I am a parent of two children, one with a diagnosis of ADHD and another waiting for the following assessments; ADHD, ASD & Dyspraxia.  Also, I myself am on the Adult ADHD Pathway.

The process for my youngest child has been lengthy because so many different referrals have been made to different services/pathways, this means extra work for school staff, parents/guardians and the NHS.  Schools and the NHS are under-funded and struggle with the current workload, which could be reduced by creating a Neurodiverse Pathway to replace services such as; ADHD Pathway, ASD Pathway and all other Neurodivergent Assessments.  This would also decrease the waiting times and speed up diagnosis which helps with Educational and Workplace support.  But also, the NHS expects the school staff to guess a diagnosis, but they aren’t medically trained to do so, that’s why it’s so important to have 1 referral that covers all commonly confused diagnoses. 

We need URGENT � change and I have found a great example of modernising Sefton’s outdated services, by looking at a nearby service (which is not perfect but it’s a great model);

“The St Helen’s Neurodevelopmental pathway has been redesigned over the last few years and was launched in its current format in 2018. The pathway is designed to support children and young people up to the age of 18, and their families where neurodevelopmental difficulties have been identified. It takes a multi-agency approach to identifying and meeting needs and includes an offer of support for families to access at its core. The pathway can lead to a formal diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), global developmental delay (GDD) and difficulties with attachment. Importantly, the offer of support to families is accessible before, during and after the pathway journey and also when no formal diagnosis is made.”

ADHD AWARE

The ADHD AWARE website provides statistics on some co-occurring conditions. See below ⬇️ 

“ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition; that is to say, its symptoms, and associated behaviours and traits are the result of a person’s brain developing differently during the key stages of development before they were born or as a very young child. This differs from mental illness, which refers to patterns of behaviour where a person experiences a ‘state of mind’ that is different from their ‘normal self’. 

It is becoming increasingly recognised that, along with ADHD, a person may experience symptoms of other neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism, Asperger’s, Tourette’s syndrome, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), dyslexia, and dyspraxia.

Approximately 1 in 2 people with ADHD have dyslexia
Approximately 1 in 2 people with ADHD have dyspraxia
9 in 10 people with Tourette’s have ADHD
2 in 3 people with ADHD have autistic spectrum traits, and people with ADHD are 8-fold more likely to meet full criteria for an autistic spectrum diagnosis.  

While it is common for neurodevelopmental conditions to occur with co-occurring mental health conditions, (eg. ADHD + bipolar), due to poor awareness it is also common for neurodevelopmental conditions to be misdiagnosed as mental illness. ADHD may also co-occur with physical health conditions, such as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS, also sometimes referred to under the umbrella of “hypermobility” although not all EDS patients are hypermobile), Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, and coeliac disease.”

The whole system needs updating and improving, as the current pathways have a habit of diagnosing and discharging patients who require aftercare and often therapy for patients also struggling with mental health issues/illness as CAMHS is not equipped with the correct tools to support Sefton’s Neurodiverse Community (I have experienced this first hand).

Please support my petition and help our neurodiverse community by supporting and sharing my petition. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this.