Support to expect from school after ADHD diagnosis

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My son has recently been diagnosed with ADHD, he is 13 years old and attends High School in year 8. Just wondering if anyone can advise what support the school should now offer or if I should be requesting anything? I am going to ask for a meeting with the SENCO so we can get some things in place for next term. He suffers mainly with concentration and is behind academically due to this, we have been recommended medication which he has not yet started but due to collect the prescription this week. Thanks in advance for any advise.

A diagnosis shouldn't make any difference to the level of support he receives, the actual diagnosis hasn't changed his needs, just given them a label. What support has he been receiving so far, what impact has it had and what else would he benefit from? Think in those terms rather than " he has a diagnosis, what are you going to do?"

You need to encourage your ds to think about what help he needs and communicate that to teachers. For example, my ds needs to be seated on his own, away from the window and he needs the teacher to issue specific instructions to him so he doesn’t miss them.

As other have said, a diagnosis doesn’t make much difference to the support offered. Hopefully he is being supported for his needs anyway? If he does start medication, the school would need to know, as they can feedback on the impact.

Hello, I just asked a very similar question (didn't see your post before I asked!), curious whether you have you received any useful support for your son, and if so what that is? Many thanks in advance,

Once you have a diagnosis you should get support. My DD was no longer labelled as a talkative fidgety kid who didn't focus for no reason.
She now has things in place that he'll plus meds

Can you get any recommendations of interventions from the person who made the diagnosis? School is more likely to do things that are recommended by a professional. Also your DS wont necessarily know what he needs /what to ask for so you need to research this just as you are doing. There are various books on ADHD which may give suggestions. Sitting in a less distracting part of the classroom and having prompts/reminders from the teacher can be useful. Also, he may benefit from a checklist of things he needs to remember if he is a bit disorganised.

Fidget toys can be helpful too and more likely to be allowed in the classroom when he has an ADHD diagnosis.

I would disagree with the people who say it doesn’t make a difference. It does.

my D’s has had various things put in place . A get out of class for a walk pass, extra time in exams , he needs a quieter place for exams ,

The meds my Ds started end of year 5 he went from working towards to exceeding in maths in half a term..

But none of those things are diagnosis dependent, they can and should all be put into place if needed.

@spanieleyes as far as I've ever seen or heard High schools don't allow some of the stuff ADHD kids might need without a diagnosis. Extra exam time being one. But also other minor adjustments

ADHD doesn’t mean you need extra time or that you will get it. Most schools will provide support anyway but I find it strange you have a diagnosis without even talking to the senco. We (our la) only accept our own diagnosis as we had a lot of ‘diagnoses’ that were essentially bought-sadly it does happen. We’d be open to support but some will be limited without an ehcp.

Thank all of you for your answers, very helpful information. Thelondonone, our school hasn't been great with the support, that's the reason we have a diagnosis without a huge amount of involvement from the senco. In addition, the head of department has changed recently, so I was meeting the new one, as I hadn't met her yet. Snapdragonsoup, you are absolutely right my son has no idea what he needs or what to ask for! I am doing my best to support him to figure that out, thanks to all for your input it's all helpful!

It can be as simple as them having input onto where they sit. My DD gets distracted by noise behind her so sits at the back. Similarly looking out if a window can distract them. Teachers are aware so they steer her back on track when she goes off topic etc