Research

Share your experience of ADHD and autism care in Scotland

An anonymous survey for anyone in Scotland who has sought, or is seeking, an ADHD or autism assessment. It takes about 7 minutes, and every answer helps.

Reviewed by ADHD Scot,

Why we are doing this

We have already asked all 14 of Scotland's NHS health boards for their ADHD and autism assessment waiting times, and published every response on our FOI tracker. Those figures show what the system records. They cannot show what it is actually like to live it: the years spent waiting, being told it was anxiety, the cost of going private, or being turned away entirely.

This survey fills that gap. It captures lived experience, access and waiting times, being taken seriously, the impact of ADHD and autism, shared care, medication, cost, and whether people can find any help while they wait. Put together with the FOI data, it builds a picture that exists nowhere else.

It is completely anonymous. We do not collect your name, email, or IP address, and you do not sign in.

Take the survey

About 7 minutes, fully anonymous, and every question after the first is optional so you skip anything that does not apply to you.

How we are running this

We are publishing our method up front, before any results exist, so you can see exactly what we asked and how we will report it. This is the same transparency we apply to our FOI data.

Who it is for: anyone aged 16 or over, living in Scotland, who has sought or is seeking an ADHD and/or autism assessment, answering about themselves or as a parent or carer about a child.

Anonymity and data protection: the survey collects no personal data. No name, email, IP address or login, age in bands rather than date of birth, and health board region rather than postcode. Because responses are anonymous and cannot identify anyone, they are not personal data under UK GDPR. Written comments are used only anonymised and paraphrased, so no individual can be identified. Nothing is ever sold.

How we will report it: we report the percentage of people who answered each question, always stating the number each figure is based on, broken down by health board, gender and route where useful. We never publish a figure based on fewer than five people. We describe results as "of the people who responded", never as a percentage of everyone with ADHD or autism in Scotland.

Its limits, honestly: this is a self-selected survey. People choose to take part, so it over-represents those with strong experiences, often difficult ones, and those who are active online. It is not a representative sample and cannot be generalised to all patients in Scotland. It is lived experience, honestly reported, and read alongside the hard FOI figures it is powerful.

Results will be published on this page. Questions or corrections are welcome, exactly as with our FOI data: hello@adhdscot.co.uk.

If anything here raises difficult feelings, support is available now. Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87, Samaritans 116 123, NHS 24 111, or text Shout to 85258.