ADHD support for children and young people

ADHD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental conditions in childhood. It affects approximately 3 to 5 per cent of school-aged children in the UK, with a significant proportion of cases remaining unidentified into adolescence and adulthood (NICE NG87, 2018, updated 2023). The core difficulties, including inattention, impulsivity and hyperactivity, are widely recognised. What receives less attention is the emotional burden: anxiety, low self-esteem, frustration and family conflict that accumulate when a young person struggles to meet demands that others seem to manage without effort.

Blip does not provide ADHD diagnostic assessments. We work with young people who have an existing ADHD diagnosis, or who are awaiting one, where the emotional weight and day-to-day functioning have become the main problem. We support what sits alongside ADHD, not the diagnostic process itself.

What ADHD can look like beyond the headline symptoms

For many families, the diagnosis comes after years of confusion, and it does not automatically make things easier. Parents describe battles over homework and mornings that drain everyone. Young people describe feeling stupid, lazy or misunderstood when they know they are none of those things. Anxiety and low mood often follow, particularly when a young person can see clearly what they want to do but cannot make themselves do it.

In school, ADHD often looks different in girls than boys: inattentive presentation without disruptive behaviour is frequently missed until secondary school or later, by which point anxiety, perfectionism and low self-esteem have often taken hold.

In young adults aged 18 to 25, ADHD can affect university performance, employment and relationships in ways that are hard to attribute to any single cause. This cohort often falls between services: too old for CAMHS, and not yet prioritised by adult mental health.

What blip offers

Pathway timescales

1. 1Triage. Within 5 working days of referral
2. 2Initial assessment. Within 3 weeks
3. 3Care plan agreed. Within 1 week of assessment
4. 4Intervention begins. Within 2 weeks of care plan

One clinician, a full team behind them

Every young person at blip has a named clinician who leads their care. That clinician is backed by a multidisciplinary team: consultant psychiatrist, senior CAMHS practitioners, occupational therapist, and family therapist. The team meets weekly. No decisions about a case are made by a single clinician alone.