DS(16) thinks he has ADD

[BonnesVacances]

DA has just finished Y11. He's mature, bright, conscientious and hard-working, so has done well in his GCSES. He's also hopelessly disorganised, spends a lot of time daydreaming in his own little world, loses things and is just generally quite scatty and spacey.

Lockdown learning was a disaster. He couldn't manage his work, his emails, where he was supposed to be at any given time, and we ended up agreeing with the school that he was just going to do as much as he could manage, as his MH was beginning to suffer with the pressure.

DS has now said that he thinks he has ADHD. I printed off a screening questionnaire and he ticked sometimes or frequently for everything in the Inattentive section. Nothing in Impulsivity and a few sometimes in Hyperactivity.

One of his teachers who is also the SENCO said in Y10 that she thought he had a processing issue and so he did most of his work on a laptop and he had 25% extra time in his mocks.

Every single teacher since he was in KS2 has said he's a daydreamer and it takes him a long time to get on task and that he's easily distracted. He had a short period in KS3 where he was distracting but not naughty, so the teachers moved him to the front of the class where he fared better.

We had always thought this was a developmental issue. DH is a teacher and whilst he can now see that DS meets most of the ADD criteria, he says this describes 2/3rds of the boys in his classes. Though most of them have 'grown out of it' by Y11.

My question is whether DS would be diagnosed with ADHD (without hyperactivity) if it's not impeding his progress? He's expected to get 8-9 in all his GCSEs except one where he'll probably get 6. This teacher is one who calls him a daydreamer and always says he is [Name]world. It's definitely the subject he's least interested in.

I would say it's beginning to affect his MH though, as he has struggled since lockdown and has low self-esteem. And he has recently asked if he can see a counsellor, which we will pay for. He has said that if he has ADHD it will make him feel better about himself as he'll know it's an actual disorder rather than him just being hopeless in these areas. So we will help him look into this.

Any thoughts please? I've looked into this a lot over the past few days but there's so much emphasis on hyperactivity, and less so on the inattentiveness. Thanks.

You have nothing to lose by having him assessed but everything to lose by not having him assessed.

My DD has ADD. She was relieved to get her diagnosis at 12 years old. Her teachers can work with her by following the direction of her assessor.

My DS is only 7 but he was recently diagnosed and one of the key triggers were that he started getting teacher feedback that he was "lazy" "daydreaming" and "not working to potential" etc. We felt that if he genuinely did have ADD it would be better for him to have a diagnosis and for his school to work with him on this. The alternative would be for him to be constantly perceived as lazy and disorganized and we felt that it would be damaging for his self-esteem in the long run.

DH also believes he has ADD (undiagnosed) but now wants to get a diagnosis, partly because he has always struggled with the feeling that he is a underachiever compared to early expectations.

I agree, there is no downside to a diagnosis and if it will help your DS cope, then that's a huge plus.

Thanks. He is described by teachers as "Bright but lazy".

I don't know if he will qualify for assessment though if it's not impacting massively on his life, ie because he's achieving and has done well in his GCSEs?

If you can afford it, look for a private assessment. My DH contacted the GP for his and has been referred to our local NHS trust for assessment but apparently the wait time is 3 years. It might be different where you are. We waited about 2 months for a private appointment for my DS. When going private, it helps if the school supports the assessment and they will need to fill out a form. My DS presents as ADHD at home and at the initial appointment with the EP where he was hyperactive but because he is not hyperactive at school, he has only been diagnosed with ADD (inattentive) for now.
The teachers and the EP took the view that DS is not achieving to his potential rather than his absolute achievements.
Even if your DS does not qualify for the threshold of diagnosis, it will help him to know that you tried. My DS school was prepared to put in place some measures to help him even before the official diagnosis because of our concerns and if your DS's school are willing to do that it would help.

Can I jump on this post and just ask what measures teachers can put in place to help those with ADD? Sorry to hijack.

@SuperSue77, we only started talking to school about ADD in the last term and so don't have a lot of experience. A few of the things that I know about are that DS now has frequent walkabout breaks during lessons. His "job" is to take notes and messages for his teacher to other teachers.
He has always had trouble with finishing his writing and his teacher frequently kept him in at break to finish his work. This has now been stopped because the EP has advised against it.
DS also forgot to hand in his homework very often despite having worked hard on it and me packing it in his bag every week. I raised this with the teacher and she has agreed to remind him specifically to do it.

Thanks - just wondering how they could help. My DS has just been diagnosed with ASD aged 9 but he really lacks concentration at school, and a number of the things you said about your son resonated. Just wondered if he might be ADD as well as ASD. My son is also bright and he had previous assessments where they didn’t diagnose because his progress/development wasn’t being held back.