Is nobody watching the Great ADHD Myth?

[ILikeTrains]

I was expecting to see lots of chatter about this. 1/2hr in - interesting!

If it is just ASD diagnosis she is after how on earth can you know she is expecting DLA? It sounds as if her son has higher needs which she will be aware of (although if you haven't read up on girls masking you should as often girls present outwardly as if they don't struggle as much but their mental health and other issues can be far worse because they are socialised to blend in socially more than boys).

I agree. When you consider how much evidence needs to be included for the application, it’s odd that some think EHCPs are given out because the parents want it and that Heads give in to it.

Don't get what? That pda is actually very difficult and challenging to deal with?

that children who are academically capable also require specialist schools sometimes?

that autism is often genetic so it's quite likely his sister is also autistic?

You can always tell which people have never even had to consider getting a diagnosis or an EHCP as they think they're handed out like smarties at a party.

in reality professionals look at everything before diagnosing adhd or asd. Haven't got a nuclear family- oh it's probably just that. Grandma died and they were close - it's probably just that. Adopted/fostred/trauma - well it's just that, they can't possibly also happen to also be autistic/have adhd. Didn't have fishfingers for tea one random Friday five years ago - it's just that.

Same for ehcps, well they've not been excluded so they dont need one. But they have friends so they don't need one. But they're so well behaved in class they don't need one. But they're capable of good grades so don't need one.

urghhh

We often see this with ASD girls - speculation because they aren't physically acting out as much as boys often do and girls are often hyperfocused on things that are more socially acceptable than trains or murderers. If girls are clever it is normal but clever boys must be ASD. Girls can't be ASD and clever. It is very odd.

This isn’t proven as yet though

I find it odd as the how many people claim to have half or entire households on ADHD meds! This never used to be the norm! My 52 year old brother has been diagnosed with ADHD and yeh he would benefit from medication to help him focus, my 47 year old friend also diagnosed in recent years would but they've been sat waiting since last year and can't get meds because the supplies are knackered by whole families taking these drugs! The program is right to question this mass diagnosis of people!

That lad in the documentary sounded doped up before he came off the drugs! His speech was very slow, flat and laboured.

Well given the strong genetic link…

It depends on mentality, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in June and when you go on online support groups so many of the posts are people asking how to get PIP because they've been diagnosed! Some people like to milk the system, whereas me I simply don't need to give up working or claim benefits. I've reducer my hours a bit.

It's incredibly hard to get DLA, and an EHCP that is worth It's salt.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and let's say your sister has managed to get the head on side to say they can't meet need.

They still need to evidence this, usually through the assess-plan-do process or something similar. This is usually done over months. At this point they usually involve multiple other agencies, depending on need. This might be SALT, SCI, even the health visitors or another team which can weigh in on that child's particular need to observe over a few sessions and make professional recommendations for ways in which adaptations can be made to accommodate that child. The school would need to then evidence that even with these changes they still can't meet need.

Then they/she/he/whoever applies for the EHCP which will include an observation and meeting with an educational psychologist who will document the child's difficulties to identify an area of primary need as well as possible secondary needs. Sometimes this meeting is also held as a multi disciplinary meeting with the educational and health care professionals that have been involved. You can't get one over on multiple people who have made their own observations.

If a child does get a diagnosis before an EHCP, that also involves a lot of multi disciplinary involvement and observations usually over a long period of time as these are diagnoses of exclusion. May vary if going the private route.

Then you get you either get an EHCP or you don't and you appeal, then you either get your EHCP or it gets rejected again. If you get your EHCP and it doesn't hold up legally or have the right provision, you appeal again to the SENDIST tribunal where you have the burden of proof for your childs needs and are responsible for organising your own representation or self representing which means you have to become extremely knowledgeable about the appropriate SEND law which means hours of self research and speaking with advocacy services. You don't get to just say I say so and so it is true.

Then to get DLA you have to evidence the difficulties your child has and how they're different from peers in their typical developmental stage. You can't just say something is true, you've got to have paperwork.

There are some things that you just don't have a substantial amount of paperwork for but you can usually verify you've had that teams involvement, and for those you have to meticulously diarise basically all of your childs needs and bodily functions dated and time stamped and the impact this has had on the child and why they can't do this independently.

I've gotten full PIP with less paperwork than it's taken to get my child an EHCP or DLA and getting full PIP is bloody difficult.

Some people would think my little boy also just doesn't like being told no, and that's fine. I've got reems of evidence to the contrary.

Perhaps your sister does actually know what she's looking for, and why shouldn't she want to claim DLA if she feels she is entitled to it due to her childs needs? If she doesn't have the evidence she won't get it, and she certainly can't manufacture evidence when a lot of evidence comes from professionals making their own professional observations.

It's unbelievablly biased and unbalanced. It's an insult to the ND community.

Because we don't have every other household claiming that the entire household has cancer. What is happening is alarming because so many kids get written off, I've seen people online talking about PIP they get for having a kid with ADHD, people want to be in disability queues for it, I saw people online just take other day buying radar keys because their child has ADHD! Why does an ADHD kid mean a fit, healthy family should queue jump genuinely disabled people with genuine needs to toilets and accessibility queues? And then those kids grow up believing they are more disabled than they are and won't work! PIP claims are going up by millions every year and it's not sustainable.

I hate to break it to you but if your daughter gets diagnosed you may not get meds anyway because there aren't any, my 52 year old brother and 47 year old friend were both diagnosed last year and have never been given meds because there's no supplies to give to newly diagnosed people so they are prioritising all those already on the meds.

