How do I get an adhd diagnosis for my 12 year old daughter

[HappyCake1234]

She’s become more challenging during lockdown which adds to my first thoughts of adhd. How would I go about this and what happens? Is it like 1 or 2 meetings or is it phone calls etc. I am aware this is different for every area and child however, any input would be great as I’m trying to grasp an idea of what it would be like if I decided to get her tested.
Many thanks

There are some online ‘checklists’ you can do to see if you might be right, then speak to school or GP to see about getting an assessment. It’s quite a long process unfortunately.

Realise that a diagnosis doesn't help. You need to work through the behaviours and look at interventions rather than looking for a label. Diagnosis will take many months and she may not have it anyway, teenagers can be challenging! Your gp is the first port of call for a referral for assessment, the waiting list is long.

Look online at parenting for kids with adhd. The only thing camhs offered us (asd no adhd) was a a parenting course - I knew more than the so called teacher who admitted I should take the class!)

I take it you have personal experience due to knowing it’s a long process? Is there an estimation you could give to perhaps how long it is.
I’ve already done many checklists and looked at symptoms which is where I originally got the idea from. What would I say to school or the GP?

I would write a detailed summary of all the concerns you have and take it to the GP. They will refer you on for an assessment. You’ll probably have an initial phone consultation and then you’ll need several face to face appointments with your daughter and the specialist for them to talk to you both and do the assessments. I put through a referral for my daughter just before lockdown with the GP. I had the first phone appointment with the paediatrician this week. It’ll be autumn term when she gets her first face to face appointment they said. It’s a pretty drawn out process.

Was it like a video call or just a phone call?
@okiedokieme I thought a diagnosis would enable school etc to put support in place for her and understand why she is the way she is. It’s not necessarily that I’m looking for a label, more for a reason to explain her behaviour for me and for her.

Your daughter would need to have support from more than one setting to get an assessment in my area. My three are home, the school and gp.It is a very long process even longer now due to Covid. You will probably need the support of your daughters school to get a diagnosis. When my son was younger it looked like he had adhd but he is now 12 and it’s likely he has dyspraxia. I have been fighting for him since he was 3 and now his assessment has been put on hold due to Covid. I would contact your gp and get an appointment with the school Sen Co in September for support.

What symptoms does she have and how long has this behaviour been challenging? Has school mentioned it before (would they easily support you when you face the GP)

The process can be long. From local people here the wait list is 18 months. My two dds both have a dual diagnosis of autism and adhd and were diagnosed a few years back.

Check out the Vanderbilt diagnostic scale. Usually you’d see adhd in all settings but school would need to know what to look for depending on the type of adhd she has.

I agree with the poster who says look into strategies to help a child with adhd. Diagnosed or not. Diagnosis isn’t a miracle cure. We’ve basically been left to it and although the people involved in the girls care know they have autism and adhd they can still miss things and the system still isn’t overly flexible.

Is it only now you’ve noticed signs for adhd? Or have you had any worries before?

I’d start by taking a check list to your gp and ask for a referral to the child development centre so she can see a paediatrician. For my first child, she had quite a few appointments but she was quite wee when we first went it was as she got older they settled on autism and adhd. My youngest had one appointment at 3 and then straight to the assessment.

School have had rather large problems with her behaviour since starting secondary school last year. Larger issues include outbursts, talking , not listening and forgetting books. It was explained to me on a call that she seems to not be able to keep still whether it’s leg bouncing , drawing on her arms or playing with her hair. She was quite well behaved in the first 2 terms regarding the disruptive side of things. She was very disorganised and restless though. During this time I noticed when doing homework that she couldn’t sit or concentrate for long. In primary she was more well behaved however, still showed a lack of concentration, restlessness and got angry a lot. She was one to play with the lads running so I wonder whether this may have impacted her in a positive way by burning energy. She cries also. Yet again, the hyperactive side of things weren’t as bad as they are now though. Some would’ve described her as shy.

We went to an educational psychologist privately for an assessment for our 9yo DS - he didn't have serious enough problems to get attention from statutory services, although his teacher was concerned about him,but once assessed he clearly fit the profile of ADHD (inattentive type)

I’ve always had concerns regarding her concentration. I came across an adhd article the other month and she ticked every box. Some less obvious than others but as I’ve been with her more throughout lockdown, I’ve noticed the signs more obviously now I know what they are.

We went to an educational psychologist privately for an assessment

We did this for our 11 year old. The process took a couple of months because we were paying ourselves.

You can self refer for a private assessment. Either an Ed Psych with further training in paediatric neurodevelopmental disorders or a Clinical Psych, again with specialty in SpLDs and neurodevelopmental.

You will be sitting on a long waitlist for assessment and therapeutic help via the NHS.

The NICE gold standard Is assessment by a multi disciplinary team (MDT). I can recommend a Clinical Psych in east London if that’s any use.

Don’t be fixed on a diagnosis.

How much do you reckon a private diagnosis would be?
Another thing is that if she does have it, exam arrangements can be made before she starts exams in 3 years time

It's expensive - cost us about £1250 (Ed psych assessment and school visit, two psychologist appointments) to get to Dx. This is in London, mind - might be less elsewhere. But we'd never had got the traction with statutory service sadly.

A diagnosis of ADHD certainly will help in terms of opening up the option of various medications that can be prescribed to help your DD. Our DS takes medikinet on school days and the effect on his behaviour has been amazing. No more exclusions, and he’s come on in leaps and bounds.

We aren't in UK and cost was around 2.5k.
We haven't gone medication route, we may in the future.
But we did get adjustments agreed at school, including extra time and laptop if need. These have made a huge difference.
Teacher said that dc may need another assessment pre GCSE as they are only 11 currently but the adjustments would be used in exams.

Would you recommend the private route? How long did it take?

Honestly given the state of CAMHS currently if you can afford it yes I would definitely recommend going privately.

Definitely go privately otherwise you will have a looong wait, especially now.

In my trust area CAMHS have a 12 waiting list for routine neurodevelopmental assessment. Information from how she is at home and at school are the first part of the assessment process along with a detailed development history. Then screeners are used to aid assessment but generally your daughter would be seen around 4 times before any diagnosis would be offered and that’s only if the information/evidence from all sources are the same.
Just bare in mind that many NHS trusts will no longer accept private diagnosis if you want the NHS to continue with prescribing medication which is costly if done privately. Again in my trust even if you have a private diagnosis and you want meds you will need to have a CAMHS assessment. This is because many of the private diagnosis would not be given and unfortunately a lot of families simply get a dc as they are paying. Sad but true. Also bare in mind that most CAMHS do only offer dx and not aftercare unless there is a significant mental health disorder. That is due to the ridiculous number of referrals.

I am in the same position as op. My dd was dx as having asd a year ago. I have always thought she also had adhd and possible pda. These two have been very clear during lockdown. She's starting secondary school, so the teachers will have limited knowledge of her, so I think it's probably best to go back to the gp.

I don't know much about adhd but I have 1 son diagnosed with asd and 1 currently being assessed. Ds1 took 7 years from me raising concerns to a diagnosis. Ds5 has taken 6 years so far.

The wait for my DS was 84 weeks. We went private. If you are even slightly thinking you might consider medication you will need to work with a medical doctor. I'm not sure an EP can diagnose as you'd need to exclude other medical conditions.

Wow 84 weeks is horrendous. There’s so many options and processes it’s hard to judge which route to follow