Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) are observed in at least 15% of the general population and induce specific cognitive and behavioral difficulties that might affect activities of daily living [1]. NDDs include the “dys” group of Specific Learning Difficulties (SLDs) such as developmental dyslexia and dyscalculia, developmental oral language disorders (formerly known as developmental dysphasia), developmental coordination disorders (formerly known as developmental dyspraxia), Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorders (ADHD), and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) [2].

NDDs are frequently present in adulthood and can induce an atypical cognitive profile and atypical brain development [3], [4]. However, a large proportion of adults with NDDs were not diagnosed in childhood [5]. These lifelong conditions, which can affect autonomy in activities of daily living, may also affect prognosis for medical conditions such as traumatic brain injuries [6], psychiatric disorders [7], [8], or neurodegenerative processes [9], [10], [11].

Suspecting and then diagnosing neurodevelopmental disorders in adult subjects is challenging [12]. Physicians should take an exhaustive history from the patient and, if possible, from a third party who can provide information about the patient's familial and personal medical history from in utero up to the time of the interview, including early childhood and education. This provides the physician with a retrospective description of the symptoms, which allows them to date the onset of difficulties, establish a chronology, and separate potential confounding factors such as comorbidities and familial or social difficulties. In addition, objective records such as school reports, pediatric medical reports, previous cognitive and/or behavioral assessments (intellectual quotient, speech therapy assessments, pedopsychiatric evaluations, etc.) may be useful to confirm and complete the clinical description of the developmental period [13], [14], [15]. The interview should screen for several items such as known risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders, symptoms, and impact on daily living to fully meet diagnostic criteria, evaluate comorbidities and exclude differential diagnoses.

The GREDEV (working group for the assessment of neurodevelopmental disorders in adults) – a focus group of the GRECO (working group for cognitive assessment) – was created to improve screening, diagnosis, and management of adults with NDD. The GREDEV is a French multidisciplinary team of experts including neurologists, psychiatrists, neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, and speech therapists involved in the management of NDDs in adults.

In this paper, the GREDEV workgroup proposes a brief screening questionnaire for suspected NDD (Table 1), a more exhaustive checklist (Fig. 1) to help clinicians when taking the patient history, a list of available self-administered screening questionnaires for NDD (Table 2), and the key steps in diagnosis of suspected NDD diagnosis during memory clinic assessments (Fig. 2).