests, executive function, social communication, activity level and impulsivity, thinking strengths, emotional regulation and trust in other people.

NEXA is an EchoMind instrument in validation. It has no published cutoffs and no reference group, so there is nothing here to compare you with and no threshold to cross. It takes around fifteen minutes. Your answers are anonymous and are kept for twelve months to help validate the instrument.

Who it is designed for

People who want a description rather than a verdict. That includes people who already have a diagnosis and still cannot explain to a manager, a partner or a GP how their mind actually works day to day.

It fits people whose experience does not sort neatly into ADHD or autism. Ninety-six questions across eleven areas make no attempt to allocate you to a category, so the areas where you recognise yourself most can sit anywhere. Somebody can score high in body signals and routine while activity level is quiet, or the reverse. Neither is a wrong answer.

It fits people who have been asked to describe their needs and had nothing specific to offer. Requesting accommodations goes better with an area-by-area description than with a diagnostic label, because a label does not tell an employer that you only notice you are thirsty when you stop working. It does not tell them that transitions between tasks cost you more than the tasks do.

Some people come to NEXA because they want their strengths in the same document as everything else. Two of the eleven areas, thinking strengths and focused interests, describe capabilities rather than difficulties. They are in the same instrument on purpose.

Because it takes fifteen minutes, it suits a moment when you have time. It also allows a partial run: if you stop part-way, the result describes the areas you did answer and says how many questions each average came from.

Why it describes instead of scoring

NEXA has no published cutoffs, so it makes no claim that needs one. A number can only be compared with a reference group, and there is no reference group for this instrument yet. Reporting a total with a severity label would mean inventing both the label and the comparison.

There is a second reason, and it is about direction. NEXA does not flip the direction of any area. In most scored questionnaires a high answer counts towards a problem, which means the questionnaire has already decided what a high answer means. Here, a high average in thinking strengths and a high average in executive function do not mean the same kind of thing at all. The instrument does not pretend they do. Staying descriptive keeps that distinction visible until the validation work is finished.

The endorsement count works the same way. Alongside each average you are told how many of those questions you answered at the middle option or higher. That is a count of your own answers rather than a comparison with anyone. It shows whether an average came from a few strong answers or from broad moderate recognition, which reads quite differently.

Being descriptive has a practical benefit as well. Averages out of 4 across eleven named areas are directly usable in a conversation with a clinician, an employer or a family member. A single severity score is not, because the first question anyone sensible asks is which part of it they are looking at.

The eleven areas, and what each one covers

Sensory processing has nine questions about sensitivity to sound, light, smells, tastes and textures. It also asks about seeking specific sensory input to settle and about bodily sensations arriving so strongly they become hard to bear.

Body signals, also called interoception, has eleven questions about noticing what is happening inside you. Hunger, thirst, needing the bathroom, being hurt, being tired, being hot or cold and telling one emotion apart from another.

Repetitive movement and stimming has seven questions about self-regulatory movement and repetition. Hand movement, rocking, pacing, leg-bouncing, repeating words or phrases, arranging objects and fiddling with things.

Routine and predictability has seven questions about needing specific routines, the stability routine provides, discomfort with the unexpected and distress when plans or environments change.

Focused interests has eight questions about depth of interest. Learning everything about a subject, losing track of time inside it, accumulating detailed knowledge and wanting to talk about it.

Executive function has thirteen questions. It is about how a mind organises, starts, switches and sustains. Getting going on something important, organising tasks, transitions between activities, disengaging from a thought, remembering commitments and finding objects.

Social communication has eleven questions about gestures, literal interpretation, joining conversations already in progress, rehearsing conversations in advance, precise vocabulary and reading when to speak.

Activity level and impulsivity has fourteen questions, more than any other area. They cover physical restlessness, difficulty settling in free time, sustained attention, acting without weighing consequences, talking a great deal and difficulty waiting.

