ADHD, ASD, and Neurodiversity – is it time to move on?

In this address Dr Fry, Consultant Integrative Child Psychiatrist and ex-GP will discuss his journey to questioning the continued utility of the diagnoses “ADHD, ASD and Neurodiversity” and look at other ways of thinking about those presentations, which appear to be mushrooming to an almost endemic level.

We will look at the drivers, use and meaning of these diagnoses.  We will also consider the inter-relationship between Paediatrics and Psychiatry in these conditions.

Dr Fry will explain how he now considers these syndromic categories to be unhelpful, preferring an individualised approach to the reasons why some cannot concentrate, are subject to overwhelm or other symptoms.  Genetic testing and vulnerabilities form an important part of his investigation of aetiologies, along with consideration of toxic loads, metabolic variability, diet and lifestyle considerations.

In the final section we will consider new ways of thinking about the problems these children have and how to address them.

Dr Fry has been in practice for nearly forty years and seen many changes in the recognition, presentation, diagnostic and treatment trends in these diagnoses.  His personal and professional journey from pure mainstream approaches to a more inclusive and holistic one is the story of this lecture.

Dr Richard Fry is a Consultant Integrative Child Psychiatrist practicing in the private sector in the UK after many years leading services in the NHS.  He also spent some years in General Practice.

In the last fifteen years he has moved from purely mainstream and conventional approaches to a more holistic view of brain and emotional health.

He now practices in an Integrative fashion trying to consider the drivers of these presentations and address them.  The aim is to minimise the exclusive use of medications and to optimise their effects where they are used.  Metabolic and genetic health and constitution are key to his thinking.  He places great emphasis on working in collaboration with colleagues skilled in Physical Medicine as well as those with Psychological expertise.