Possible inattentive ADHD but school says focus is fine?

[Aroundandabout]

I was wondering if anyone else had had this experience? It’s been suggested that my 11 year old may have mild inattentive ADHD, which is something I have thought about for a while. However, the teachers always report she “focuses” well but she reports more anxiety and not being able to think clearly about the work and getting distracted and then more worried which means she can’t concentrate well, even though on the surface she must look like a model pupil! She doesn’t like to get told off at all and worries about being slow, but at home, she’ll get her work and then so many silly mistakes, get up, get distracted etc even when she’s desperate to have it done and correctly so I don’t get frustrated as it’s then free flow iPad time! Obviously there are other challenges (like being v sensitive to criticism and being emotionally liable to cry often, very disorganized and forgetful) but when she does want to concentrate on something she can (eg dance or drawing for homework). She’s quite bright but it’s been suggested this isn’t making it onto paper. We are also have an EP assessment too. Any help or hints helpful! Thanks x

What did the EP say?

I have a DC with ADHD (inattentive type) and your DD sounds a lot like him. It can be hard to unpick though, when DC are little, what is normal development and what isn't. Also, if you have a DC with SEN, they often have more than one, so it's figuring out exactly what they have, but an appointment with an educational psychologist is a good place to start.

We strongly suspected dyslexia, as did DS's teachers, so we got him an appointment when he was seven (the earliest age that he could be seen, due to the 3-hour session required for diagnosis). At that appointment, he was diagnosed with dyslexia, slow processing speed and poor working memory and she also thought he had inattentive ADHD and encouraged us to seek further diagnosis. He finally got that diagnosis when he was 12, so it wasn't a quick process and there were many frustrating years in between as we and his teachers tried to support him. Ultimately, the most important things were medication, growing maturity and self-awareness. He's now 14 and doing pretty well with the right medication and support.

We haven’t had the assessment yet, unfortunately.

I would wait and find out what the EP says.

Thanks, will do. However, I’m aware of what that can show/what it can’t show so we’re going an ADHD screening too. I was more asking for experiences as it’s hard to differentiate and I’m a psychologist!

Ed psych are very experienced and when they observe your child in class they will be focused on your child unlike a teacher who is focusing on teaching, 30 children, how they interact with everyone else and the needs of 30 children. The teacher will likely have had less than an hour training on ADHD and most of that will be on teaching children with ADHD not spotting it.

This sounds just like my daughter. We have also considered that inattentive ADHD might be the issue. What did your EP say? Have you made any progress with diagnosis?