ADHD Diagnosis

[Walney]

Hello,

I apologise if this topic has been posted before, but after a search I couldn't really see anything.

I have a 6yo at the end of Y1 now who has been suspected of ADHD ever since she started school. The school have been absolutely amazing and really helpful with their SENCO staff and she does extra activities during the school week (swimming, lego play, whats in the box etc) and they have worked with us to help her.

I went to the GP this morning and we took a couple of letters from school, one was written by an ADHD specialist who observed her and the other by an Educational Psychologist who also observed her, there was also info from her teachers and other SENCO staff.

I left the GP feeling like I might as well have not bothered with the school helping as all they did was refer her to a CAMHS specialist and being told in can take a long time. I knew it would be a long time but hoped that having taken reports from specialists who have already seen her would count for something, its not like I just went in with no research etc.

From personal experiences can it take a long time? I am not against medication and would like to try it, have discussed this with my daughter who has said she is happy to also try it. Even my daughter is recognising that she's different now, saying she is easily distracted and getting upset by when she is impulsive (she has bitten other children).

Sorry for the long post, just very unsure as to what will happen next.

Every area is different so it might be worth getting in touch to see if they can advise how long their wait currently is. We were advised the wait for us would be 2+ yrs! Our son was really struggling at the time so we opted to pay for a private assessment which we were able to competed within a few months.

Having all the supporting evidence together before hand will help the process and having the schools support will make a big difference. Hope you're wait isn't too long.

I would echo sleepypaws, and also say that there are things you can work on before meds. In fact our paediatrician (on day she diagnosed) said she would rather wait for a year and have us/school try behavioural strategies. DS has ADD inattentive.

We got seen quite quickly as Ed psych flagged up in report and then we had a scheduled paediatric appt a couple of months later for other stuff. The Ed psych had already written to them so they had sent us conners3 questionnaire and were ready to look at diagnosing. Ed Psych gave us lots of useful tips hints and reading for stuff to work on.

Originally I was against medication, but for nearly two years we've been trying alternative therapies and techniques by working with SENCO at school. I am doing another school provided ADHD Workshop tomorrow morning.

We are considering medicine because she has started to get worse with impulse control like biting other children.

Thank you for the replies, it's very useful.

Meds can be quite effective for ADHD, I certainly am in favour of trying them if they help improve DS's life.

Just done a workshop this morning about AHDD at school and it was incredibly informative and helpful, explaining that meds aren't a bad thing and they are just a way of helping your child. You take medicine for things like asthma and diabetes, so meds to help with ADHD are no bad thing. Also really explained what is happening with your child and why they find it difficult to concentrate, really great for understanding what it is and really helped me. Hoping to use some of the things i've learned to help DD.

I was initially quite against, after all the controversy in the US about over medicating and 'shutting kids up' but I think its way more nuanced than that. As parents we just have to make informed choices all the time about stuff like this.

Any top tips from the workshop? I'd love our school to do things like this! Good to meet other mums and dads who have children with similar things going on.

We mainly discussed what it's like to be a child with ADHD, so things like how children with it struggle to focus on one task e.g. If you ask a child to tidy their room it's overwhelming, but if you break the tasks down like putting shoes away before doing the next thing it's easier. There were other little things that really made sense and it was great to meet other parents. Every school should offer these workshops!

Hope you don't mind me butting in. DS is under assesment for ASD, I think ADHD is closer to the mark.
I've just been told it will take 18mths to see community peds. Referal was made a few months ago.

However do you have any books you'd recommended on stragities we can use to help?

There weren't any books, but the presentation included information sourced by someone in the US called Dr Russell Barkley, might be of use www.russellbarkley.org/

This is what I was dreading, the fact that referrals and diagnosis just takes such a long time. I was hoping that as DD has already been seen by an ADHD specialist and Educational Psychologist it would help.

The one and only book we read about ADHD was 'living without brakes' I'd defiantly recommend it.