16 year old where to start with adhd assessment

[alwaysplanning]

My son has just finished GCSEs and we strongly suspect adhd. He was at an independent school where nothing much was picked up apart from feedback from all teachers that he was very unfocused during lessons. He is quiet and not disruptive so probably slips under the radar. Senco very slow to follow anything up and we eventually had a private Ed Psych assessment that we organised and which diagnosed dyslexia, slow processing and poor executive function.

However we suspect that he may have inattentive adhd and have thought this for the most of his secondary school journey. He is kind funny and sensitive but so disorganised and chaotic. He has discussed with us that he would like to look into adhd because despite trying to focus and concentrate he thinks his brain works differently-he has random thoughts pop into his mind that he can't get rid of. He does also have some slight anxiety and obsessions such as needing to have doors closed, rituals about lots of showers, poor sleep/early waking. He is fairly sociable with a smallish group of friends.

GCSE revision has been a nightmare. He has poor task initiation and organisation skills so has been at a loss and needed LOTS of support at home-someone sitting with him while he revised to make sure he stayed on task, someone helping to write revision notes/flashcards, plan a revision timetable etc etc. He worked hard in the end and hopefully this will pay off on results day. But there has been a lot of conflict and it has been very stressful.

He is about to move to state 6th form to do a levels and I think adhd assessment would be a good idea while he is still a child and we can help and support at home before uni (if he goes). We really want to start to step back so that he is not overly reliant on us to get work done.

I spoke to the GP who suggested that school senco would have picked up signs. The senco is very stretched and unresponsive, when I have discussed with them they have sent a list of private options. I don't mind paying for assessment but really want to understand how to go about this while still linking in GP, being in the "system" for follow up care, and how this all works when moving to new sixth form. I also strongly suspect some adhd/executive function coaching would be beneficial but again I really don't know where to start. Can anyone help with advice on how to approach next steps?

I would go back to the GP. The school has noticed signs if teachers are commenting on it.

If you want the GP to take on shared care if DS is prescribed ADHD medication, speak to the GP before going private (some private assessments require a GP referral, others don’t), because some are reluctant to take this on.

This is really helpful, thank you. I will go back to the GP today and request an appt. Do you have any experience of adhd/executive function coaching? I feel like regardless of medication or diagnosis this would be helpful.

Also when starting at a new school for sixth form, would we be likely to need any additional evidence for extra time etc? Thank you, it's really helpful as I really don't know quite how to navigate it all and although school have implemented extra time and laptop use for exams I don't feel as though they've been good at helping navigate.

The sixth form will review access arrangements to make sure they are still required and suitable and to ensure they have evidence to support them. It is worth getting evidence DS has had access arrangements from the current school.

I don’t have personal experience of ADHD coaching, but many find it helpful.