Getting an Autism/ADHD Diagnosis

[Loveangelmusicbaby2]

Hi Everyone,

DD is 12 and just coming out of year 7, she's had glowing reports from all of her teachers, performing well academically and seems to have coped really well with the transition from primary school to high school.

Outside of school DD shows signs of autism/adhd. She can get very overwhelmed, has regular meltdowns which she describes as all of her senses shutting down, has sensory issues particularly with loud noises/bright lights amongst others.

After a particularly bad meltdown last night I feel as though now is the time to look into autism/adhd assessments. I have no experience at all of this so I was hoping that some of you would be able to give some advice on where to start? Would the GP be the first place to go or would it be better to talk to the school? We have never had anything from school either primary or secondary to let us know that they believe DD is showing any signs of autism/adhd so would this cause issues?

Thank you so much in advance xx

How are you getting on OP. I'm sorry no one has made any suggestions for you. My daughter was in a similar position last October when a teacher at her new secondary asked if she had a diagnosis . It wasn't anything I'd ever considered before but when show a list of things autistic girls can have problems with a bell started to quietly ring. Things have deteriorated since then, she gets overwhelmed more and more often, her anxiety has increased and she now has proper autistic style shut downs. The school have been brilliant, she has a named person to go to if she's having a bad day, a "take 5"card to show the class teacher so that she can just leave the room to gather herself together without having to say anything. They've trialled her on a reduced timetable table and added to the social skills class to help her make friends etc... unfortunately although all these things have helped a bit her attendance has dropped to 72% (it was always 98-100% at primary) and obviously needs more help. The school have more plans to try for next year in year 8 and as she's academically ridiculously bright and despite her attendance problems has still managed to ace all of the end of year tests and assignments so won't have to resit year 7.
They printed the Jade's pathway forms for me and encouraged me to fill it and the ADHD paperwork in as well as there's an overlap that might explain things. They then filled in their part of the forms and I took them to my GP surgery today. I'm guessing I'm now at the start of a long wait and a lot of research and trial and error...
Sorry for the long post, just needed to let it out and let you know that you weren't alone. Good luck to you all xx

How are you getting on OP? I suspect my DD is autistic and she herself thinks so too. She is also very bright and has done well academically at school. She is about to go to secondary, where the teachers don’t know her, so I’ve no idea how to go about getting a diagnosis, really. She has had ELSA support in the past, and a thing she was supposed to put on her desk to explain her mood, but she was self conscious about it and never used it.

Hi OP,
I came across your post looking for advice myself. My son is 7 and has neither excelled or struggled in school as he is painfully quiet, he struggles to communicate with adults in school setting but at home he is a different kid, the same as your girl, he has severe meltdowns where he is absolutely inconsolable and it's multiple times daily to the point I reached out to public health 0-19years in my area. Public health nurse attended our home and school (unannounced which I thought was brilliant as she really caught us all off guard in the moment) I never considered autism, she says me down last week and told me she believes he's autistic and has soooo many traits that I didn't pick up on because I just assumed it was ADHD, I was the same as him as a child and my mum struggled to get answers too. She has set up a meeting between the school, herself and me. She believes school will be the trickiest part as No1 has noticed his behaviour as he purposely conforms to blend and go unnoticed. Hope you get answers soon, we are going for a diagnosis, lord knows how long we will be waiting but we need the support ❤️🤞🏼

Just an update incase anyone is interested;
GP received my Dr's paperwork for jade's (autism) and ADHD on 02/08/24, I had a text on 06/08/2024 to say they were referring her for assessment but to be aware that there is currently a 2 year wait. So if anyone is considering it, best get the ball rolling...

Please look into right to choose. It allows the NHS to support an application for you to join a private waiting list at their cost. Cuts down waiting times by about 50%

Thank you. Our GP must be on the ball, because they referred DD under this and said that the waiting list would be about 6 months.