Please help - 12 year old with ADHD diagnosis 3 years ago and lost with it all

[namechanger110]

Hi I am hoping someone can help. My friend has a 12 year old daughter diagnosed with ADHD about 3 years ago. She appears to be getting very little help and would really appreciate some pointers in the right direction. She has only ever seen a local paediatrician and sees them at most twice a year and usually less and she seems to do very little for her. She has just gone to senior school. She is academically ok but finding things challenging and getting no additional support at school. She finds certain social situations difficult too. I have a few questions:
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1. The medication she has taken since diagnosis is 20mg of EQUASYM XL (methyphenidate hydrochloride) which she takes in the morning. I am told its effectiveness is gone after 8 hours and has worn off towards the end of the school afternoon and she can’t concentrate at all. If this is true is this the best medication available?? Or are there more modern medicines that do a better job that she has not been told about. Is the only treatment available for senior school aged child something that allows then to operate well for only 2/3 of a normal school day?

2.Should she has a health and/or education plan in place and is this something that is created together with the parents? I am not talking about an EHCP but something less formal but so that everyone knows what is supposed to be happening? Any support she does get seems very ad hoc and more like they are doing her a favour.

1. In terms of support what else is there? She has a 30 minute appointment twice a year and her medication and left to get on with it. Is she accessing all the help that is out there? For example, could children be expected to be taught things like “coping mechanisms” for particularly stressful situations and if so who would be expected to teach this?

Thank you so much.

Hi has no one got any advice? :(

Hi
my son has ADHD and ASD. He takes medication for his ASD and he took the same one Equasym XL 20 then 30 which are 8 hours. When he started secondary school he moved on to Concerta XL because it lasts 12 hours and allows him to do homework. the medication is based on their size and side effects should be reviewed every 6 months.

not all kids on with ASD or ADHD need an EHC plan it all depends on how their disability affects them. if they need very specialist support or are not making any progress at all you can make a request to see if she needs one with local authority. In some cases people have paid for a psychologist to do one privately.

in terms of support each local authority will have created a local offer on their website for kids and families with disabilities. This will have information of relevant support and activity groups.

I hope this helps.

I forgot to add they create a one page profile and use a system to monitor SEN kids in school you can ask about this and discuss the targets and how they plan to meet them.