Thinking strengths has nine questions and describes capabilities. Noticing details and patterns other people miss, connecting unrelated ideas, learning quickly, solving complex problems, intellectual curiosity and adapting your approach.

Emotional regulation has four questions about black-and-white thinking, differing from peers, the shutdown that can arrive under overload and intense reactions once a tolerance limit is passed.

Trust in other people has three questions about having been taken advantage of, difficulty spotting hidden motives and being easily convinced by an argument that sounds logical.

How to read your result

Read each area on its own. There is no total to read, and adding the areas together would mix capabilities with difficulties, which is the thing NEXA is built to avoid.

Your summary names the area you recognised yourself in most and the quietest area in your answers, with the averages for both. It describes executive function specifically as well, and defines what that term covers, because it is the area people most often need language for.

The number beside each average is the count of questions you answered at the middle option or higher. Compare it with the number of questions in that area. Eleven out of thirteen at the middle option or higher tells a different story from four out of thirteen with two very strong answers, even where the averages are similar.

Thinking strengths and focused interests read differently from the rest. A high average there describes capability rather than difficulty, so do not read it as a problem score. NEXA does not reverse the direction of any area, which is one reason it stays descriptive for now.

There is no threshold in either direction, so there is nothing here to fail and nothing here to be cleared by. If the questions felt like they were describing your life, that is worth talking about with someone whatever the averages say.

What to do next

A NEXA description is most useful in a conversation. Take the area breakdown to a first appointment and it gives a clinician eleven specific starting points instead of a general account of things being difficult.

If you want a diagnostic answer, that is assessment work. There is no GP referral needed, appointments are available immediately and a specialist team of two to three practitioners works on your case. Your written report follows within 6 weeks of your first appointment. It is NICE-compliant and accepted by the HSE and the NHS. Our psychiatrist covers the medication route if you want it. If both ADHD and autistic traits are in the question, the combined assessment covers both pathways in one process and costs €1,000 or £1,000 depending on your region.

Every booking includes your EchoMind AI profile free, worth €97 or £97 depending on where you are. It works in the same direction as NEXA does, describing how your mind works in practical terms rather than listing what is wrong with you.

If you would rather answer a shorter set of questions about one specific thing, the female-presentation ADHD screener covers internalised ADHD. MASC covers masking and its cost. The AuDHD screener covers ADHD and autistic traits together. All free, and none of them a diagnosis.

Common questions

Why does NEXA not give me a score?

Because it has no published cutoffs and no reference group. It is an EchoMind instrument in validation, so there is no validated number to compare you with. Instead it reports your average answer out of 4 for each of the eleven areas and how many questions in that area you answered at the middle option or higher. That is a description of your answers rather than a measurement against anyone else.

Is a high average a bad result?

No. A higher average means you recognised yourself in more of those questions, more strongly. It does not mean anything is wrong with how your mind works. Two of the eleven areas, thinking strengths and focused interests, describe capabilities, so a high average there reads differently again. NEXA does not reverse the direction of any area.

Ninety-six questions is a lot. Can I stop part-way?

Yes. The result describes the areas you answered and tells you how many questions each average came from. A partial run is still a real description of those areas. A run you leave part-way through is not saved, so coming back later starts again.

Does NEXA tell me whether I am autistic or have ADHD?

No. It makes no attempt to sort your answers into a category. It describes eleven areas of how your mind works, and several of those areas are relevant to both ADHD and autism. A diagnosis needs a full assessment with a clinician.

What is interoception?

Interoception is the sense of what is happening inside your own body. Noticing hunger, thirst, needing the bathroom, pain, tiredness, temperature and the physical part of an emotion. Eleven of the ninety-six questions ask about it, because difficulty reading those signals is common among neurodivergent people and is rarely asked about in a standard screener.

Can I bring my NEXA result to an appointment?

Yes, and it is worth doing. Print the result or save it as a PDF to bring with you. The area breakdown gives a clinician specific starting points, which is more useful than a general description of finding things hard.