I run an ADHD/ASD assessment service

[Trolleydolly123]

As the title says, curious to hear questions/thoughts.

What? Never in my life have seen charges like that. Cheapest ADHD assessments are around £400-650 mark ans if you want combined assessment with ASD it’s another £600 on top. This is for adults. For children private charges are way higher. But there is no incentive for companies to make up diagnoses.. the money is paid for assessment - not for a diagnosis. They have their money either way.

But as for the flippant ‘May as well assess for other’ comment.. most neurodivergent conditions come with others. And for ADHD, ASD is often comorbid. And you have dyslexia, dyscalculia etc. if someone has one, it is sensible to screen for others especially if a child and it will help them in their education.

And yes. More people are coming forward looking to find out why they struggle, and feel different, and think neurodivergence could be it. For decades women & girls were ignored and doctors believed children grew out of ADHD. Whilst people just learnt to mask. Social media brings awareness but diagnosis is still needed from a psychiatrist to be NHS approved. And one has to have varied symptoms, and evidence from before the age of 12.

I got to 48 until I received my diagnosis and it really explains all of my struggles.. medication for ADHD is amazing for me. I cried the first time it wore off, when I realised how I my life could’ve been so different - had I been diagnosed and medicated as a teen.

Unfortunately NHS being cash strapped in many areas is now refusing to see adults like me, and focussing on children only… making people to pay for private assessment, and medication, as getting shared care from GPs is difficult. All the best for OP in this vital service!

The screening questionaire is to weed out clearly neurotypical people from going any further. Some NT people will score highly on the screening questionaire and then be diagnosed as not having ADHD later on when an actual professional carries out an assessment.

Tell me that you don't know what screening is without telling me...

What objective test is there for schizophrenia? Bipolar disorder? Sciatica? Tendonitis? Migraine? Depression?

When my dd was diagnosed (ASD & ADHD) her assessments took about 20 hours to be thorough. Does yours encompass all of these elements

• paediatrician
• psychologist
• educational including classroom observations
• physio
• occupational therapy
• SALT

Exactly. It's ableist and a truly awful way to talk about people who struggle their whole lives.

Schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder run in my family. There is one person who is definitely pretending because they most likely have a personality disorder. It’s a lot easier to see than adhd. The behaviours are extreme, damaging and the suffer often denies having a problem at all until they are sectioned.

OFFS.

Loads of us late diagnosed women grew up in the 80s and early 90s and there was no Internet or TikTok to cause our ADHD, and the problems with focus.

ADHD is genetic. Or potentially from premature birth /premie steroids.

I struggled my whole life, required quite a bit of therapy and some drugs. The problem is when the boundaries are so fuzzy and the bar so low that pretty much anyone can identify into a disability. I don’t consider myself to have a disability because I am not disabled by my condition. I manage ok, thats life, its the gamut of human experience and feeling. I am convinced there is over diagnosis. Apparently 25% of the uk is now disabled.

My DD was diagnosed with ADHD last year, up until that point I knew very little about it. Since I have done lots of research I am convinced I also have it. Lots of lightbulb moments, eg my whole working life Inhave told people I work better under pressure, in reality it means I am a chronic procrastinator who leaves everything to the last minute. Also when I feel like somebody is not quite telling me the truth or is hiding something important I am like a dog with a bone. Digging and digging to get the truth relentlessly. Turns out I have highly developed aversion to what I perceive as injustice and cannot let these things go. I have read that ADHD is inherited could i have given it to DD?

ADHD and autism can come with some pretty destructive behaviours as well. Ever seen a meltdown?

For ADHDers who respond to Elvanse, it's been described as "like glasses for your brain".

If you compulsorily assessed everyone what do you think would be the total percentage of either ASD, adhd or both?

I am beginning to think that with current diagnostic criteria it would be a significant chunk of society.

My daughter is at Uni and all 3 of her flatmates plus her two best friends have all been diagnosed as ND in some form. Her best friend is getting a 5 week extension for her dissertation and is basically playing the system, you just declare a difficulty and it’s not questioned. My DD was so sympathetic and supportive of her friends but she is under so much pressure and I can see it’s getting to her.

Interestingly My DD has some physical limitations, possibly a mild form of Cerebral Palsy or oxygen deprivation from a difficult delivery or due to her being premature, basically an area of damage in her brain. She wanted to know more when she was around 16 so we took her to a Neurologist. The doctor strongly suggested to her to let it go if it wasn’t having a significantly detrimental effect on her life. She said “do you realise what a can of worms you’ll be opening up? Every job application and form etc will have to be declared, questioned, verified, insurance will be difficult”.

So, unless you or your loved one is severely impaired, be wary of chasing that diagnosis and look at coping strategies instead.

Probably going to have to name change after this but is it possible we are all on the ND spectrum just some are worse affected/less able to cope in the real world than others?

