Currently having DS assessed for ADHD, hoping for some insight...

[Staygoldponyboystaygold]

Teen DS is currently being assessed for ADHD. We have had our suspicions for a while so I raised it with his school. They agreed with me and said they felt it was a good idea to have him assessed. He is really struggling with school.

All of the questionnaires have now been returned and we are waiting for an interview which I understand is the last stage of the process.

I have asked for copies of the questionnaires that the have school returned and out of 18 questions his tutor, who is also one of his teachers, has answered 'no' to all but 2 of the questions. This is the ADHD Child Evaluation for (ACE). What are our chances of getting an ADHD diagnosis? It's odd as I know some of these things he struggles with as he tells me, but they have said he doesn't. I feel a bit frustrated.

They have also completed an Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ-10) Child questionnaire and he has scored 7 on this. I'm surprised at this. Online it says a score of over 6 can mean it is worth having your child assessed for autism which I hadn't considered.

This is all new to me. I think I was hoping for an ADHD diagnosis to explain the difficulties he is having, but I'm not sure that we are going to get it. Can anybody else share their experiences please?

@Staygoldponyboystaygold We started out with an autism diagnosis so a bit different, however the same person conducted both diagnoses (adhd and asd) for both my children. They were well aware how expert both of them were with masking so they weren't surprised by the school's low scores. I had given the psychologist a lot of evidence from when they were younger for the adhd which we had carried out 2 years after the asd.

It is well worth getting both diagnoses done - we only wish it had been standard procedure 2 years ago when my children were first diagnosed as it would have saved an awful lot of angst -I didn't think the asd tests covered half of my children's issues! Perhaps you may feel the same about the adhd tests? I think psychologists are now realising how much of an overlap there is between the two conditions.

If your son is really struggling at school, explore as much as you can with the psychologist. I've been there and back with two children and the issues don't go away. My son is now at uni and in an ideal environment for him. My daughter is at a new school where they are happy to make the accommodations, but she wouldn't manage otherwise. Environment is everything, so a diagnosis and accommodations can be essential for them to thrive.

@VMJ1 Thank you for responding. I had t realised that children with ADHD masked, maybe this is what he is doing in school.

Um not sure what to expect from the diagnostic interview. The email says my ds needs to be present, will I get a chance to speak do you think?

@Staygoldponyboystaygold My daughter had obviously been masking throughout her entire time at school because of ASD, however having the inattentive rather than hyperactive type of ADHD meant she knew it was best just to pretend to work when her concentration ran out, so the teachers were completely unaware she wasn't really achieving anything in the last 15 mins of each lesson. Having ASD, ADHD and suspected dyslexia we've read lots and noticed there are a lot of overlapping symptoms.

My children were only really aware of the ASD masking - pretending to fit it, watching other's behaviour - once we started looking into the conditions and discussing it. There may be many things that frustrate your son that he isn't even aware of yet. We quite often talk about the past and our children explain why they were confused about certain aspects of life at the time.

At my children's diagnoses there was a big emphasis on my recollections from their childhood which would suggest that ASD/ADHD was present. Even my son's diagnosis - he was 18 for the ADHD, I was invited in to discuss his childhood. For all diagnoses we were both involved. I would read up on both conditions first before you go back and take a good look back at his childhood to see if anything sounds likely. Make the most of your appointment to see if you can get to the bottom of his issues - it took us two years to realise they had both which was incredibly frustrating. My children's school was terrible at noticing anything.

@VMJ1 Thank you so much, your advice is really helpful. As he’s a teenager I wasn’t sure that I would have much of a voice. The appointment isn’t for a few weeks which gives me plenty of time to do some research into both conditions, think about his child he’s d make some notes. Thank you for helping me prepare.

MNHQ thank you for deleting the other post, I didn’t see it so have no idea what was said.

My DD (14) was assessed at the end of Y7 - very much driven by us. I had raised the possibility several times during her primary years and was essentially fobbed off. She has inattentive ADHD but was no 'trouble' so they just didn't (or didn't want to ) see it. We sent her private for secondary - largely to provide her with an environment that supported her and that school have been much better at enabling the diagnosis and providing the aftercare needed. I would question how well placed your son's tutor is to answer the questionnaire? How much time does he spend with him? Does he actually teach him? At DD's school they held a meeting with all of her teachers to fill in the questionnaire and ended up marking her with more Yeses (is that a word?) than we did. Fingers crossed you get a diagnosis that helps. Then it's a case of fighting for the support that he needs in school - which should go beyond extra time in exams! Feel free to message me if you'd like to know more about what's in place for DD.

We haven't had an ASD diagnosis - it is possibly there as neurodiversity is one big venn diagram - but attention deficit and a constant hunt for dopamine are definitely her biggest issues. Meds have helped. Through observation I would say it is easier to mask Autism than ADHD - although the strain of keeping still in lessons was huge for my DD and took up so much of her limited focus that it left very little for learning. She didn't pass any SATS - post diagnosis and with support she is on track for decent GCSEs and her self-confidence is hugely improved. Good luck!