ADHD diagnostic process

[optimisticvibes]

Looking for some advice on steps to take for ADHD assessment for DS year 12, almost 17.

Background-GCSEs quite challenging, difficulty with revision/procrastination/lack of organisation/lots of scaffolding needed. Passed all GCSEs with mix of 7/6s/5s, lower than predicted and now in a new 6th form where things starting to unravel.

I think there are many signs and self esteem is taking a hit but GP is not keen to refer due to long waiting times, his personal thoughts of over diagnosis, and has suggested limiting screen time and reading books/quiet mindfulness. Good ideas but not the answer IMO.

I have no contact with SENCO at new school, DS self referred to student support as has dyslexia, nothing has happened yet. I have not yet mentioned ADHD suspicions yet, haven't had chance.

I feel time is of the essence due to age, increased expectations/responsibilities/a-level workload so prepared to go private so that we get more of an understanding before adulthood.

Where do we start? Do GP have to know/be onside? Do school need to be consulted first? I'm worried about how long everything takes and that DS might crash out before we can put some support in place.

Any advice?

Contact the school to speak to the SENCO. Support is based on needs, not diagnosis.

If DS wants an assessment, the GP &/or school will be able to refer if he/you want down the NHS assessment route.

If you want to go private, many private services require a GP referral. Some will also want information from the school as part of the assessment.

Before going private, if affording ongoing private prescriptions will be an issue, it is worth speaking to the GP to see if they will take on shared care. Not all will.

I wld work with the school on this as they will be the ones who will need to provide any accommodations that other specialists diagnose/assess.

They may have someone on the staff who is trained to do a formal diagnostic assessment using standardised assessment tests. These can initially be just screening tests which may guide you as to where to go next. Otherwise they may have a preferred external assessor who can see your son. This will be cheaper than a full EdPsych report (eg £500 v £1-2k). And it may be quicker. This report will suggest accommodations and learning support which will seek to address your son’s specific issues without the need for a medical diagnosis. You cld also ask the school if they run any study skills sessions which might help.

Re a formal ADHD diagnosis, as highlighted above, the NHS route will probably take a long time and he cld be finished in 6th form before you get seen. However, be very careful in choosing a private psychiatrist. Perhaps the school can guide you here too. Shared care with GP for subsequent medications is very rare in our part of the world and even those who will, have very strict criteria for the psychiatrists they will partner eg needs to be a consultant who also works in NHS and is an ADHD specialist, not a general or adolescent psych. They won’t even accept shared care where the diagnosis has been done through NHS right to choose if it was done online. So I wld also consult your GP.

Good luck! 6th form is a big step up from GCSE and students are expected to take much more responsibility for their own studying which is especially challenging for those with weak executive function.

Thank you very much both for your advice, it's very helpful and I'm so grateful to hear from someone more experienced than us. I have made contact with the form tutor and now have the email address for the send lead so I will pursue this via school in the first instance. It's maybe the first step on a journey that we possibly should have taken a couple of years ago but after years 7/8 in lockdown there seem to have been a lot of other issues to unpick first.

Thank you