Do you agree that meds are useful until kids have finished formal schooling?

And how much do you charge? Is your diagnosis NHS agreed?

I am convinced there is over diagnosis. Apparently 25% of the uk is now disabled.

1. There are lots of disabling conditions that one can be born with and even more disabling conditions that you can acquire. It's not surprising that a quarter of us has one.
2. That quarter will largely be made of elderly people, who are more likely to be disabled than younger people. Many disabilities are age-related. As we live longer, the proportion of disabled people hence will increase.
3. Severely-ill and -injured people used to die, including premature and very ill babies. Doctors can now keep these people alive but they will live with a disability.
4. All cancer patients are automatically disabled for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010, even if they are in full remission. More and more people are surviving cancer than ever before, adding to the proportion of disabled people.

The problem is when the boundaries are so fuzzy and the bar so low that pretty much anyone can identify into a disability.

The Equality Act definition is neither fuzzy nor a low bar. You can't just identify into a disability.

Where I work, I’m seeing a lot of, to my mind, very neurotypical type parents with ND children declaring that they must be ND too, despite flying through school without problems, getting degrees, successful marriages, no difficulties socialising or with their career. Do you think this is likely genetics or not being able to accept that their child is likely having a very different experience of childhood to them?

Why are all the children who are diagnosed now with autism always really academic children with sensory issues? Where are the children with learning disabilities, which is the most common co- morbidity? My daughter has a learning disability and there is no ‘awareness’ or people scrambling over each other to be diagnosed. In fact 80% of the SEN parents I meet who are super into inclusion are really sheepish when it comes to talking about LD, why?

Why do you think medication would only be for schooling? Like, let’s help you pass your grades but once you get into employment, let’s have you wing it? If you need glasses for your driving test, you wouldn’t not wear them after?

And yes, we can take breaks from meds (esp as you really shouldn’t have alcohol and shouldn’t drink caffeine either on stimulant meds) and many do on days off or holidays… and the fact that meds are in such shortage, many of us try to stretch out our stock so that we won’t be completely without when we really need them.

Do you pick up any other diagnosis during the referral? I knew someone who was a textbook narcissist who ended up with a “borderline” ADHD and Autism diagnosis as an adult.

I felt like she used her diagnosis as an excuse for her narcissistic tendencies. Obviously she wasn’t going to take herself off for a narcissist diagnosis so I wondered if you pick up on other personality disorders or make other referrals?

Genuine question: what can’t that just be what your personality is like? Why does it have to be a disorder?

We had a private diagnosis for our son while we were living overseas, it was by a clinical phsychologist, it took 4 weeks, it involves the following:

• several one on one play sessions
• obssrvation sessions in school and at home
• interviews and statements with us parents and teachers/caregivers
• several cognitive ability tests

the outcome was a comprehensive 20 page document with findings and pages of personalised recomendations and guidance for teachers and caregivers.

We also had one done by NHS when we came back as the overseas one was not recognised by the school. The NHS diagnosis was 1 half hour meeting and a 2 page standard report and some standard leaflets

Do you think the NHS diagnosis is robust enough? How are people being prescribed brain changing medication based on a half hour discussion?? What do you feel about that??

but is it possible we are all on the ND spectrum

No. If it was, I wouldn't get hauled over the coals anything like as often as I do because other people would understand me.

do you realise what a can of worms you’ll be opening up?

This is the most selfish bullshit argument and I keep seeing it everywhere. "Don't get a diagnosis for this condition that might cause you to endanger others because regulatory bodies might then stop you from endangering others." Did no one learn from the case of Andreas Lubitz deliberately crashing a full plane that some professions need to exclude people with some medical conditions for everyone's safety?

Every job application

Unless you are something like an airline pilot, this is not the case. If you are an airline pilot or similar, you are risking people's lives by dodging an assessment for a condition that you think you might have. Likewise driving because you're not the only person on the road.

insurance will be difficult

Try having a history of suicide attempts because you weren't diagnosed, didn't get reasonable adjustments, and couldn't cope at school. I cannot get life insurance, underwriters refuse to cover me. That's life.

Why is it over diagnosed, I work in an adult education setting & I’m sick to death of it being used as an excuse to abuse myself & colleagues

Hi @Trolleydolly123
In your opinion do you think someone with MS could present as having ADD?

Same.

I actually think the problematic gaslighting is that so many tired middle-aged women are told that the reason they're tired and stressed with modern life is that they're disabled.

(Likewise rowdy boys and overlooked shy girls in classes of 30 children in schools with no-exclusion policies, etc.)

I was diagnosed with ADHD last year. I was given my diagnosis then told it was a 9 month wait to see a nurse about medication. There was nothing else, no coping strategies or explanation about how meds could help. I thought post-diagnosis I would find out about support but it wasn't offered. Is this usual?