ICD-10 codes - What are they?

I'd like to touch on the process of getting a diagnosis of a neurodivergent condition - that includes autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia and more. 

The most important thing to remember is that these are not associated with intelligence.

A neurodivergent condition (in simple terms) means that the brain processes information differently to those who are neurotypical (someone who doesn't have a condition such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, for example.)

The process of getting diagnosed, whether via traditional healthcare routes or privately, can be daunting for any person and their family. Most of the time we enter this part of life with little to no idea of what to expect and it's a learning curve for everyone. There are so many questions we need answering and fortunately in this day and age, the Internet is a huge help. Finding out the meaning of new medical terms is an enlightening experience, and often leads us down a rabbit hole, thus teaching us about conditions and disorders we didn't even know existed. Suddenly we know things. 

Medical diagnoses often contain a lot of jargon that just makes no sense to us, and while we can search for these terms online, there are often codes included in the paperwork that really have us stumped. So, I would like to introduce you to the ICD-10 codes, which are medical reference codes for diagnoses (all types!) but the ones I think that are important today are the following:

1. F84.0 Autism spectrum condition
   
   
2. F90.0 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, predominantly inattentive type
3. F90.1 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, predominantly hyperactive type
4. F90.2 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, combined type
   
   
5. F81.1 Specific reading disorder (dyslexia)
6. F81.2 Specific disorder of arithmetical skills (dyscalculia)
7. F81.3 Mixed disorder of scholastic skills (dyslexia, dyscalculia, dysorthography (spelling disorder), dysgraphia (handwriting disorder).)

I have found that understanding these codes helps to understand where the specialist is coming from. 

I've linked the ICD codes and explanations of what neurodiversity means in this post, so just click the hyperlinks if you'd like to know more.