ADD/ADHD - diagnosis recommendation Post Reply

[Honey_B]

My six-year-old daughter was recently assessed by an educational psychologist at her school. There is a strong suspicion that she is likely to have ADD/ADHD and we are looking to move forward with a formal diagnosis.

My understanding is that this needs to be done by either a paediatric consultant or a child psychiatrist.

Whilst she has been referred via the NHS we are keen to speed up the process so if anyone has any personal recommendations of people working in the private sector who could support we would be grateful for any suggestions.

Also if anybody has any advice or guidance on where we could seek out ongoing support this would be fantastic.

[Dud1ey]

Hi Honey B - we were in a very similar situation. Our child was assessed by an educational psychologist at school and it was recommended that we seek an ASD / ASC assessment. The NHS waiting list was over a year long and we wanted to be able to help our child sooner than that so we went privately in the end.

I looked for recommendations on this site and followed a couple of leads and in the end we went for Eleni Paliokosta at The Effra Clinic. I can not recommend her highly enough. Since the diagnosis, I have referred another friend who has had a similarly good experience. She’s a lovely person, easy to deal with and picked up some really subtle things in our child’s behaviour - she’s hugely experienced and put us at ease and found time for us when we needed to ask follow up questions. Hope that helps.

[Dud1ey]

Sorry, should add to the above - although our child does not have an ADD/ADHD diagnosis, Dr Paliokosta is also specialised in ADHD as well as ASD.

[gail0810]

My 7 year old son was diagnosed with ADHD in the summer. We saw Dr Ben Ko privately through the London Children's Practice and had any necessary face to face appointments at their Sloane Square clinic. The whole process only took a few months, as opposed to when I phoned St George's ADHD service who told me they had no idea when they might start to see patients again for the initial assessment, due to COVID.

Dr Ko is lovely and there is always plenty of time during the appointments to discuss concerns and he is always available to email etc. We're now getting medication prescribed by our GP and have asked for a GP referral to St George's for ongoing care - so will transfer there when it comes through eventually. 

[Bibbity]

I can recommend Dr Giovanni Giaroli & Associates: http://www.dr-giaroli.org.  

Dr Giaroli diagnosed my son last year and was able to immediately start him on medications to help with his issues (I should say he didn't push meds, he did lay out non-med alternatives, but the degree of ADHD (and other disorders) my son has meant that they were unlikely to have much impact).  He isn't the fluffy cuddly type  - on the other hand, he isn't cold or remote - but his approach is very grounded in the science, which I found reassuring.  He is very child-centred in his approach, to the extent that my son has been involved in video calls to discuss tweaks to his medication (from the school office).

[3peasinapod]

Don’t rule out the NHS option - our child received an ADHD diagnosis from CAMHS Wandsworth this year. We were referred by the GP on 28th Dec last year and had our initial consultation in mid-Jan. The full assessment and diagnosis report was delayed by lockdown but CAMHS switched to zoom assessments so it could happen. Whilst we were waiting for the process to be completed, we met with the school and learning support specialists who put support measures in place on the basis of the initial assessment before we received the actual diagnosis. We’ve been very happy with the CAMHS service and of course it also saved us £££s!

[2009Kat]

We were also recommended Dr Giaroli and partners and have an appointment to see them next month.  We are also pursuing the NHS/CAHMS route but we have been told the waiting list is now approx 12 months.

[gemima]

Good Luck Honey_B!  I also have a daughter diagnosed with ADHD and some other co-morbidities.

We went both the private route (for speed) and the NHS route too.  This is because the NHS assessment is far more recognised and accepted everywhere when you need help.  Our school Ed Psyche told me this and this has since been proven to me so please keep hold of your NHS appointment even if it means doing everything twice!

I follow lots of Facebook sites (just punch in ADHD/ASD and they will come up) to help with general info as there are so many parents in the same boat.  They often provide some really useful information.  I have signed up to the US ones as much more information due to a larger population over there.  All the info is relevant even though they might call things by different names.

There is a brilliant woman called Dr Rachel V Gow (whose son has ADHD) and she does some great talks on insta.  Her specialist book on ADHD and nutrition is coming out in the New Year.  I particularly like her as she changed her career after her son's diagnosis in order to help him, and she has studied brain mapping in the US etc.  

Depending on your child's needs you can also apply for an EHCP (school can help with this) to help your child through her learning years.  You can also apply for DLA (Disability Living Allowance) to help you with any specific needs.  Wandsworth has two great charities/centres: Contact and WIASS that have helped fight my corner over things and they have helped me navigate my way around as I knew nothing about ADHD prior to my daughter's diagnosis.

Finally, my daughter also has dyscalculia (a lot of these diagnoses sometimes cross over) and she has private maths tuition with a specialist SENCO tutor via The Amanda McLeod Centre for Learning.  

I hope this helps!
 

[Jess from Mentor Education]

Hi Honey_B,

I see you have had a few referrals, but we would also like to mention Dr Anna Smith, who has helped numerous of our clients in your position.  She is such a warm, friendly lady and is part of the ADD/ ADHD research team at Kings College Hospital as well as a highly qualified Psychologist and specialist teacher.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-smith-09660065/

We understand that you want to help your child as soon as possible, but we would probably advise you to stay in the NHS system in tandem with any private assessment you undertake. This is because any assessments made via CAMHS will count for more if you come to discuss an ECHP application with your school or local authority.  There are so many assessors with different qualifications out there, that schools can sometimes, understandably, discount the results of private assessments, although they are obliged to consider them.  Staying in the NHS process will give you the best chance of a strong EHCP application. 

Do get in touch if we can be any help at all. 
Jess at Mentor Education
www.mentoreducation.co.uk 


 

[CheekychappieMum]

Huge thank you to Gemima who mentioned Rachel Gow, I have just looked at her website and the blogs have a lot of useful information in their real life stories. I would also like to mention all the North American gurus, whose webinars have helped me along my own journey with our son:

Dr Gordon Neufeld - not ADHD specific but essential parenting on how to maintain connection. His book "Hold onto your kids" is a must-read to enable you to maintain a close relationship from early years to teens. 
https://impactparents.com/ - essential resources, webinars, sanity-saving tips. This is my go-to guru site in plain English
Susan Kruger´s amazing visuals with lightbulbs of what ADHD actually is on her website. The best explanation yet. 
ADDitude magazine
Cindy Goldrich - no nonsense NYorker 
Alan Brown - his brain hacks should be used by everyone! He is a very succinct, engaging communicator
Cameron Gott, Laurie Dupar, Casey Dixon, Ned Hallowell....and so the list goes on. Definitely please find an ADHD buddy to compare notes and vent out frustrations with. I wish I had known to ask for help. Well done for taking the first step. It´s a lonely dark tunnel otherwise.