Adhd assessment process

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Does anyone know the format of the assessment process? We had an appointment at Camhs this week, and they said there would be several stages if DS was accepted onto the assessment pathway.

The first bit would involve us, but not DS, being interviewed, and DS being seen at school (watched in class), and his teacher interviewed.

The (Camhs) would then decide if DS needed to go on to the next stage, which would be after a Panel meeting.

Any idea about what the Panel is, would we need to go? And what would the next step be after that. Would DS be interviewed then? Anything else? More interviews for us/school? Ed Psych involved maybe, I don't know!

It sounds like this could take a very long time! It isn't quite clear what 'targets' for want of a better word, DS has to 'hit' to be diagnosed, if you know what I mean. It doesn't feel like we know what is going on, we only find out on a 'need to know basis' - strange.

Can anyone who has been through this with Camhs advise us? Thank you.

It very much depends on your local authority, the paths to diagnosis can be very different in different areas.
A couple of authorities have adhd or autism pathways published on their website, worth looking on yours to see what it says.

We didnt go through camhs but got gp to refer straight to pead. We had to do connors questionaiires and so did school. This was repeated 6 months later and they diagnosed her on that basis and also on talking to her etc

Thank you both. Our LA/NHS lot don't have any info on their sites from what I can see. It all seems shrouded in mystery!

The nurse we spoke to last week said she would give us and school the Connors questionnaire once she had written up the meeting if her manager agreed DS should go though to the first stage of the process, so I have heard of that. No idea if they do it twice.

I had sort of assumed we would get some sort of fact sheet at our appointment which set the whole thing out. As it is, it feels like we are just doing one bit, and then waiting for the next instructions (a bit like with DS actually, who can't retain more than one at a time. Maybe that is why - they assume we have the same difficulties! ).

Well, we have a date for DS to be seen (as in watched, but not talked to at school) which is a week after we see Camhs again next week. It sounds like after that, the nurse person will write a report to see if DS 'qualifies' to go to the next stage, which will be decided by a Panel.
Not sure what happens at the 'next stage'. Any ideas? We've not talked to DS about his difficulties so far, just wondering when we should really, esp as a diagnosis isn't a certainty