AIBU to ask if any benefit in seeking assessment for ADD for university student?

[Rebbecia1234]

Looking back, 20 year old DS has always struggled massively with organisational skills. Okay at primary school, but difficulties started from secondary school onwards forgetting homework, forgetting equipment, losing stuff, silly errors in exams due to misreading questions Etc. This was much commented on by teachers at parents evenings. DS is bright and has managed to do well enough in GCSEs and A-Levels to get to uni. However, now he has reached the second year of his degree, the amount of work required has massively increased and he has fallen behind and is struggling to cope. He has managed to get through previous exams doing a lot of learning by rote just before the exam. As the amount and complexity of work has increased, this strategy is proving less effective. Due to Covid, all lectures are recorded, so he has not been listening to them live. As one of the world's biggest procrastinators, he has got very behind on listening to the recordings of lectures.
He has so many symptoms of Attention Deficit disorder, I was wondering if it would be worth him being assessed to see if he has this condition? DS himself thinks he has got it. Would he need to approach his GP about assessment or perhaps his university? What help is available if you are diagnosed with ADD?
Any advice would be much appreciated. I feel like I am watching him fail, but don't know what to do to support him.

It took 5 weeks to get a cancellation appointment, then 6-8 weeks to get the report.

[quote Rebbecia1234]@Kitkat151 How long would it be likely to take to get a private adult assessment for Attention Deficit Disorder?[/quote]
It depends what you want out of it......if you want a private medical assessment with a view to getting a diagnosis this is one thing......but if you only wanting a private educational learning needs assessment then uni would be able to point you in the right direction for that relatively quickly.
With regards to a private diagnosis for ADD / ADHD ... .. these are often not recognised within the NHS so would not necessarily be a gateway to accessing services / support......also be mindful that a GP will not always take over prescribing of medication ( if recommended) following a private diagnosis and therefore you will need to factor in the cost of the private prescription every month...... this may not be an issue for you of course.
Might be worth getting a GP referral now and going on the NHS waiting list ..... you can always back out later down the line if you DS gets sorted.
Even with a diagnosis you would still need a learning needs assessment as each individual with ADD / ADHD will have needs specific to them.....and the outcome of this assessment can be used to negotiate reasonable adjustments for your DS

In exciting news, Oxfordshire NHS has developed a specialist ADHD service to provide focused medical support.

Slightly different but we got an ASD done privately and it took about 6 weeks total for a secondary school child. Adults assessments are quicker. Just make sure it’s a reputable company who the uni will accept a diagnosis from. Nephew at uni with ASD and gets lots of help with things like organisational/ mentoring/ extra time. So well worth pursuing. Get him to speak to uni.

I went through my uni disability centre. My tutors contacted them with me to fast track and it was well worth it!

He may be able to access much quicker help and diagnosis (if appropriate) through his university's Student Support services. I've pointed students in that direction, and they have received help much faster than through their GP. Worth a look, before going through private health insurance.

Thanks for all of this additional information. So helpful in planning what to do next.

As I recall of DSA with two children with differing needs, University does a needs assessment, so it's more based on actual needs, rather than a diagnosis. Although a diagnosis helps, iyswim

Not sure if this will be useful but a relative got diagnosed with ADHD through the uni. However they said this was for ‘education only’ and not an NHS diagnosis that would put them on a treatment pathway.
Not quite sure what that means

I’m in Scotland. My 17 year old son got a diagnosis of ADHD from a private clinic. The cost was around £3,000 and although the original prescriptions were private, once we sorted out the doseage his GP took it on after a phone consultation with my son.
He is now applying for unis and they are all accepting of his private diagnosis.

@cloudtree please could you let me know how you managed to get a diagnosis of visual processing disorder (as in which professional)? I've looked into it in my area but can't work out what the diagnostic pathway is. Thank you.

We used an educational psychologist based in the midlands. It was about £700 plus vat. I’ll dig out the details and PM you

@cloudtree

You don’t need two issues to qualify for extra time.

You didn’t before October 2021 but rules have now changed I understand

Sorry I feel like I’m derailing the thread slightly but I promise this isn’t true, did your sons school tell you that? Maybe his handwriting speed alone wasn’t enough to qualify him

Sorry I feel like I’m derailing the thread slightly but I promise this isn’t true, did your sons school tell you that? Maybe his handwriting speed alone wasn’t enough to qualify him

I hope it isn’t. He’s mid way through assessment. He’s doing A levels at the moment and two teachers have raised it as and issue separately since he is top of the class but runs out of time in exams. School have said the rules have literally just changed and whilst they don’t affect children with existing arrangements in place, they affect new arrangements from October 21.

