ADHD assessment

[3ofeach]

Had the first meeting with the ADHD Nurse at CaHms yesterday in my continuing bid to gat a diagnosis for my son. It went really well and feel positive we might get it this time. Tried it 2 years ago but they refused to diagnose him then because of his age ( was 5 at the time) He is 6.10 now and I know they like them to be older in this area but I want a diagnosis and to be believed about how hard it is to look after him. He has 3 older siblings and 2 sisters 4 and 2 and I am struggling to cope. Am a single parent as well so its non stop. Want to be able to access help for him and me and eventually get a statement for him at school but one thing at a time.

3ofeach Please dont take this the wrong way but do not rely on getting help just because you have a firm dx. I came away from my DS's apt feeling upset (as ADHD is for life and not just for christmas as they say) and happy because I thought that finally we would get the help we needed. It just doesnt work that way I am afraid .

I DO believe how hard it is to look after him - really really I do. i've got one of the 'little darlings' myself. You may find that a dx actually causes more of a stigma than actually triggering any sort of help as 99% of everyday people in the uk are apparently "experts" in ADHD dispite not actually knowing what it is really about thanks to so much cr*p in the media about it.

A statement at school maybe a long way off but at least you are on the right road.

Like I said - I really dont want to kick you when you are already down but at the same time I dont want you to get the dx and then sit back and wait for the help to come flooding in - Thats what I did initially and the slow painful realisation that actually following the dx nothing changed unless I drew blood, sweat and tears to make it happen.

Best of luck and keep in touch - its a bumpy road but one you can master with your MN friends x

you might find this research paper quite useful The neurobiological basis of ADHD

3ofeach My son was dx with ADHD aged 7. We hadn't tried to get him a dx before that age, but his school was pushing for it. I am surprised that they are reluctant to dx if his problems exist in both settings ie. at home and school .. this has to be the case as it's part of the diagnostic criteria. What kind of help are you expecting? My son has a good teacher in a good school, but very little has changed for him. He is not medicated and there is was no other support offered to us .. just the hospital website on ADHD which we already knew lots about. A child isn't automatically medicated as it's usually the last resort depending what level of dx they have. Runningonmt is right when she says a statement for education is a long process and we were told outright our son would never get a statement with his dx .. he simply wasn't bad enough ... even though he is behind in all aspects of his education. Apparently they need to be really, really behind - whatever that means?!?!