ADHD diagnosis

[Upsydaisy2005]

my 14 yr old has features of ADHD, and suggested by few tutors. How do I get a diagnosis?

private seems expensive

[Momtrying]

your child’s pediatrician can diagnose. It would be helpful to have documentation from teachers for the doctor to look at

[Anabelle22]

hi I’m from the Uk (Scotland). My 14 yo daughter has just had a diagnosis from camhs. (Child & adolescent mental health - NHs)

She was already under camhs for autism & MH issues and it still took me to identify her possible adhd and then it took over a year for diagnosis for various reasons (staff changes and workload!)

It is expensive to go privately and for a full diagnosis I think a medical psychiatrist is required to give a full diagnosis (rule out any other reason for her symptoms) and the prescribed medication will be overseen by the psychiatrist.

My daughter has started on Xaggitin XL (slow release stimulant ) which works for 12 hours. One in the morning. She is able to concentrate and function a little better at home and school.

the assessment includes self rating of symptoms (your daughter will do this) and you rate her symptoms. School will be asked to report on her behaviour. You will provide her past reports from teachers and maybe some reports from nursery. Then the results of all this will be discussed by the team and outcome/ diagnosis will be given to you.

AsK your Gp to refer your daughter to camhs. Ask your school to refer her to an their educational psychologist to assess her and to aid the diagnosis process.

Good luck.

[Upsydaisy2005 in reply to Anabelle22]

thank you so much for your reply. I will action on this. I greatly appreciate your time

[Baimimi]

For school age kids, using the Vanderbilt ADHD assessment that US doctors often use, could give you an idea of whether the diagnosis is correct. Once you got the forms filled out by parents and teachers, there's online info on how to interpret the numbers. upa.wustl.edu/wp-content/up...

[Upsydaisy2005]

very useful

Thank you so much