<\/p>\n
Autism and ADHD come with a variety of symptoms, so there is no one-size-fits-all “cure” and the only option is to manage them. This may include prescribing melatonin to address sleep deprivation. Antipsychotics, such as risperidone, for irritability, or Ritalin, for hyperactivity.<\/p>\n
But for parents who need school support, receiving “paperwork” for their autistic or ADHD child can be very important. So did Amelia Warwick’s* children, now ages 9 and 12. When each was at reception, she was told by the school that they were likely on the spectrum.<\/p>\n
But the “brutal reality” is that although she went to her GP and was put on a waiting list for a test, seven years passed without an evaluation, leading her into the civilian sector instead.<\/p>\n
She experienced these symptoms only once. Her son has been diagnosed with ADHD. Her daughter has autism, and she said the school made “reasonable adjustments” such as “exercise breaks” for her son, who doesn’t like sitting in class for long periods of time. “His handwriting and processing speed are very slow,” so the exam takes extra time.<\/p>\n
Long waiting times for NHS support also mean a lucrative private diagnostics market is emerging, potentially pushing the numbers further. A 2023 BBC Panorama documentary revealed that patients who were unable to get an ADHD assessment through the NHS turned to private clinics that carried out the assessment on their behalf, resulting in them accessing medicines and EHCPs (education, medical and care plans that often require schools to provide additional support) that they would not have received otherwise.<\/p>\n
These aren’t cheap, typically costing up to \u00a33,800 per child. Ms Warwick also paid \u00a34,000 for two educational psychology assessments for each child and sold her clothes to secure the documents required by the school.<\/p>\n
Blaming “coercive” parents for the rise in autism and ADHD diagnoses in children “undermines the whole process. It makes us look like we’re motivated by some kind of unfair advantage,” she added.<\/p>\n
“That’s not the case at all,” she feels. “In fact, it’s the opposite. If schools can’t provide the answers they want, they just hit a wall.”<\/p>\n
Other parents of neurodiverse children understand how important it is to be medically aware of these conditions. One Telegraph reader, who, like Warwick, severely limited screen time for his three children, says, “After homeschooling twin high-achieving girls, I struggled for years with a son who couldn’t understand the passage of time. He talked incessantly, got easily irritated, and couldn’t concentrate long enough to write.”<\/p>\n
Things changed two years ago, when “I reluctantly took him to a psychologist, who diagnosed him with ADHD. Since starting medication, his ability to concentrate has changed, and with it his confidence in his abilities has grown.”<\/p>\n
However, the family is now applying for Disability Allowance as they are no longer eligible for NHS support. (The rise in mental health issues in the UK has led to a sharp increase in economic inactivity; the number of 16-34 year olds out of work for long periods due to these conditions soared by 76 per cent between 2019 and 2024.) Access to state aid is essential for many people, she points out. \u201cWhile we don\u2019t particularly like labels, drugs, or receiving benefits, we recognize that all three have been extremely helpful in allowing our son to receive an education.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fonagy’s final report is expected to be submitted in the coming months, and Dame Uta hopes it will resolve the current polarization, but “I’m not sure there’s a simple recipe for that”. In the meantime, getting young people to feel less bogged down by global events and economic hardship and leaving them feeling “more hopeful, less distressed, and happier” would certainly be a move in the right direction.<\/p>\n
*Name has been changed<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n #mental #health #labels #ADHD #autism #experts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Autism and ADHD come with a variety of symptoms, so there is no one-size-fits-all “cure” and the only option is to manage them. This may include prescribing melatonin to address sleep deprivation. Antipsychotics, such as risperidone, for irritability, or Ritalin, for hyperactivity. But for parents who need school support, receiving “paperwork” for their autistic or … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":438,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,2],"tags":[1755,1750,1752,920,1751,36,1061,1754,35,593,1746,1749,1748,1747,1753],"class_list":["post-437","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","category-health-care","tag-adhd","tag-attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder-adhd","tag-autism","tag-experts","tag-happiness","tag-health","tag-health-and-fitness","tag-labels","tag-mental","tag-mental-health","tag-nhs-national-health-service","tag-nhs-waiting-list","tag-standard","tag-top-stories","tag-us-content"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/golliza.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/golliza.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/golliza.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golliza.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golliza.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/golliza.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golliza.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/golliza.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golliza.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/golliza.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}