School suggestion of ADHD - where to go next?

[Pigeonchested]

Looking for some advice - my 14 yr old dd is at boarding school, just had a call from the houseparent who asked if we had thought she might have adhd. We had often wondered this - massive lack of focus, fidgety, impulsive behaviour(though generally quite well behaved) often zones out in conversation, v short attention span - we always thought perhaps it was just her nature but now school have flagged it up I am thinking maybe we should take it more seriously - her school work is very average and I’ve always felt she’s under achieving a bit and now she’s year 10 it’s becoming more apparent.
where would be the first place to start? Are the NHS waiting lists for this kind of thing massive? If we went private, is that thousands of pounds? I literally have no idea how assessment works so if anyone can advise what to do next that would be really helpful.
Thank you!

Your GP can refer, and in some areas you can self refer. The NHS waiting lists are often long. At the moment, privately there is also a wait but not as long as the NHS list. You are looking in the region of £750-1000 for assessment. If diagnosed and DD started medication that would need to be titrated. Once stable some GPs will take over shared care, but not all, so if that would be an issue do check.

I know that this was posted months ago but thought I'd answer anyway, because some other mothers might find themselves in the same position you were in February. If you can afford it, I would go private. Ask the school if they have any names of places that do assessments; there are bound to be dozens of students at the school who have been diagnosed with ADHD. Even going private, the wait-lists can be months long... but that's still much better than waiting years on the NHS waitlists. I would suggest getting on at least two wait-lists NOW. If you change your mind, you can cancel but this process (wait list, assessment, trying various meds before potentially finding the right one) can take far longer than I had expected. Also, start educating yourself about ADHD in general. If she doesn't have ADHD, it doesn't hurt to have spent a bit of time learning about it but if she does get assessed with it, what a blessing it will be for her to have a mother who has a grasp of the condition and can more effectively support and advocate for her as a result! My suggestion is anything by Dr. Russell Barkley (tons of videos on Youtube)

Anyway, how did everything go with your daughter? Did you get her assessed?