My son is 12 and has an EHCP and attends a special school for children with Speech and language issues as he has DLD. He also has dyslexia, dyscalculia, DCD. His issues with attention and focus have been raised before but were possible explained by his very poor working memory (less than percentile). However , I suspect ADHD and wondered what any of you with experience of this think. These are my observations from lockdown;
Always singing or making noise. All the time.
Says he feels hot and has to move
Jumps from sofa to chair when on his PS4 and doesnt seem aware of it (but he has OT issue with proprecptive feedback)
Often says he cant sleep at night because he feels full of energy
Often says he feels "worried') not sure that's relevant but we've heard it alot recently.
Has no attention and focus for school work unless its creative (he struggles to follow a maths class but he will happily paint for hours)
Has to be told to brush his teeth etc a million times.
He is particularly bad when hes tired.he jumps about everywhere
He told me he just pretends to listen in class when hes lost focus. He is very well behaved in class and uses this to mask his issues (a bit too successfully as he managed to get through most of pri ary school with a severe receptive language disorder !)
Most of this is not new of course as we've been through the rigmarole of EHCPs etc. But, alot of it I put down to his age and other difficulties. But hes 12 now and I am wondering if I should try and get himreferred as out of all the issues he has ADHD can potentially be 'treated'.
I have a couple of professional reports saying he may need referring for ADHD or ASD assessment at some point so I think if I gather evidence from school as well then it should be enough.
What is the best route ? GP or can I self refer to CAMHS?