ADHD assessment for adult

[Adhdquestion12]

So I had a referral for ADHD with Harrow Health and I didn’t to get my parents to fill in a form about my childhood behaviours because my parents are very ill and elderly and secondly. I just can't remember much from before the age of 12 so couldn’t answer many of their questions about very specific behaviours. Harrow Health will now not diagnosed me because of that. Is this normal, as part of ADHD assessment?

Yes you have to be able to show the traits were present when you were a child as it’s a neurodevelopmental condition. If not present in childhood the traits could be a result of trauma/something else. ADHD may look different in as adults to what it did when we were kids, but without some childhood evidence you can’t meet the diagnostic criteria.

Ah that’s a shame

i I used the same clinic they were great in my case, I think though it was my husband who went through the questionnaire as my parents not around

do you have someone else who can give some info about you ?

Have to say though OP I did give details of my childhood myself ; DH gave evidence of how I am now

did you call them, or did they get just reject the assessment via email?

I suspect the reason for this is that in order to prove ADHD, they have to establish that it’s been present since childhood, because there’s a big overlap between ADHD signs and other conditions like complex PTSD. I’d query it though, it’s very difficult if you don’t have anyone that discuss your childhood. Quite unusual not to recall anything from before 12 though!

I didn’t have anyone to ask to fill in the form about my childhood and still got diagnosed without it. I was diagnosed via the NHS and not a private healthcare provider.

It’s normal if you don’t have any evidence from childhood yes. It doesn’t have to be your parents, but something. I didn’t use my parents for mine, my DH did the informant questions and I did the childhood ones in my assessment. You do have to be able to show traits in childhood to meet the ADHD criteria as it’s a lifelong condition, it can’t start in adulthood. It’s not ADHD if it did. Are you sure you can’t remember anything from your childhood?

Is there anyone who could complete the form- sibling, aunt, cousin, lifelong friend?
do you have any school reports or other type of assessment from that time?

Quite unusual not to recall anything from before 12 though! a doctor told me it’s quite common to have poor memory due to ADHD

It’s clear I have ADHD and this isn’t due to complex PTSD etc

I think I’ll go via private route instead

Private still has the same questions and criteria for ADHD. Mine was private and I had to provide something for childhood. I answered those questions myself.

I'd look for old school reports, family members who may remember how you were at that age, old photos to jog your own memory etc.

Going private does not mean you will definitely get a diagnosis as they need to follow exactly the same criteria.

I genuinely have little memory before age of 12
but I have plenty of knowledge of my behaviour from 12 onwards

I don’t want my family members involved
and don’t have access to old school reports etc

Does anyone have time to share what sort of questions they ask in the assessment?

My therapist asked me to do the adult screening which has come back positive. Im curious to know what is asked

*T1mesAreHardForDreamers *for me it was essentially the same questions - asking for examples in your adult life and before age of 12

It’s the same assessment.

@Adhdquestion12 if Harrow Health give you the chance for assessment again (or even another clinic) perhaps try to think hard if you were ever clumsy, messy, chaotic, struggling a bit academically (even if you finished with a First ), if something wasn’t quite right basically

i bet if you think about it that way , lots of the past will come up xxx

I used harrow health and was diagnosed in April. I told them I didn’t have anyone to do the childhood form so they gave me an alternative form to fill out that my partner completed, it wasn’t a problem.

I used lots of examples in the forms of childhood stuff between the ages of 12-18. Gave myself a right laugh listing all the stupid stuff I got up to lol

Can I ask, are you still titrating or have you moved to gp?

were all the appointments online or did you ever have to go in?

I never had to go in, it’s all been online. I’ll be honest though, from the moment I had the diagnosis it’s been a bit of a nightmare getting to the point of starting my meds which only started this weekend. The communication was a bit rubbish from them and I had to put a complaint in to get things going with the prescription. So I’ve just started and have an appointment with harrow health in 3 weeks to review. I’m not sure if it’s back to the gp then

"perhaps try to think hard if you were ever clumsy, messy, chaotic, struggling a bit academically (even if you finished with a First ), if something wasn’t quite right basically"

This is all NT stuff too

Oh dear so you’ve just started meds although diagnosed in April?

thats crap .. I think I got lucky as I got meds straight away

Is it concerta they gave you? Does it help at all? X

Ofc it is but we re talking different levels here

I am going through a neurological assessment (private) right now. My impetus was suspected ADHD but my tester said that there can be overlapping symptoms and so it's best to do a comprehensive workup. They aren't interviewing my parents and I wonder how helpful they would be because I was considered the "good" kid who did well in school. I don't think they would recognize the quirts I had as necessarily neurodivergetnt. But I did share what I remember in my personal history- like I was always daydreaming, tapping my feet, procrastinating, etc. And they are going to send a questionare to DH.

Good luck- I really want to know what is going on with me and why I struggle, be it ADHD or something else.

Out of interest, by “struggle” what do you mean? More like getting things done ?

good luck, hope you re sorted soon