DD16 yrs finally diagnosed ADHD . A.I.B.U to complain to her school for not referring earlier, or should i be grateful that they did?

[Quirkyones]

It was not for the want of trying to get dd diagnosed; i had a feeling since early primary but was met with brick wall , or told, 'everyone's looking for a label'. DD passed 5 G.C.S.Es at C level, so did well but I am really sad to think that maybe with added support or understanding, then she may have done better and her self esteem might not have been as low as it has been.

I am thinking of complaining , with the intention of making girls with A.d.h.d noticed earlier. I would also now like other screening done to see if she has mild autism /dyslexia as she has traits of both. Or would this become a set back for DD in sixth form?

Out of interest how much did you pay?

@Nimbostratus100 A child is not allowed to be assessed on the same thing within a 6 month period. It's unethical. When we got private reports, they were very specific and the LA didn't like that. They wanted their own reports but the LA EP couldn't test DD on the same things the private on had as it was less than 6 months prior.
These parents must've not been divulging it but than that comment wouldn't have made sense.

@Ursuladevine Best part of £8k probably for it all but the latest one we did last year was £5k and some change, and included the EP and SALT reassessing DD, as well as the psychiatrist assessing her and doing an in lesson observation. We are in London though and use a clinic, so I'm assuming most places will be cheaper although for all of that it wasn't bad. It's a lot more now.
I'm sure you could find someone individually who would be cheaper but we wanted a multi disciplinary team to look at the situation. Saying that, we found the prices just out of London more expensive as there isn't as much competition.

And after all that… not worth the paper it was written on in the eyes of LA?

@Ursuladevine No this isn't the reports we had done for her plan. DD already has her EHCP which she had private reports for 5 years ago. I don't want to give too much detail as this is quite outing.
We sent the following to CAMHS:
Reports form 5 years ago that were used for EHCP
EHCP which includes ADD as a diagnosis on it, the LA had no problem including this once we had the private diagnosis.
Camhs appt came recently, about a year after her private diagnosis so we sent all the above plus
the reports I already described.

LA's are a bit different I feel to this whole CAMHS thing because they have a lot in the game when it comes to reports. A well written, very specified report is going to cost a lot of money to fund once that's used to write up an EHCP. An LA report thats not specific and in my experience often wooly, isn't going to feed a well specified report. You can't put something that's not on the report, into an EHCP so if the report isn't specific and detailed, you'll have a hard time making your plan specific and detailed.
I can understand why CAMHS doesn't accept some private assessments, as I said, it worries me how rushed some of these are. I feel in our area maybe they see so much of this, they've just decided to not even bother reading all the evidence we provided as it's a blank no for private assessments. They didn't even know my DD had an EHCP even though I supplied it as part of evidence.

@Ursuladevine and just to add, it doesn't matter if the LA doesn't think the report is worth the paper written on, because if you're using it for the EHCP process, there's a very clear legal route to challenge them. You just appeal their decision. You can do so at every point.
There's not a single way to appeal the CAMHS decision, not even a second opinion.
Same thing when they reject a referral form a GP. No way of appealing it. It's a joke.

Up until last year the process was always go to the GP- GP refers- school gets assessment paperwork and then this gets sent back to CAMHS (for some reason some GPs would refuse even though the process was clear as day on the NHS website). Therefore I don't think it is fair to blame schools. ADHD is present from birth and runs in families so I strongly believe parents should be looking to identify this not schools. More recently, CAMHS have cut out the need for a GP referral and a parent or the school can refer directly. I think there is no excuse for primary schools not to pick this up as one teacher spends every day over the academic year with their pupils. They might not diagnose but they could give you a list of concerns to take to the gp.It's more difficult in secondary where they have so many teachers. Girls also mask significantly. I also think up until recently, there has been so little information on ADHD in girls and in general, there is NO teacher training on it, so it becomes luck of the draw really as to whether teachers have experience in it. I hope this will improve over time. It's fantastic you have a diagnosis now, some kids are still waiting 3 or 4 years on. I hope your daughter thrives on the right treatment. All the best.

Ah! Interesting that @Quirkyones told me to ‘read the thread’ before saying she’d like to complain about me to my school, having not read the thread properly herself.

You’ve always been able to seek an ehcp assessment (or previously statement of Sen). If a parent does it you can appeal if refused, school I believe have to wait and ask again. You will find info on how to start the process at your LA. Phone or go on line to check the process.