ASD is the new ADHD

[Mick4Jue]

I have just joined (I am Grandma to 8 week old 1st grandchild)
I was the 1st person in England to be awarded DLA and Care Allowance for my son..who was 13 at the time...and he is still getting DLA now at 33 years old.!
It took 18 months of (embarrassing) honesty..insisting the DWP spend time at my home watching him..school reports..home diaries...doctors reports et al.
When his DLA came up for review last year it was 'rubber stamped' and awarded for a further three years because the DWP regard a diagnosis of ADHD as unquestionable.!

It seems to me that we are still lucky enough to be bringing up children with ADHD...and yes it is very challenging.
I have answers to lots of your questions about behaviour because of my experience and my regrets for not standing my ground and insisting he was nothing more than an individual.

It seems possible to me that the DWP have renamed ADHD to ASD(Autistic Spectrum Disorder) in order to test you to the limits to allow you to be awarded what is rightfully yours. Indeed..his award notice stated he had ASD...which I vehemently denied and insisted they got his diagnosis right and amended his records to show ADHD.

There is much to be discussed on this issue..and maybe I could offer some words of wisdom and some ways to deal with behaviour issues..not just with the child...but also those who will at times be responsible for him (i.e Schools)

Talk to me please.....

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

that was the advice we had to give

But nobody else seems to have had this advice?

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

This thread gets stranger and stranger.

what about those that were diagnosed as children and learnt to drive?

[StarlightMcKenzee]

But that's like a list of everything!!!

And for ADHD and ASD it doesn't say anything about them being a mental health disorder. Nor does it say you have to tell them about it UNLESS it affects your driving.

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

It's wrong

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

the advice, if you click is "check with your doctor"

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

NO it says you have to tell them regardless if you want a licence. They then decide if you can have one.

where?

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

You may need to tell DVLA if you have attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

You must tell DVLA if you have an autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and it affects your driving.

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

Check with your doctor if you’re not sure whether your ASD affects your driving.

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

You worried me there for a moment!

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

Need to put my heart back into my chest.

[minewouldbeyoug]

It applies the same. I was surprised too but it's the reality. As ADHD services in adulthood are woefully inadequate, a lot of people won't know.

It's particularly important as new UK 'drug driving' laws came in last year. If someone is taking stimulant medications for ADHD (Atomoxetine and Bupoprion are non - stimulants but most ADHD treatments are forms of methylphenidate which are mild amphetamines). So of you're involved in an accident where the Police are involved and decide to drug - test you - depending on the sensitivity of the test you could test positive for amphetamines.

Which is OK if you can prove you're prescribed it as a controlled drug (which stimulant medications are) but if you prove that you aren't using illegal drugs your insurance company could screw you for failing to declare a health condition that may have affected your driving so they might not pay out and could fine you for failure to declare too .

That's why we advised everyone to inform the DVLA.

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

minewouldbeyoug

not everyoneis medicated

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

you worried me

[minewouldbeyoug]

It says on gov . website to check with your Dr but our position was always that we could give a generic view but as we weren't driving with our service users, we couldn't really assess their driving. (Have filled out too many DVLA forms!).

But given my post of a few minutes ago about drug driving laws we always advised to inform the DVLA.

Up to you if you do or not but if the DVLA or any insurance company request your medical records - they'll screw you if they can.

We all know they don't like to pay out!

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

I'm so glad you have changed from saying "it's mental health and you must inform DVLA" to "Well it's not really"

[HagOtheNorth]

'Perhaps it would help you to know I am in my late 50's......you sound a lot younger'

I'm not younger, have two adult children on the spectrum, and you are lecturing experienced and confident people of whatever age from your soapbox. Self-publicising and an inflated opinion of one's own words of wisdom tend to get punctured on this site.
Oh, and I do wear a hat when out in the midday sun.

[minewouldbeyoug]

Jason - no of course not everyone is medicated but my experience of dealing with the DVLA was that they considered someone medicated to be less of a risk. The analogy I was given was that it was similar to someone being short - sighted without glasses and perhaps a risk if not wearing glasses but less of a risk if they were.

I'm really not wanting to scare anyone but that was the advice we were instructed to give and given how insurance companies like to find any way out - is advice I would still give.

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

you've just changed what you have said in 4 posts, from yes it's mental health youmust inform DVLA!, to not it's not really.

It's sums everything up really.

[minewouldbeyoug]

And I haven't changed my advice at all! It is considered a mental disorder which is why it's in the DSM (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders).

And it is a declarable condition with the DVLA and my advice would be to do that. If you don't want to its really none of my business.

[Jasonandyawegunorts]

Great, apart from the UK using ICD10.