Recommendation (remote or London) for GCSE Eng Lang tutor for kid with ADHD

[Echobelly]

DS is bright and creative but has ADHD and has a massive block for starting writing in English Language tests - for most tests he can't even start, or he can only write about a page. He gets so caught up in whether the whole thing will be good enough that he doesn't write anything. Obviously this has to be sorted in the next year!

I want to find a tutor, but ideally someone who specialises in supporting kids with ADHD, not just a 6th former/recent grad. I'm an English grad myself but the English Language GCSE seems so prescriptive about how they write I don't dare try to help him, plus I have tried, and I can't seem to help him past his block.

A friend told me her son was really helped by a tutor who basically gave him a set of story outlines that he could use in an exam, which might be helpful to DS. Unfortunately the tutor isn't London based and doesn't do remote sessions. Any recommendations gratefully received - we're based in North London.

Could you ask that tutor for a tutorial for you just to explain how he/she did it, together with buying a few of their sample stories? As you are an English graduate you would understand the system and could go from there. So armed, maybe you could get an accessible tutor to collaborate with the method.

Thing is I'm also not good tutor material myself and I have a demanding job that uses a lot of brainpower so I don't think I could find the energy to do it myself.

Is it the creative writing he is struggling wit (as your OP implies) or the other questions (which I admit require quite specific answers – it’s not hard to work out what kind of thing though)?

If it's AQA or Eduqas I could probably give you some pointers and resources. I teach both specifications and I examine for Eduqas.

You're absolutely right not to go into it blind, the whole shebang is so difficult nowadays and knowing the mark schemes inside-out is paramount.

@wendyjones I've now reported two of your adverts for breaking Mumsnet guidelines.

Hello @Echobelly , I wanted to apologise; my post to you about tutoring contravened the mumsnet terms and conditions as it constituted advertising, which I wasn't aware of. I apologise. @LetItGoToRuin reported me. I wish you all the best with your son.
Best wishes, Wendy.

Thankyou, @LetItGoToRuin - you are an asset to mumsnet, and no doubt a loss to the police.

My son had remote lessons from September and went from a 3/4 beginning of year 11 to a 7/6 in Mocks (Lang/Lit). Will have to see how that works out in August but he was very good at putting in a rigid structure so they always had a start to the questions and process to follow to complete each answer.
My son has ASD so main issue was procrastination and no idea how to put all the things they tell them they need into a sentence. Or what a paragraph should contain or how the story should flow. He also used to get caught up in the idea that his story should be interesting or true (hadn't occurred to me that this could be a thing until his tutor pointed it out) so losing that mindset helped him improve dramatically. Can PM you the guy's website if you're interested

DS has started with a tutor since I posted - it's too early to tell the impact, he still couldn't write English Lit or Language exams, but he'd only had tutor for 3 sessions, so that would be a bit much to hope for. DS really likes the tutor, which is a good sign as he responds so much better to teachers he has a rapport with.