Diagnosis - ADHD

[MissDuke]

My 8 year old dd has been waiting since February for an appt at she ASD assessment clinic. She had an OT assessment and a psychometric assessment over the summer, and was told it would be a while yet before they saw dd. I had an appt in August just to answer a million questions, without dd there. Got a call on Tues eve to say a cancellation had come up for the next day and would it suit us to attend. They said her other results were in and they needed to see us about them anyway :-/

So they did the ADOS on here and she passed it with flying colours, as I expected her to tbh. They said the only issue they noted during the assessment was her lack of focus, and that she was constantly asking what they would be doing next. She couldn't stay still.

They put the lack of eye contact down her constantly looking round the room, because she was so distracted by her surroundings.

They went through the results of her psychometric assessment, and they weren't good - it measured impulsiveness, movement and concentration - she scored on the 99th centile, meaning only one in a hundred would score 'worse' than her.

So in conclusion, they said there wasn't enough evidence to support a diagnosis of ASD, though they agreed she has some traits. They gave her a diagnosis of ADHD and have referred her back to the community paediatrician to discuss meds :-( They weren't pushing this course of action, just saying we need to know the facts in order to make a decision.

They also said that they will write a 'strongly worded' report to the school, as they have, until now, been useless - though I admit her new teacher seems to be excellent, so far anyway!

So I suppose I am just writing it all out in the hope some of you can reassure me this will be ok? We can help her, right? I am agreeing with the diagnosis they gave, I did think she may have aspergers, but am content to leave it there. At the end of the day I cannot see what difference an additional diagnosis would make anyway, so it doesn't seem worth fighting anymore? Tbf the clinic did say that they will happily see her again if I get any further concerns at anytime, I just need to ring and they will arrange it.

An ADHD dx and an ASD dx are probably quite different with regard to a child's needs. My ds has a dx of ADHD, but has no ASD traits. His issues are purely down to attention/concentration and the need to be on the move. I read recently that an initial dx of ADHD is quite common in children with mild autistic traits as the conditions have overlapping symptoms. I've also read on tis board that many of those children may go on the get a further dx of ASD later on. Not sure if any of this helps, but either way and early dx can only be a good thing. School and you can put into place either behaviour or learning strategies to help him. It's always hard at the beginning of a dx as there's lots of unknown territory ... you will become an expert in no time. I researched lots about my ds's condition and feel far more confident for his future with the knowledge I have gained. Good luck!

Thankyou so much for the reply xx