I’m an ADHD assessor that has ADHD - AMA

[DisabledNurseofTiktok]

This topic was incredibly popular on another social media site so I thought I would open it up here!

Im an Advanved Nurse Practitioner that assesses, diagnoses and treats ADHD. I have ADHD, and my daughter has ADHD.

if you have any questions about right to choose, assessments, treatments, or just ADHD in general ask away!

Agree this is massively helpful to know.

DS (16) just had first assessment appointment last week and we know that the school have reported not having any significant concerns (although I have shared every school report, all of which contain things like "DS can focus, with support", "DS does the bare minimum", "DS could do better if he put more effort in", "DS needs to plan his work better" etc etc), but we KNOW he masks because we've suspected ADHD since he was 5 and have helped him with strategies to cope. So the fact his self report of how he feels and behaves (and masks) at school will be taken into account is hugely reassuring.

And to answer a much earlier question yes people do get sent away without a diagnosis, as DS was assessed when he was 10. The fact that he masks and didn't display at school to me was the main reason. But we continued to see behaviours over Covid and now he's in senior school his inability to concentrate, focus, plan etc is there for anyone to see.

Yes there is a strong link between dyspraxia, ADHD and autism.

You can request a second opinion through right to choose with your GP and bypass CAMHS entirely.

I always say better late than never, especially as symptoms can become worse with the menopause!

re floor sitting, that could be a sign of hypermobility, which has a strong link with autism and adhd.

I would complete a holistic assessment looking at someone’s medical history, social history, mental health history, substance misuse history, trauma history and childhood. For all of the questions you have had the key is whether the symptoms were present in childhood. There is no magic answer or set algorithm, it is based on clinical assessment and professional judgement on that patient at that time, and the ability to rule out differential diagnoses. If we cannot rule out differentials, we cannot diagnose.

Yeah, that's the problem! Not being able to rule out differential diagnoses... it kind of leaves us nowhere...

Another question... yes i have been asked a few times about whether the symptoms were present in childhood... but the problem is with my kids is that they're all highly intelligent, so they absolutely could have been sat there in a daydream all day at school, and no one would have known, because they were clever enough to naturally get good grades, and they were quiet. Does that make sense? Could ADHD have been present in these kind of kids but just not noticed?

Thanks for the thread!

I’ve recently had an ADHD diagnosis, inattentive sub type.

I often feel overwhelmed and have traits of hyperactivity too. I have had treatment for anxiety/depression off and on over the years but I actually think it was ADHD causing a misdiagnosis as these episodes have always been linked to either big changes at work or uni where I would struggle to cope.

I am on the waiting list for titratation for Methylphenidate.

I was exploring the option of medical cannabis before my ADHD diagnosis. I will be asking this anyway but was curious. Can cannabis use interfere with Methylphenidate? Do you think they will probably advise to try one or the other?

Also agreed. Decades ago it was the mum that was blamed, the "refrigerator mother" theory. We should be asking the question, what does it take to build a society where we all can thrive, contribute and enjoy our lives.

Can you supply a research source for this please?

Thank you for this thread, I have found it very interesting.

I also suspect that I may have ADHD.

Can I ask you if mouth biting is a sign? I have always bitten the inside of my mouth but this has increased in the last few years.

@wandawaves I was a naturally bright kid who was quiet and did well despite being off in my own world and struggling massively with school attendance. I held it together until I went to secondary then things went downhill. I thrived in a small class, quiet environment so when I moved up I couldn’t cope and became a school refuser. I struggled through college and uni courses and it was only at 40 they my friend said she thought I might be just like her. She was right and I’ve now been diagnosed with combined type ADHD and autism. To the outside world I looked successful but struggled massively from childhood. My hyperactivity in mainly internal although I don’t mask as much now so have quite a few stims.

How accurate is the QB test as a screening tool? Our local CAMHS declined to assess DD following a "normal" QB test. All questionnaires suggested ADHD. As she is autistic and her special interests are shape and colour, I am not convinced!

Sorry if this has been asked but is there a link between ADHD and Bipolar disorder? And if so what?

Op is there a link between autoimmune (ms) and adhd?

That's not the direction of causation that I see - it isn't the child's ADHD that causes poor parenting/inability to cope, but the parent's undiagnosed ADHD causes them to have a chaotic lifestyle and possibly self medicated.

my child (10) had his adhd assessment through right to choose, he has many traits, jumping, spinning running around, can’t focus, emotional dysregulation/ meltdowns, restless always bored (just to name a few. )
He is however ok behaved at school, very worried about getting in trouble by his teachers. He has being told that although he has lots of traits of adhd he hasn’t got enough to be diagnosed with adhd.
they think he has sensory processing issues, anxiety/ underlying mental health problems.
I still can’t quite believe it, I’m still waiting for the full report to come through.
can they sometimes get it wrong?

