ADHDers - a question about assessment?

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I’m looking at booking an appointment (very lucky that I can go private) however I’m looking through the forms you have to send back and I’m a bit worried about the childhood section. A) I’m nearly forty, I don’t have a lot of memories of childhood but I do remember that I was well-behaved and no major problems. Adolescence is where it started going wrong but they don’t ask about that, only about the last year. How much weight is given to the childhood section? Or is it much more likely I don’t have ADHD if I didn’t have problems as a child? If anyone can share their experiences or opinions please do!

Part of the diagnostic criteria is that issues began before age 12.
Do you have a relative you can ask?

I was over 40 at diagnosis but remember fairly well and also asked my mum!

However I don’t think my mum believed I had ADHD and I was still diagnosed.

ADHD is usually more severe as a child, and as PP has said it does form part of the diagnostic criteria .

From what I’ve read and seen, some people with inattentive type can mask symptoms very well and manage as children as they could hide in the maelstrom of other children. They have often been described as quiet and well behaved. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t all difficult but that it all got a lot more difficult and noticeable when you reach high school and have to self manage and can’t hide as such.
Try to look at inattentive type online and some very good YouTube lectures and info from psychiatrists.

It's often later that things go a bit pear-shaped, particularly if you mask and/or during hormonal changes. It's why women tend to be under-diagnosed. I was always been told off for talking too much but my mum still doesn't believe I have adhd.

Fill in the forms, don't worry too much...

Sorry I've not had a diagnosis yet but currently looking to get one. Would it be able to privately message me details of where you're getting your assessment & the price please? I want to go private too.

Also, just to contribute to your thread. Can you ask your parents anything about your childhood before 12?

Interested as I am in the process of this. I don't have anyone I can ask, so will have to rely on what I can remember.

I was told that this is actually textbook in women - that’s how it was for me, too. I was well-behaved and coasted through primary school because my mum was cracking the whip. The signs were still there (daydreamer, chatterbox, often lost and forgot things, etc) but my mum mitigated a lot of it by being heavily involved.

Things started to go to shit for me as I got older and she was less involved in managing my time and schedule. By the time I was 17 I had entirely stopped doing homework, was completely behind in all of my classes because I couldn’t remember a word the teacher said and then I left with shit grades.

The psych who did my assessment said this is a really common pattern he is seeing in adult women seeking diagnosis. As a pp said, there needs to be evidence of issues before the age of 12 but I still got diagnosed even with my patchy childhood memories and a mother who is entirely unsupportive of the whole thing.

I’m recently diagnosed. Yes, your life before the age of 12 is important to the diagnosis- do you have a parent or other close relative or perhaps a family friend who can answer some of the questions about what you were like as a child? Or look at your school reports?

Your replies are really helpful thank you. I will speak to my mother and see what she remembers.