But is it? My brother has shown signs of ADHD all his life but he's the only person I know of in several generations of our family that's been diagnosed. Why suddenly now is there a massive explosion of diagnosis when there wasn't before. Suddenly everyone thinks they've got it because they get wrapped up in the hype.

And that is exactly the concern! Mums wanting to cash in by getting their fit healthy kids labelled as disabled but what future dies the kids mother see for her kids when she's written them off! Do these people care about their kids having futures and ambitions and being successful people? Or does she just want them to be benefit bums when they grow up!

I'm 46 and I dread to think what this country will be like by the time I'm in my 60s if nothing changes, I think they'll have to come down heavy on the benefits system because the way it is now at least half the population will not be willing to work because mummy told them they were disabled! It's not sustainable. I intend to get out of this country when I retire!

Who does getting dla or pip mean someone has written off their child? What a ridiculous statement.

You do know pip is an in work benefit too?

in my experience (because I actually have experience of parenting children with send unlike a lot of people posting utter ignorant nonsense on this thread ) it's not parents writing send children off, its all the services that are meant to bloody support them that do that.

my young adult almost got chucked off a course last year because they didn't think he would manage. I fought tooth and nail to keep him on it and he completed it very successfully and was highly regarded by his 'employer'. He's now volunteering regularly whilst looking for a job (for which he's got no help despite having an EHCP, because no one has considered his next steps apart from us even though the LA and social care should be actively involved). I can see his potential and will fight for him to find suitable employment. It will be everyone else writing him off.

My brother has had signs of ADHD all his left and was diagnosed last year at 51. ADHD exists without doubt but is everybody that has been part of this mass diagnosis in recent years a genuine case?
The issue is that newly diagnosed people can't get meds because the supplies can barely cope with the people already diagnosed. My brother and my friend were both diagnosed last year and can't get meds!

It's worrying for the rest of my family because he's been disorganised professionally with his business since my dad died ten years because he was in the same line of work and was his organiser. He only seems to work here and there, he recently went through the whole recruitment process to be a retained firefighter, actually passed it all and pulled out because he didn't realise he'd have to stay near the fire station when on call and they call outs aren't guaranteed. He jumps from one impractical idea to the next, he wanted to give up his rental property he has a good deal on and live in van recently, he then changed his mind and now wants a houseboat - it's annoying that he can't get meds because it's like his brain filters out impracticalities and hard realities. We don't know if he pays any NI, he has no workplace pensions and all this scattiness might helped before he ends up destitute in his older years if he could get the meds but right now there's no sign of it even a year on from diagnosis.

But these are kids being influenced by their mothers for the cash! Why does a fit healthy lad need to be classed as disabled or any money paid out! The lad in question is not incapacitates at all! Read the post I was responding too, he has nothing he needs money for but mummy wants that pay out so she's influencing him and she's going to do it the daughter as well. It's system playing and you know it! They'll grow up wrong minded because mummy has told them they are disabled all their childhoods! It's not sustainable for the country to be like this!

Your brother is one example that does not negate the proven genetic link

But we are seeing a massive explosion of diagnosis and dishing out pills and I grew up the 80s and you didn't come across any families that didn't just get on with normal life so why suddenly do so many people suddenly need drugs to function! Like I said on other posts, this mass consumption of drugs has ruined lives for newly diagnosed ADHD sufferers because everybody wants to be on these drugs and there's not enough supplies. Nobody newly diagnosed can get the drugs!

The correlation is proved, casualty is under discussion but since treating ADHD with dopamine agonist drugs removes the increased risk there some strong link somewhere.

Exactly, looking back my grandfather always almost certainly autistic with possibly adhd, most of my paternal uncles were ND many of my cousins on my dads side are most likely ND, my mum was prob adhd and dyslexic. My son is most likely audhd and my brother is autistic and niece adhd. Clearly no genetic link

The answer to that I'm afraid is bleeding obvious. And it's nothing to do with being "wrapped up in the hype".

There was no awareness previously and these kids were written off at school, ended up dead or in prison, collected dustbins with an IQ of 130 because they couldn't pass exams in the school system, became stay at home mums taking tranquilizers or gin to cope, etc etc etc

Add on to that what was said above that life has changed to be impossible to manage without executive function. Even minor defects in executive function now have a profound impact on life unless you live off grid using only cash.

I've had ADHD since my parents first nicknamed me "ants in her pants" at 2 years old. Like many people my age, I struggled with it for the next 60 years until I read about adult ADHD and realised I was reading about myself.

I’m deeply confused.

You appear upset that there’s been an increase in diagnoses, but also have mentioned that your brother is recently diagnosed and that you’d prefer he was medicated.

Have you told him how troubled you are by the increase in diagnoses, including his, or that people years ago used to manage so why can’t he?

Thought not.

You came across plenty of families with boys who never went to school, boys who went to prison, boys who were badly hurt or killed looking for risk taking thrills, girls who got pregnant or worse young from risky sex, boys and girls taking drugs looking for thrills, boys and girls who constantly got into fights ........

You are deliberately being obtuse! What I'm saying is that yes ADHD exists but what I'm questioning is why we are expected to believe that half the country has got it all of a sudden and every single one of them needs drugs to manage it. You look at that documentary and that lad didn't need the drugs, his issue was focus at school and surely schools should be adapting learning styles for those kids, he was literally just put on drugs to pass his SATS!
I'm not saying some don't need meds, but what I am saying to you now is that no newly diagnosed people are getting any meds and are having to cope without meds whilst kids are taking them just as a very easy fix to improve school grades.