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Post by glengirlie on Jun 8, 2018 20:13:09 GMT
My daughter has failed two of her second year exams and has revealed to us that she has been suffering from anxiety and depression. After some discussion she has explained that she thinks she might have ADHD. At the cost of £500 we could get a private assessment. Can you advise if this is a good idea. Will it be accepted by her GP and by her university?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2018 0:29:22 GMT
What part did you play in her decision to go to uni?
£500 is very reasonable for a consultant psychiatrist who specialises in ADHD.
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Post by glengirlie on Jun 9, 2018 13:59:36 GMT
She wanted to go and is really interested in her course (Zoology). She says that she wants to continue, indeed the fact that she is keen on the subject makes her more frustrated that she is having problems. Good to hear that the cost is reasonable. We desperately want to do the right thing for her but don't want to be hoodwinked.
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Post by glengirlie on Jun 9, 2018 14:00:25 GMT
Oh and it is not a consultant psychiatrist but a mental health nurse who specialises in ADHD
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nrp
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Post by nrp on Jun 10, 2018 11:11:59 GMT
Does your daughter have a doctor who is likely to accept the diagnosis? I believe that a GP is not obligated to accept a private diagnosis, adult ADHD only became a valid diagnosis in 2008ish so any GP trained before then is probably working to their own personal beliefs and bias. Private prescriptions can be much more expensive than NHS ones. I'm not sure if an assessment by a nurse would be valid for either NHS or university, I think this needs to be discussed with the nurse before you go any further.
If she is really struggling would a deferral be worth considering?
Do you feel that her self assessment is correct?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2018 15:43:25 GMT
There's at least one mental health nurse who specialises in ADHD near Bristol somewhere.
I'm not that familiar with the medical hierarchy but I believe a 'nurse practitioner' can also prescribe.
If it's the same one, I'd say you're in a stronger position than some 'generic' consultant but this is just my opinion.
Key thing to consider is, just how impulsive is your daughter? If you can't think of immediate examples, she's either been hiding it from you her entire life (not unusual, we tend to scold them early on for bad behaviour) or she may not actually have ADHD.
I have a feeling it would be far easier to just buy stimulants than to self-diagnose a learning disorder, though?
Best of luck.
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poppyb
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Post by poppyb on Jul 1, 2018 8:28:25 GMT
A decent university should give your daughter certain accommodations for ADHD. She may be given extra time in exams - a quiet room to do her exams and extra time for coursework deadlines. She will also be allowed to record lectures if the university doesn’t already provide audio for lectures.
Good universities also have other study support structures in place. For instance, it is likely that she will have trouble meeting deadlines and often extensions aren’t what’s needed, but someone helping the student to meet those deadlines. This is where it gets trickier and she should ask her tutor or study support to remind her about deadlines coming up. This is the ideal, but even today ADHD isn’t fully understood in universities. For instance, giving extensions for deadlines is great - but in my mind that doesn’t help because if you’re a last-minute person it doesn’t matter how long you have. So it’s ll a balance. She needs to be sufficiently self aware to know what sort of help she needs.
My advice would be to go to a specialist psychiatrist in ADHD. It will cost nearer £800-1000 for an assessment. But if your daughter does have ADHD that psychiatrist will be able to prescribe medication if necessary and provide a report with recommendations for accommodations at university. The university cannot argue with a psychiatric report.
Universities are generally supportive when they have clear evidence of an issue. I would suggest that your psychiatrist (or whomever you see) details in his/her report what your daughter requires. Otherwise someone in the university who may not fully understand ADHD will decide on what she needs and it may not be wholly appropriate.
The key thing she needs in a feeling of urgency to get her work done. Maybe she can use you as her external reminder system for deadlines etc.?
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poppyb
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Post by poppyb on Jul 1, 2018 8:31:50 GMT
PS - Since it’s such a lot of money to spend, you could ask your daughter to contact the University disabilities liaison officer and explain her situation. She could ask what sort of evidence her University requires - ie from a nurse or psychiatrist.
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poppyb
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Post by poppyb on Jul 1, 2018 8:38:49 GMT
PPS - sorry - just read your other question. Yes, a psychiatrists report will be accepted by the university.
Unlikely it will be accepted by your GP unless your GP is enlightened. Mine isn’t!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 3, 2018 13:07:02 GMT
As someone who's never seen the inside of a university and probably shouldn't comment ( ) I'd say I agree with the post above on deadline extensions. Some form of external accountability may be better? Right now, though, she's probably shitting a brick at the prospect of failing uni so any help may be a blessing.
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Post by glengirlie on Dec 15, 2018 22:57:53 GMT
Well an update - Daughter was diagnosed and is on medication and just finished first semester of third year. We invested in some specialist executive skills coaching which has been useful - I think. The coaching is done by phone at the moment but she is going to insist on skype next term. We have not had much info from daughter but coach reported that daughter told her she had got an A on one module - which is great news. She has been awarded DSA from SAAS - which is going to give her additional coaching, and various tech things like texthelp read write gold and dragon speaking etc - but these things have not been delivered yet. Her coach says that she is very reserved and reluctant to reach out. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to help with this? I know that she worries about contacting people - either by phone or email - but when I ask her what she is planning to say/write -she comes up with the right things to say - she just lacks the confidence to actually make the contact. So any suggestions would be great.
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Post by vagueandrandom on Dec 17, 2018 17:06:36 GMT
Hi glengirlie I'm glad your daughter's getting help.
"I know that she worries about contacting people - either by phone or email - but when I ask her what she is planning to say/write -she comes up with the right things to say - she just lacks the confidence to actually make the contact."
A lot of people (including me and I'm 52) with ADHD have difficulties contacting people, especially via phone and skype.
I'm quite impressed that your daughter is managing to get anything out of phone coaching. . .I could only deal with it face-to-face.
With me, it's not about confidence or worrying . . .just thinking about speaking on the phone makes me sick with anxiety.
Without visual clues, it's really difficult to follow a conversation and anxiety means that I don't take in what's said.
*knowing* what to do or say, but being unable to carry it through is a major ADHD trait.
I'm sorry this isn't helpful advice, but thought it might be useful to know what your daughter's going through.
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Post by glengirlie on Jan 5, 2019 23:12:28 GMT
Hi Vagueandrandom, thanks for your comments. I had a long chat with Suzie's coach just before Christmas. She said that Suzie had shied away from Skype but I think she is going to insist on it next term. It is good to understand about the anxiety. I think it is tricky to understand what Suzie's feelings are - as she is not good at opening up. I worry that she is not socialising with friends much (if at all) - When she was at school she had a wee group that she spent time with but she is now reluctant to make contact with them when she is at home. I worry she spends a lot of time on her own and wonder what if anything I can do to help.....
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