If this isn’t correct I’ll be delighted

www.tes.com/news/new-exam-dispensation-rules-what-you-need-know

Sadly I think it is true

He has extremely slow handwriting speed (I suspect general dyspraxia). I’m so cross we didn’t pick it up just a few weeks earlier

@cloudtree

www.tes.com/news/new-exam-dispensation-rules-what-you-need-know

Sadly I think it is true

That link refers to schools, not unis. Nd it is not about two different conditions though it says two differen areas of processing, which could be reading and writing. It says:

The two different areas of processing now required could be in:

Speed of reading and speed of writing.
Speed of reading and cognitive processing.
Speed of writing and cognitive processing.
Any two different areas of cognitive processing that have a substantial and long-term adverse effect on speed of working; for example, memory and phonology.

Apparently the rational for the change is that too many kids are getting diagnosis and there is a concern about manipulated results.

Sorry, poor typing on phone!

So for someone with add/adhd, ther could well be more than two processes involved eg organisational skills/processing skils

That link refers to schools, not unis

Yes sorry DS is doing a levels.

I was diagnosed privately in May of this year, at the age of 24. I was seen within two weeks and got my report and diagnosis a day or two after the assessment took place. It has been of great expense to me, especially as I'm not on the highest salary, but the understanding of why I've always felt 'defective' has been invaluable.

Sadly I've already been through education and like your son I did pretty well in school but I was capable of a lot more had I not had ADHD. My reason for finally seeking diagnosis came in the workplace as every job I've had, I have underperformed compared to my colleagues, despite trying my hardest. Luckily my current job is really really understanding and I've been able to work with my managers to make adjustments to the way I work to enable I get better results. ADHD is a protected characteristic under the Disability Act, meaning employers need to make reasonable adjustments but I'm afraid I have no idea where that stands with his uni.

If you can afford it, I would recommend private assessment and treatment but beware that the costs do mount up. I think I have spent close to £2500 this year on appointments, medication, tests etc, but thankfully after being referred for suspected autism in 2019 (before ADHD was on my radar), I got a letter a couple of months ago telling me I was coming up to my time for assessment. I called them and explained my private diagnosis and god bless them, they switched my ASD referral to an ADHD referral (private doctor screened for ASD) and honoured my original referral date. I am EXTREMELY lucky to have this. And I am also very lucky that they have accepted my private diagnosis. My private psychologist was extremely thorough, and I had past school reports and 'testimonies' from my mother and best friend of 10 years on my behaviour as a child and as an adult. It might be worth getting on the NHS waiting list and going private in the meantime to get your son seen quicker.

This diagnosis has been really good for me. To know, finally, that I'm NOT useless, I'm NOT lazy, I'm NOT a waster, I have had a disability all my life and just never known until a few months ago. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to talk further or have any questions. Best of luck to your son, and to you too.

@colabucks I’m so pleased to hear your employer is supportive of you, as they should be. There are so many talented individuals with disabilities that employers would be stupid not to make adjustments and benefit from employees’ full potential.

My 20 year old daughter has been diagnosed this year. We had no inkling at all - always seemed to be a well organised, very capable and bright child. She's studying medicine, and one of her mentors suggested she get assessed, and the whole process happened very quickly. Apparently there's a pathway that's funded by the nhs but uses the private sector, so it doesn't take anywhere near as long as we expected. She's still trying to find a medication that suits her, but is happier knowing that she's not just easily distracted/lazy etc. Also she gets extra library time and has had finding towards a new laptop. I can find out the name of that pathway for you later, if I can pin her down a bit.

@cloudtree

www.tes.com/news/new-exam-dispensation-rules-what-you-need-know

Sadly I think it is true

Oh sorry I see thank you for sharing that, it seems that this is based on the standardised testing schools can do in house. I was thinking surely someone with ‘just’ dyslexia for eg would still qualify but by being diagnosed with that they will have gone through loads of different tests so they would.

I really hope your son gets the extra time he needs. If you feel he’s dyspraxia it’s definitely worth pursuing that if he’s going to university, i work at a uni and we do fund spld assessments for most students, but if you can afford to go private earlier it will mean he can apply for DSA and hopefully get it in place for when he starts.

[quote MissHavershamReturns]@colabucks I’m so pleased to hear your employer is supportive of you, as they should be. There are so many talented individuals with disabilities that employers would be stupid not to make adjustments and benefit from employees’ full potential.[/quote]
Thank you!! Me too. It's so nice to be heard, I'm very lucky to have that. My last workplace wouldn't have been so understanding and helpful as they treated me like a child or like I was thick... (overly perfumed rival of The Body Shop with products that have been staining baths since 1995...) Could go on about that place for years