To think ADHD/ASD labels get used too casually sometimes?

Probably because we’ve underfunded the whole system for so long and people who should have had a diagnosis long ago are now seeking support.

I think in actual fact you’ll find that it is under diagnosed.

No medical profession I have spoke to has said anything of a sort. Define many.

Many of those qualified are saying that.

That's why the health secretary has ordered an independent review into the rising demand for MH, ADHD and ASC services.

DD, diagnosed with ADHD by the NHS finds that theory really annoying. She says there is no reason why people with ADHD haven’t also suffered trauma. These diagnoses are not mutually exclusive; and diagnosing the symptoms as due to trauma, risks missing the ND also there, and people going without the treatment/support for the underlying ND for decades.

lol yeah I doubt most MN are actually qualified to make any diagnosis. They just think they know better than those that do. 😂

This is absolutely not true.

And again- it’s need that gets support in education, a diagnosis gets you nothing if there is no need.

This isn’t what’s being said. A) MNers aren’t qualified and B) those qualified aren’t saying that

This isn’t what’s being said. A) MNers aren’t qualified and B) those qualified aren’t saying that

Probably because those that are qualified are very aware of misdiagnosis and how common it is for some conditions more than others.

This is complete rubbish. ADHD meds are highly effective. I have 2 children on them who were also given an NHS ADHD therapy workshop in addition. The risks are spelled out as is the fact it’s not a cure and you try a few until you get one exactly right, have breaks and you go on a lengthy course to learn coping strategies alongside.The meds have been life changing and I mean completely life changing. Self medication and self harming has stopped, able to access education ….

After all the above I chose not to have meds as I’m in my 50s and I am a bit phobic about any med. Many choose not to but they are life changing for those that do.

As the NHS taskforce have said- everybody needs access to the same gold standard care .

It always amazes me how MN question certain diagnosis, I’m curious to know what makes them more qualified than those actually qualified to carry out these assessments?

No they are not.

you’re being very dramatic.

also ADHD meds have vastly improved my DC lives and by extension our lives too.

Yes and I’m fucking sick of it they are genuine disabilities but people slap a nonexistent diagnosis on themselves because someone on TIKTOK told them they have ASD/ADHD when they don’t it makes it harder for people who have had to fight tooth and nail to get a diagnosis to be taken seriously. It’s like when people were claiming to GF just because.

This is total shit.

There are side effects which have to be considered.

And they transformed my dd from being too anxious to leave her room to now being able to attend university.

@ByQuaintAzureWaspOh they did indeed! I'm a child of the 70s and went to school with a few ADHD boys. It just wasn't recognised in girls because they present differently. But the lads were medicated.

The early recognition of the disorder was in 1902.

You sound like my DM who is 79, btw. Totally ignorant with her fingers in her ears going lalalalalalalala, pretending her 14yr old daughter who has the community mental health nurse round every week, has nothing wrong with her. I took myself to the doctors because I realised slicing myself up and regularly overdosing on any tablet I could find at home, wasn't a normal thing amongst my friends.

So gather up your ignorance @ByQuaintAzureWaspand do a little research.

ADHD meds are being advertised the way antidepressants were before - as a cure with no side effects, most effective drug we have that selectively works only on those with ADHD etc. Depression rates did not drop but continue to rise, antidepressant use continues to increase, I expect ADHD will follow a similar trend, with similar meds effectiveness outcomes.

People are being sold 'I was born like it I cannot change anything' explanation to their problems and a pill to take these away. I used to buy into the ND affirmative story - I don't anymore. Time will tell I guess.

I'm diagnosed with ADHD, amongst other things. A builder in over the weekend spotted my meds and said 'oh I didn't know you were mental'. My reply was to point out my anti psychotic meds and said yes, and also I'm psychotic - he backed slowly away.

People have no idea and these phrases are bandied about with no idea of the truth. Probably the same people who scream they've cut their finger off. Nope, just a paper cut love, you don't even need a plaster...

Sigh.

Adults are getting diagnosed and telling everybody because at long last they understand the adversities they have experienced in life.

In comparison to mental health and learning disability services,v f you are "just" autistic, there are very few, if any, services to support you.

My comments above are not a blanket statement for all, but I think do apply to some.

A diagnosis doesn't equal support

Do you really think people get a diagnosis for shits and giggles? I had to demonstrate it was affecting my life. I couldn't just ask my GP for a referral because I fancied it

Children with genuine cases of need are not getting the support they need because so many parents are determined to get a piece of that support for their own kids and are shoe-horning them into an unnecessary diagnosis.

There seems to be a trend for adults to start self-diagnosing/private diagnosing so they simply can tell everybody. Repeatedly at the slightest opportunity.

I think context is important. We have a rigid education system which starts far too young and is too curriculum and inspection bound. In no way is this a normal environment for a small child.
I am not questioning the existence of these problems but just feel that we too easily accept squashing square pegs into round holes as the norm.

No this isn’t really something to consider and is a load of bunkham.

Newsflash those of us with ND children seeking diagnosis would rather they don’t have it or need a diagnosis. We’re not neglectful parents or crap parents seeking to explain away crap parenting. Many of us are supported by CAMhS or schools on our diagnosis journey.

Unfortunately given the traits ND can make you more likely to experience trauma. I have 2 kids who have ND diagnoses and CPTSD diagnoses due to things that have happened to them caused by their ND.

The other difficult thing to consider with an autism diagnosis is the differential diagnosis of trauma / ACEs etc.

In theory any autism assessment would consider trauma as a differential and vice versa, they rarely document this has been considered. Obviously, some people may have both diagnoses correctly assessed.

If the trauma / neglect / ACEs are in the very early years unravelling the ASC from the trauma in the person as a teen / young person is extremely difficult / not possible.

There is a train of thought that some may find difficult to accept, that it's easier for the professional / parent & child it the child is diagnosed with autism rather than neglect or trauma. And for some the early years neglect that the child experienced may be that the child did not feel parental warmth and connection because the caregiver were too focussed on their career / screens / other distracting factors, that are not malicious from the parent and in fact sub conscious but from the child experience of having their basic needs met are lacking.
As parents, we can only parent using our life skills and experiences that we inherited from our parents, and what we have gone on to learn during our lifetimes, some of us lack all of what a child needs, regardless of how hard we try and love our child, how the child experiences this, processes it and how it forms their development and presentation is highly individual, multifactorial and complex.

Both those declarations are incorrect. There is under diagnosis not over diagnosis as highlighted in the recent NHS ADHD taskforce

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/report-of-the-independent-adhd-taskforce-part-2/

Please note the stigma ND people suffer in said report that is clearly alive and well on this thread as per the MN norm.

It is symptoms not diagnosis that impacts employment ( autism is a protected disability) and children in education get help according to need NOT diagnosis. Funds and expertise are not diverted from those most in need,there is however more need than funding.

@Gherkintastic We had a low unemployment rate in 2022 and autism diagnosis off the scale - so Joe does high unemployment alter anything?

I agree that over diagnosis will cost those people gaining employment though. It’s already causing our education system huge issues by diverting funds and expertise away fro
those most in need. Some areas have far higher diagnosis than others too.