We know that too often it is incredibly difficult to obtain an ADHD diagnosis for your child. Parents are often at the end of their tether by the time they come to us.

We know how obstructive GP’s can be, how the waiting list at CAMHS can be several years long and how asking teachers to recognise ADHD is sometimes impossible.

We really do understand how parents can get to desperation point when they just cannot access the diagnosis and support they need for their child.

But we can help you get your child pre-assessed and diagnosed usually much quicker than the NHS. Waiting times to see the paediatrician vary but will always be a matter of months, not years. And our pre-assessment will always take place within 1-3 weeks of you booking. 

To get the ball rolling you need our Pre-Assessment service. This is where an ADHD Psychotherapist, Counsellor or Coach who is highly trained in assessing ADHD and ASD and all the Comorbidities will spend around two hours with your child and two adults who know them well.

They then prepare a highly detailed report, which can run to anything from five to fifteen pages, detailing every ADHD trait and flagging up every comorbidity we see indicators for.

For this service we charge £595. There is no VAT on top and – with your permission – we will send copies of the report with our recommendations to your child’s GP,  school and any other medical professionals involved with your child.

We know this Pre-Assessment is extremely important because only we will identify the ADHD comorbidities like Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia and any other of the numerous ADHD Coexisting conditions. These will NOT be identified by a paediatrician whereas our assessment will and in the report we will ask your GP to refer your child to Occupational Therapists or any other professionals who can diagnose the comorbidities.

It is very often the comorbidities that are impacting your child most, especially at school, which is why it is critical they are spotted and the correct referrals requested.

We will provide you with all the documentation any paediatrician will require to be filled in by your child’s school.

We also provide an add on service where we will liaise with your child’s school to ensure the paperwork is filled in correctly reflecting all the issues your child has at school. Another service that can be added on is for one of our qualified Assessors to attend your child’s school, observe them in class and include this information in the report.

You then have the choice to use this report to hasten your journey through the NHS – our reports have historically proven very powerful at dramatically speeding up assessment times – one Mum told us “It was unbelievable. I had been battling for two years and got nowhere but within two weeks of them receiving your report I had everybody on the phone offering us appointments from the doctor to the school headmaster and CAMHS”

Or, if you choose to go privately at this point, our local ADHD specialist paediatrician will accept our report as ‘A second professional’s opinion’.

The diagnostic appointments of which you will need 2 will cost £500 and will need to be paid directly to the specialist paediatrician.

The paediatrician will diagnose and medicate from the age of five. For children of approx seven and up the paediatrician will conduct these appointments by video. For younger children it would mean you visiting him at his clinics in either central London,  Harrow in West London or Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire.

Should the paediatrician and you decide to medicate your child, initially the prescriptions will be issued privately.  However once your child is titrated onto the optimum dose of the most suitable medication the paediatrician will write to your GP and request them to medicate on the NHS. The paediatrician we use is not only a private paediatrician but he’s also very senior in the NHS so his diagnosis should be recognised by your GP.

Sarah Templeton who set up and runs Headstuff ADHD Therapy, has written a book released in 2021, specifically for parents of ADHD children. It’s called ‘How NOT to Murder your ADHD Kid! – Instead Learn How to be Your Child’s Own ADHD Coach’. The book is currently available on Amazon, eBay and will soon be in shops. There is an enormous amount of information in here which will help you on this ADHD journey as well.

We are passionate about children receiving the right diagnosis, having their comorbidities recognised and the correct support put in place at the earliest age possible. As most of us at Headstuff were late diagnosed, we know how not having the correct diagnosis can massively impact your performance at school, your qualifications and your career prospects not to mention your self-worth and self-esteem.

The first step is by you booking in for our Pre-Assessment and one of our specialist Pre-Assessors will be in touch with you within 48 hours. Standardly you will be offered an appointment within 7 to 14 days.