How accurate is ADHD diagnosis

[Hotdoughnut]

Thinking of getting my DD10 assessed. She gets distracted easily, seems to have seconds where she is absent, doesn't meet her full potential at school (although is above avetage), mild issues with clothes/sensory, easily gets obsessed with things (a certain film etc). All of it is almost unnoticeable, friends think I'm mad (even husband thinks it falls within typical kid). But I think she masks well, especially at school. If we get her assessed, is she bound to be given a label? I've heard that nobody gets assessed and is told they're neurotypical. I just want her to get the support she needs to thrive, but I'm worried I'm seeing something that isn't there and she'll be given a label regardless.
Are the assessments pretty accurate?

There was a good documentary on C4 a few weeks ago. The assessment they showed took several hours to complete. I have no doubt that it is extremely easy to get a diagnosis from one of the numerous services that have popped up to fill the current appetite for adhd diagnosis. What benefits do you anticipate a diagnosis would bring? Perhaps just note her traits and work with her to bring out the best in herself?

My own DS and his wife both have multiple traits of ADHD but this doesn’t mean they have it, maybe your DD is the same?

Well firstly it’s not a bloody label, it’s a diagnosis. Secondly, they don’t haven them out to anyone who asks. An assessment is just that, an assessment to see if the person meets the criteria for diagnosis. For ADHD these have to be present in 2 settings, ordinarily school and home.

i had suspicions my dd had adhd from around age 8. She failed initial screening and as she didn’t have too many problems at school I left it. Come y8 it all started falling apart. At age 14 she has just got her diagnosis.

do school see anything? You need evidence from two settings.

It's a label if she doesn't actually have the condition, I think you missed the point of my post. I'm worried I'll pay privately and she gets given an incorrect diagnosis from someone who doesn't do a proper assessment. There are a lot of practices popping up seeming to be able to diagnose.

No it would be a misdiagnosis if she didn’t have it. I didn’t miss the point, if she hasn’t got ADHD then she won’t meet the criteria for diagnosis. Do your research into private assessment. Try to find a consultant who also works within the NHS.

Yes exactly, I'm not really sure what benefits it would have. Perhaps more support at school? She'll be at secondary school next year and I'm worried she'll fall behind with her inattention...

An ADHD diagnosis is a very significant medical diagnosis. I've no idea whether they are always accurate or not - but I would assume that NHS ones are. If you decide to go private, make sure you go to a reputable one.

If you suspect that your DC has ADHD, I would very strongly recommend that you seek diagnosis. DC2 has just been diagnosed in their early 20s. They had endless problems in secondary school, which could all have been avoided with ADHD medication.

My dc had both a private and then an NHS diagnosis. If anything I would say the private one was more in depth. Both came to the same conclusion.

She's so quiet at school but has a lot of friends. She tells me occasionally the teacher asks her something and she has no idea what the teacher was talking about. Her 11plus tutor has mentioned traits, and her teacher did some tutoring for us at our home last year and couldn't believe she was seeing the same child (bouncing off walls with hyperactivity at home).

I assess adhd. It’s a rigorous assessment and if you pay a proper firm/ person like a psychologist to do it, they won’t just make it up. You can’t get it if you don’t have it, you can’t pay for it to be given to you:

if the assessment follows the NICE guidance then there’s no problem.

assessments are likely to cost between £1200-1700 and for that, you should jump the NHS queue and have your result within the month

Have you considered ASD? Just you mention sensory issues and obsessiveness in your OP. Couple that with her behaviour being different at home you could have an autistic child who is deeply masking in school. That’s not to say she won’t also have ADHD, but autism can make it tricky for school to see. They can behave so differently at home

Any chance of epilepsy OP? 'seems to have seconds where she is absent' made me wonder about seizures?

That's very unusual (her own teacher being allowed to tutor her)

This was my thought too. My so was diagnosed with absence seizures at 7. He’s grown out of them now thankfully. He also has adhd and autism and, I believe they’re linked.

My ADHD assessment was through the NHS and it took what felt like ages. I think with girls it’s harder to diagnose because they mask better, I was in my late 30’s when I got my diagnosis.

In terms of benefits from personal experience medication has been a literal lifesaver for me. People with ADHD are more likely to develop drug addiction due to trying to self medicate, things like cocaine don’t have the same effect on me, I become calm and what I’d class as normal. I know so many people who’ve fallen into this trap and for this reason alone I’d get the diagnosis so there’s access to medication should she need it at some point. I’m not saying everyone with ADHD goes down this route but it’s more common than people realise because you literally wouldn’t know due to it having the opposite effect.

If we get her assessed, is she bound to be given a label? I've heard that nobody gets assessed and is told they're neurotypical.

She will be diagnosed or not. If she doesn’t have an ADHD diagnosis then she will have the label of the weird or quirky kid instead.

You’ve heard wrong. Lots and lots don’t get through to the final stage of the assessment because it’s a prolonged process to get there and the criteria needs to be met each time to move on to the next stage. Whilst that means it’s only those with a very high likelihood of having ADHD that get through to the final assessment, not everyone is then diagnosed even at the end.

I got diagnosed at 42, was never labelled adhd my entire life, only I knew my struggles, high achiever and great at masking. If your daughter is struggling with symptoms and it’s effecting her life then yes a diagnosis is a good idea. I only started to struggle with it from about age 15 onwards not academically but more relationships and impulsive behaviour etc. I am from an era where parents didn’t really parent, out on street and ignored mostly. Parents just thought I was naughty and ignored me, never put it down to adhd , always related adhd to young naughty boys.

As per PP, a diagnosis is not a label. In the scenario you mention, it would be a misdiagnosis.

Why would you even consider taking her somewhere 'dodgy'? Why not do some robust research to ensure she sees someone qualified to assess/diagnose?

My DC2 also fell apart in y8. Nobody had any idea what was wrong. Finally worked it out in y1 of uni.

I didn't explain well, was her Y3 teacher, who then tutored her when she was in Y4 and Y5.

This is very helpful, thanks. Is there a website with accredited assessors?

Or it might be a language processing issue that is common with ADHD and autism. That is one of my DC2's biggest issues. If they haven't taken their ADHD medication, at the end of a tutorial or lecture at uni, they have no idea what was said.

It's almost like her mind is just elsewhere, and you say her name again and she startles. But I will keep this in mind, thank you. She has a very vivid imagination and loves fantasy, I always think her world must be so much more colourful than ours.

@dizzydizzydizzysorry it took so long. I had an 18 month battle to persuade the school she wasn’t just a naughty kid, I couldn’t even complicate Her dad was diagnosed aged nearly fifty a couple of years ago and even that didn’t do it! She only got the diagnosis this summer holiday so yet to see the support, they need to go to their internal panel to approve the recommendations apparently.

Although I sent en email about her wearing plain not school pe leggings as she has issues with the feel of them , I got an email back immediately saying she must comply we will be on gate to check and then another one 5 minutes later saying she can wear school pe shorts over plain leggings…..I suspect he remembered he is meant to be more supportive now 🤣

Very interesting thank you. We can explain something and she nods abd gives clear signs of understanding. But if we ask her to explain she admits she wasn't listening/didnt understand. Having said that, she's very bright, so clearly understands most things at school.