Last night was the first of my new four part series “Born Naughty?”. We made the show with Maverick TV who have a reputation for making responsible health programmes and after years of making Embarrassing bodies have certainly shown they know how to tackle difficult issues sensitively. Something I believe they did extremely well in Born Naughty? Dr Ravi and I have met some very challenging children whilst making this series and have seen first hand the impact that certain behaviours can have on families, friends and schools.
If you watched the show last night and wonder if there could be an underlying medical problem to explain your child’s behaviour then your GP should be your first port of call. Some may also be able to access educational psychologists through school. It can be frustrating as a parent because assessing a child for conditions like ADHD or autism can be a lengthy process. Of course on TV it all looks incredibly quick but the truth is we filmed for many months and concertinered things to make a TV show. I know it is frustrating but it is important that children are properly assessed by different professionals and in different settings. All children can show traits of ADHD or autism at times and it would be easy to jump to conclusions that could have huge implications for that child. Once a diagnosis is made it is for life so we must be certain that we are right. That said it is also important that we make diagnoses as early as possible because with the right intervention, there is good evidence that children with ADHD or autism will get more out of the education system meaning their future looks brighter.
