ADHD

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Thank you. I’m new on here, not sure what I’m doing! 😊

Not a grandchild, but my adult son was diagnosed with ADHD and has 2 graduate degrees and a Master's. He's been running his own business for the last 9 years very successfully. I reckon he's managed ok. oh and he has a lovely wife.

He’s been very successful - great. Can I ask - was he diagnosed at primary school?

No he was diagnosed in his late 20s! Thinking back I wish he had been diagnosed earlier. Things would've made much more sense and he would've coped with his teenage years so much easier! The earlier the better for diagnosis I think.

I would look beyond the label and consider what she finds challenging and how she can be helped for that. A diagnosis won’t solve that problem. Lots of understanding and support from family and school will. There is no reason at all why she can’t go on to have a wonderful and fulfilling life.

A diagnosis should ensure that the school take notice though and offer support

My grandson was about 9 or 10 when he was diagnosed. He was given medication for the ADHD and it helped a lot. Unfortunately when he became a teenager he decided there was nothing at all wrong with him and he stopped the medication. This, combined with the upheaval caused by lockdown, means he hasn't done as well as we hoped, but now he's 18 things are looking up. The school were aware of his diagnosis so he had been offered extra time for exams, but being a stroppy teenager he refused any help.

Are you in the UK? Is the suggestion coming from school and who is going to do the assessment?
School is often the trigger for adhd assessments but Ed psychs rare these days.
A diagnosis can really help services to be provided. It isn’t a negative label, it should be a gateway to support throughout school years.
LadyStardusts story is similar to our family member. He’s a creative, runs his own business and was diagnosed at age 35

My grandaughter has both ADHD and autism. We’ve had lots of melt downs there is no off button and she fights sleep every night. My daughter has taken many courses and sessions to learn to understand the conditions and how to handle situations as they arise and it has paid off as the way she handles situations has changed and it really has helped. I try to follow her lead and have taken several courses myself to try to understand her condition better. Getting a diagnosis has taken several years. Reports are needed from lots of different people school,doctors etc. They truly did not want her labelled but you do need to do it to get the help needed for her education.

Thank you so much for your comments. It really helps me to hear your experiences and ideas.
It is the school that has suggested that she is assessed for it, largely due to
inattentiveness.

It’s not always inattentiveness as we know it but the mind is racing, everything is coming into it at the same time imagine a huge busy railway station and everything that is happening is taking your attention at the same time
Usually very intelligent often over stimulated brain but no way of turning off all the information coming in.
Short temper because others aren’t doing it right
Senses heightened, socks and t shirt feel tight even when loose but if they can be felt on the skin however lightly they are ‘tight’
Noises are three fold ‘Why are you chewing so loudly’ Those crisps are being crunched like a big noise going through the brain

Ususally a lot of drive and hugely work driven but not at a desk Can’t do multi choice starts doubting the right answer when given different ones but if asked the question directly knows the answer
Huge sense of right and wrong
Disorganised when too many choices
Bad temper when things don’t fit their mind set
Ideal for own business and doing it their way

School can be hard especially High school where the pupils have to move around every 40 minutes so exciting and then hard to settle with all the new things to look at and hear in the new classroom so everyone else had already got their books open so you have to ask the next door pupil what book and what page and the teacher calls you disruptive and sends you to stand in the corridor and so it goes on
Medication is not ideal and must be an older child’s decision it can dull their ideas and creativity but for some can be a positive calmer