Hi, thanks for this post - it's really interesting.

I have aDD in year 5 who is currently on the waiting list for ADHD assessment via right to choose. It's likely that by the time she is at the top of the waiting list she might have just moved to high school and given she masks in school, I don't know if high school staff would necessarily have got to know her well enough to provide a clear report - would keeping copies of primary school end of year school reports help? She does mask to an extent at school but over the years teachers have noticed hyperfocus, struggling with complex questions, organising belongings and ideas and time management.

Also, in the assessment itself, do you find many children mask? My DD can at times sit and focus, especially if she sees it as "important" such as special church services and hospital appointments. I can see her sitting really still with perfect posture and going quiet. If she masks during the appointment would that rule out ADHD diagnosis?

I also wonder in your experience what impact a diagnosis has on children? My DD asked to be assessed as she'd learned about ADHD at school and recognised all of the signs in herself. She sees positives such as creativity and thinking outside the box but does at times talk about feeling different from her classmates.

Sorry for all the questions.

Our 16 year old son displays ADHD quite inwardly. Mind has many tabs open, anxious, sensitive to loud environments and gets bored easily. He’s very chilled looking outwardly.

Watching others with hyperactivity, loud, confident and perhaps lacking inhibition sometimes really throws me if my son has the right diagnosis.

Does anyone else’s child present like ours?
He takes Elvanse and is now on 50mg which he feels helps a little.

My son is on a wait list via right to choose which is 12-18 months. He’s only 6, but he’s really struggling at school - the anger is the main issue for school. Is it worth just paying for him to be assessed quicker? Is it easy enough to move over to NHS for prescriptions?

I think I have this. But I’m 50. Is it worth getting assessed if you’re seemingly ok at masking?

2 children - eldest one, 16 probably has ADHD but as yet not formally diagnosed. School is positive he has, and we had avoided a diagnosis as we thought we could manage it through nurture and parental support, but at from 15 he has become extremely impulsive, sometimes violent (I'm nursing a fat lip), phone obsessed, can't focus in classes, can't regulate his moods, has developed ticks (grunts and juts his chin out) which makes it difficult to make friends in school. Have looked at a private ADHD assessment (£900 for the assessment + £1050 for 6 months prescriptions through the NHS) - the Right To Choose seems to have at least a 6 month, possibly 18month waiting list.

As I understand it going private precludes the GP's involvement (so what is the Shared Care Protocol for, then?) but I can potentially get him assessed and medicated in a matter of weeks - perhaps there is a chance he can get a few GCSEs.

Although school have prioritised, our GP is completely useless, and treat his condition as pre-existing and won't prioritise, despite his violence, his walking out of the house at night suggesting he'll throw himself off a bridge. Where do we go? Please dont suggest CAMMs - he spoke to a weird blue haired, pierced, tattooed idiot who showed off her self harm scars on her forearms - and guess what - he copied it the day after. He is very suggestible, and I don't want to let a random stranger into his head again.

I am an RMN, currently working as a PIP/Functional assessor (I only do this because I can work at home for my additional needs children). I would like to change roles to become an ADHD assessor but it is unclear how to do this. I have looked for trainee roles but nothing appears, I have found courses but it is unclear if this gives the correct qualification to be able to carry out diagnosis/assessment. Do you know of any companies that will train people? or of any courses which would then enable me to apply for an ADHD assessor role.
Thanks @DisabledNurseofTiktok

Which came first for you, OP - your own diagnosis, or working in the field?

I was diagnosed ADHD via NHS Right to Choose at 57. I was already on the road to early retirement (not medical - my own choice) because the stress of trying to keep up with work and the constant sense of failure were just exhausting, and I had recurring bouts of depression.

I benefited massively from the diagnosis. The meds (which took ages to get, and after a few months became in short supply) helped somewhat, but the effect was subtle and not dramatic. I eventually got fed up with constantly having to go back to the GP to get the prescription changed, and elected to come off it. But diagnosis took away much of my self-hatred and helped me find some useful strategies.

I sometimes think that if I had been diagnosed earlier I could have achieved more in life. But I don’t waste energy regretting things. I’m enjoying my retirement, doing things I enjoy (which change regularly). I’ve also got to grips with my food addiction and am living a much healthier life.

Surely everyone uses phones and social media for dopamine hits, not just people with ADHD, consciously or not.

I'm old enough to predate ADHD as a diagnosis, although it's obvious to everyone that I have it. I'm trying to learn how to hyperfocus as it's never been anything I've controlled. My main hyperfocii have been relationship based, although not with DH.

Do you have any tips..