Headstuffadhdtherapy Reviews

Child Pre-Assessment for ADHD

I got in touch with Sarah Templeton regarding our 6 year old daughter who had been for triaged out of the NHS pathway because she wasn t exhibiting enough traits in the school setting despite being a completely different child at home and struggling the usual story for girls and the usual archaic response Sarah conducted a pre-assessment and indicated SPD traits of Autism and ADHD Following a formal complaint to the NHS provider and submission of Sarah s pre-assessment document our daughter s ADHD referral was finally accepted and she is awaiting assessment and we are positive it will result in diagnosis Sarah was also able to signpost us to Kelly Young in relation to a pre-assessment for our eldest daughter who is 12 Our daughter struggles to talk to people she doesn t know and was really reluctant to speak about ADHD or any of her feelings On the day of the pre-assessment Kelly made her feel comfortable and spoke about her own lived experiences which we found really beneficial and our daughter responded well to this She explained exactly what she would be doing to ensure she understood the process Our daughter coloured a picture throughout the assessment and her creativity was acknowledged by Kelly At one stage our daughter left the room crying because she clearly felt embarrassed about some of the topics discussed Kelly was really accommodating and reassured her she didn t have to be present or if she was she could be off screen After a hug she continued with the assessment and finally felt comfortable enough to resume this on screen Kelly provided our daughter with validation for how she feels and thinks and in relation to some of her behaviours She was incredibly knowledgeable around not only ADHD but a whole range of neurodivergent conditions such as autism dyspraxia dysgraphia dyslexia She was also very knowledgeable as to how her secondary school could and should help support her in school and the adjustments we could ask to be considered Kelly s communication was fantastic and the final report was thorough with advice on what steps to take next She also provided information on a number of options for assessment such as a private pathway or via the right to choose Due to our daughter s struggles and hormones playing a part we made the decision to pay privately for quicker assessment As a result our daughter received her diagnosis of inattentive ADHD on 9th March 2024 This was 8 weeks from our appointment with Kelly On reflection we could ve waited and saved ourselves the cost but there was no guarantee due to government intervention on right to choose that she d get seen As our 6 year old has a little time to go before hormones start to impact her further we have followed Kelly s advice and been successful in getring her onto the right to choose pathway and should be seen within 7 months as opposed to the 2-5 year current NHS waiting list in our area We are incredibly grateful to Sarah and Kelly for their help and cannot recommend them enough During this process we found Sarah s books How NOT to murder your ADHD kid and How not to damage your ADHD adolescent incredibly helpful And I have recommended her book Teachers How not to kill the spirit in your ADHD kids to my youngest daughter s teacher who has bought this for the school so they can be further informed around how to manage behaviours in school and how to help them progress The books are so easy to read especially as I have ADHD myself are informative and provide lots of help and support on how to help our children and teens thrive