Sorry long! Looking for some advice!
My DS is almost 10. Diagnosed with ASD when 4. I think he shows some traits of ADHD/ADD: limited attention, lack of focus, frustration, impulsive, refusing to do school work, hates queuing,doesn’t listen to instructions. I understand he doesn’t meet ALL the classic adhd/ADD symptoms but I was so desperate because he can be so challenging at school and home. He’s deeply unhappy and self aware .
so I applied to CAMHS and after 2yrs waiting we were accepted on the neurodevelopment panel. Prior to being accepted I had a long interview over the phone with the triage Nurse? Describing DS history, concerns, examples. This was 5 months ago! In between the phone call back then and the panel today, my DS was also diagnosed with DCD (dyspraxia)
So finally at the appointment today they observed him on his own ( paediatrician and OT). The paediatrician said twice (start and end of session) that they didn’t need to discuss his behaviour/traits with me as I’d done this over the phone (5 months ago). I was troubled about this because I did prepare lots of examples as I felt the phone call was such a long time ago etc. and lacked context. but I was weak and they didn’t give me a chance to.
So later on, the paediatrician called me after meeting with the panel. He said that it was not clear cut if DS has ADHD/ADD and so they were not going to give DS a diagnosis. He thought it might be the DCD that was causing his frustration and attention challenges. He finished off with saying my DS performed well in the puzzles and even beat him at jenga implying he couldn’t possibly have ADHD. He said we can re refer later if need be. I panicked because I sensed all avenues closing to us as he was about to discharge my DS. So I started to blurt out what I wanted to say face to face earlier at the clinic, about how he’s behaving very erratic at school, close to being excluded, his rages, frustration and lack of focus, impulsive, his intense boredom etc.
I said I understand if he didn’t meet the criteria for ADHD but I was desperate not to be cut loose and have to re-refer back to CAMHS and wait another 2years. He cut me off by saying he’s still with the panel and they will discuss with his colleagues and call me back. They didn’t. I don’t know what to do. I think what is tricky to the professionals, is that DS can perform well especially when it’s a new exciting situation but when it’s day to day stuff, he really kicks off, I feel he’s always searching for that ‘high’ if that makes sense. I was wondering whether to pay for private just to get a more in-depth assessment, not just for ADHD.
TIA!