After an ADHD assessment

Possible outcomes

There are different possible outcomes from the assessment. Your child may:

• be diagnosed with ADHD
• need further assessment for other conditions such as autism, developmental impairment, a learning disability, developmental language disorder or developmental co-ordination disorder. Further assessment may show your child has other conditions alongside ADHD, or your child may be given a different diagnosis which better suits their needs. 
• have a pattern of difficulties that do not fit neatly under one diagnostic heading, and they may need a description of their difficulties that can be used to inform what help and support would be beneficial.

After ADHD assessment in the Neurodisability Service

What happens if your child receives an ADHD diagnosis?

Once the ADHD assessment has been completed, a letter will be sent to you and to your child’s GP to summarise the assessment and confirm the diagnosis.

There are many ways to support your child if they receive a diagnosis of ADHD.

You will be referred to Family Action Sheffield . A Family Action ADHD worker will contact you on the phone to discuss the support available in Sheffield.

The Family Action team will invite you to attend an ADHD information course either face to face or online. Attending the Family Action information course will help you, understand more about children with ADHD and how to support your child.

There are many strategies that can minimise the impact of ADHD symptoms.

For some children, medication may be required as well as non-medical strategies to treat ADHD. Your clinician will discuss the options in more detail as there are several different medicines available.

Non-medication strategies

There are a range of interventions to help with the symptoms of ADHD that can be put in place at home, and at school.

This is particularly important around:

• good sleep hygiene – children can be referred to additional services for specialised support
• providing daily structure
• help with memory, organisation and planning support
• working towards a balanced diet and exercise where possible

All of these supporting factors have a very positive influence on how children cope with ADHD and should be used alongside ADHD medication.

Speak to your or your child’s teachers, SENCOS, health and social care team if you need support with exploring these options.

Medication

ADHD is a medically treatable condition. If your child is offered medication, the different options will be discussed at your appointment. These may include:

• stimulant medications
• non-stimulant medications

For further information on medication, we have a dedicated ADHD medication page or the NHS website has plenty of useful information.

What happens if your child does not receive an ADHD diagnosis?

Your child may not be given a diagnosis of ADHD at the assessment. This can be for a number of different reasons, and these will be explained in detail to you at the assessment.

Not being given a diagnosis of ADHD does not always mean we are saying your child doesn’t have significant difficulties or needs in other areas and they will still need help and support with these difficulties.

After the assessment, if your child is not given a diagnosis of ADHD, you will:

• Be referred to any relevant services for further assessment and investigation if this is identified as needed during the assessment.
• Be directed to information sites and support services to help you and your child which you can access on the Sheffield Children’s webpages

After an ADHD assessment with CAMHS

Discussing your child within our multi-disciplinary team

Once we have gathered all the information needed, we will discuss your child’s assessment within our Neurodevelopmental Assessment Team. The clinicians involved include child psychiatrists, child psychologists, specialist mental health nurses and assistant psychologists. These professionals, who may or may not have met your child, will review all the information which is presented by the assessing clinician.

The team will then together decide whether there is enough evidence to meet the criteria for a diagnosis. If there is not, we will explore another explanation for your child’s difficulties. There could be a range of explanations such as anxiety, low mood, trauma or difficult early life experiences with significant others (attachment difficulties). Your child’s difficulties may also be explained by another developmental condition such as autism or a learning disability.

Feedback

Once the above assessment has been completed, we will arrange a feedback session to discuss the outcome with you and, depending on their age, your child.