What benefit does an ADHD diagnosis give?

[mogernator]

I strongly suspect my DS8 has ADHD. It's the hyperactivity part for him. 100 miled an hour for everything, always on the go. Frequent angry outbursts. Many questions. He can, however concentrate and is doing well at school. He's very sociable and funny, has friends. Loves sports. His teacher does not think he has ADHD but he is different at school and would never have the anger issues there. Anyway, what does getting an official diagnosis achieve? Would I be better off buying a book to help me parent the best I can?! I'm not sure I would want to medicate him if he does get a diagnosis. But I would definitely welcome a support system as I am pretty exhausted.

I'm curious to know too as I think my DS9 has autism and ADHD. He has angry outbursts, and actually recently has been pretty difficult to get along with as he is constantly rude and inconsiderate in the way he speaks when we ask him to do something.

At school he is doing well academically so must be able to focus a bit, but I also have started to see this decline a bit this year as the work has got harder. His teachers mentioned his scores slipping through the year and that he rushes through his work and gets silly things wrong.

My understanding is that for an ADHD diagnosis you need referral from the school? In DS case I highly doubt we'd get it. Similar to you he is well behaved at school as far as I'm aware, though his teachers did mention that he'd got angry with some other kids a few times at playtime.

You might want to repost in one of the Special Needs section to get answers from posters with more experience.

From the experience of assorted friends of mine, the option of medication is one benefit – I know a couple for whom it's been absolutely life-changing. Another benefit is understanding why they feel different or why certain things are hard for them, that they are not just rubbish/not trying hard enough.

I know he's okay is school now, but that can change as they get older, especially with the move to secondary. Support in school should be based on needs, not diagnosis...but a diagnosis still sometimes helps get the ball rolling, or helps with schools starting from the point of 'he needs extra support' as opposed to 'he's being naughty/needs to try harder'. And if they find they need reasonable adjustments to help them at work, again a diagnosis can be helpful.