🌟 ADHD 🌟

[User0000011]

Hello!

So we have suspected ADHD in our son for a good while now.

He's now 7 and we have recently mentioned it to school.
School have said to make a list of things that concern me (I'm assuming they mean the behaviours he is showing), and that they're going to look into whether his teacher shares our concerns also.
His class teacher has mentioned that his concentration is an issue and he's showing signs of what I think is hyperfocus. He has been wearing ear defenders to help his behaviour, but his written schoolwork is suffering due to his behaviours.
Family members who have experience with children with autism and ADHD have also picked up on his behaviours and mentioned them to me (though I don't want to self diagnose).
I know that if school do share the same concerns, then they will give me a referral and we will go from there.
However, I'm wondering what an ADHD assessment involves? What will happen?
Also, what happens if he doesn't show his behaviours on the day they assess them? I'm worried they're not going to see what we see. He gets quite shy in front of new people and is good at masking.

Any advice would be great.

Thank you.

Hi yesterday we had a private online assessment for our 8 year old. Before the appointment school had to complete a set of forms and so did we. On the day the doctor asked questions about life at home and school, family history. She spoke to our son too. She then made a diagnosis and made a plan of action! In our area we referred through the nhs. After 3-4 months we were told we had a 20 month wait for an appointment which is why we booked a private one.

If you can go on a daytrip to Liverpool, it's really worth getting an initial assessment at the ADHD Foundation in Liverpool. They do not only do the questionnaire based assessments but do assessments using equipment that measures hyperactivity and ability to focus. He won't be able to mask ADHD in those assessments! It is a specialised centre and they are very good there.

Also both ADHD and autism have a strong genetic component, it's interesting that you mention you have family members with it? ADHD is more diagnosed in boys than girls as the hyperactivity in girls may be more on a fidget level than being disruptive and lack of focus can come across as dreaminess.

Ours was exactly the same in real life.

If school are already allowing things like ear defenders they can see there is a problem and are likely to fill in the forms honestly. The assessment gives much more weight to this than to behaviour on the day.

My DD is the one who is diagnosed, and she really did not stand out at school at all - but by secondary she was losing focus and, with hindsight, there were issues at primary. She talks well to adults and can sit still in an interview. But that did not make a difference to the paediatrician, who was very clear that she had ADHD.

Our primary school made lots of promises but without a diagnosis, they have no funding to do anything. Go to your GP and get referred for a diagnosis. It took us 2 years to get a diagnosis (partially because of a lost referral and covid) but don't rely on the school.

Three people in my family have adhd including me - please google inattentive adhd too as that’s more about having a hyperactive brain rather than hyperactive behaviours
most of the diagnosis is done through what the teachers write and if they have asked you to go don’t worry about him showing signs on the day.
The giaroli centre in London does assessments online and they were most thorough of the three centres I used cost was about £1,200

Actually sorry it was £1400 but I got a refund of around £200 as didn’t need final session

@mushroom3 Are you able to name the place in Liverpool? I’ve tried googling but a few places show up. I’d be happy to travel down from Scotland.

www.adhdfoundation.org.uk/

@mushroom3 thank you .

It is really worth going there, we did a day trip from London.

@mushroom3 I am considering it (I have a thread above this one re DS2 and being dismissed by his school).

I’ve taken a look at the website and it seems rather cheap (£250?). Is this likely to be because it’s information gathering rather than diagnosis?

Did you have to wait long for an appointment?

@User0000011 Sorry to hijack your thread! (The information may help us both) :)

We've just had a diagnosis from psychiatry-uk after years of pursuing it through the gp and CAMHS. DD is very clever and masks very well so school didn't see any issues, her primary were pretty good but the secondary less so. The appointment was online and took just over an hour for the psychologist to diagnose her. We had provided questionnaires and statements from ourselves, dd, school and a previous assessment though.

@JM10 I’m very wary of an online only diagnosis but admittedly naive about how they work. They wouldn’t see DS in the ‘flesh’ so is the diagnosis not based on the forms parents submit and things they say without further input?

It was based on what we said, what dd said, what the (very detailed) report from the previous assessment said, what school said in all the written documentation and then what dd and we said on the call with the psychologist. It felt much more in depth than her appointment with CAMHS to be honest and they had much more experience with girls with ADHD.

@JM10 Would you sharing how much you paid? And how long you waited for an appointment?

Our son has been wearing ear defenders in school.
He is on the go constantly and so is his brain. He squirms in his seat if we go somewhere like the cinema and he can't stand loud sounds.
He talks constantly. He once kept a family member of mine up until 1.30am because he just couldn't stop talking. He also doesn't sleep very well. He also has what we think are tics. The list goes on.

Thank you everyone for your replies!
I appreciate them so much! I will definitely look into everything recommended! X

The appointment was £700, but we will need to pay for titration and a follow up appointment so it will probably be about £1000 overall. You can see what appointments are available online, I booked the first available which was about 2 weeks from when I booked.