Adhd referral through GP

[FlamingoYellow]

I'm seeing our GP tomorrow to ask for a referral for my dc for adhd assessment. If you have also had to do this, what information did your GP need to refer? Is it enough to just make a list of how he meets the diagnostic criteria?

It's worth looking at the right to choose and seeing if that's an option where you live. Can make the wait a lot quicker. Good luck

Thank you, I didn't know that that was an option, I will look into it.

How did the appointment go @FlamingoYellow?

Really good thanks. I hadn't met our GP before, but it turns out he had a lot of personal experience of neurodiversity and he was really helpful. We went through the different options and he has advised to stick with the NHS service. He wants school to fill in a questionnaire and then he can refer. He also said we should refer DS for asd assessment, just in case, as they often occur together and there is a strong family history.

We struggled with the school aspect as DD is the Queen of masking. Do you think that his school with cooperate?

I hope so! I spoke to the SENCO before I made the GP appointment and she said the school would back me up 100%. I get the impression that his teacher doesn't really 'get it'. The GP said not to worry if school say they can't see any signs as it doesn't necessarily mean we can't refer.

That's two points in your favour then, the school will back you up and the GP says they will refer anyway.

Sounds like you're in a much better position than we were in

I know, we're really lucky.

When I was going through the process of asd referral for my other child, the SENCO (different school) response was to recommend me a parenting book and say they couldn't really help. So this is a refreshing change 😂.

Yeah at DD's primary the SENCO actually laughed when I said I think DD has ASD and needs referring.

So far, DD has had a triage appointment with a Nurse Practitioner who has said that "DD is showing some severe ASD traits."

That's awful that the SENCO laughed! The thing is, SENCOs are not trained to diagnose and if there are no signs of ASD then the child likely won't even get to the point of assessment, so I'm not sure why they feel the need to gatekeep like that.

Do you have any idea what the waiting times are ? I want to get my son assessed but also wondering how to go about it as he is homeschooled so no school to fill out forms

The length of the waiting list will depend on where you live. It is still possible to get a referral and diagnosis for DC who are EHE. Speak to the GP or see whether you can self refer.