Can You Get a Disability Report for ADHD in Turkey?

"What percentage of disability do they give for ADHD?" is asked a lot, and the answer satisfies no one: there is no fixed percentage.

The reason is this: the legislation does not hand out percentages by the name of the diagnosis. What is looked at is loss of function. This article explains how the process runs and what the report does and does not provide. The assessment is the job of the authorized health board.

What is looked at

In adults, disability assessment is carried out within the framework of the Regulation on Disability Assessment for Adults. The logic of the regulation is to look at how far the loss in a person's physical, mental, psychological and sensory abilities restricts participation in daily life.

In psychological and behavioral conditions, the assessment rests less on the name of the diagnosis than on these questions:

• How well do the symptoms respond to treatment?
• In which areas and at what level is the loss of function?
• How well can the person keep up with daily tasks, working life and social relationships?

That is why the result can differ in two people with the same diagnosis. Content that says "ADHD gets this much" invents a certainty that is not in the legislation.

How the process runs

The general flow is as follows:

1. Applying to the hospital. You apply to a health institution authorized to issue disability health board reports.
2. Examinations in the relevant branches. In psychological conditions the psychiatric assessment is the core; other branches come into play depending on the picture.
3. Board assessment. The disability health board evaluates the examination findings and the file together and issues the report.
4. The report result. The report is entered into the system with an e-signature; it can be queried through e-Devlet (the e-government portal).

What is useful to bring to the file: doctors' reports showing the current ADHD diagnosis, the treatment history, the medications used, psychometric assessment results if any, and concrete information showing the loss of function.

That last item is the most often skipped. The sentence "I struggle" is not assessable data; the sentence "I changed jobs four times in three years, and I left two of them because of absences" is data. I wrote about this picture in the article on changing jobs often.

There is a separate regulation for children

For those under 18 a separate framework called ÇÖZGER runs: the Special Needs Assessment for Children. Its logic and terminology differ from the adult regulation.

The school side is a completely different process. For educational assessment and arrangements at school, you go to RAM (the Guidance and Research Center); I explained it in the RAM article. The two do not replace each other.

What the report provides

Depending on its percentage and scope, the report can be used in different areas: job applications under the employment of people with disabilities in the public and private sector, financial arrangements such as tax deductions, and some social rights and services.

I am not writing an exact list or percentage threshold here, because these topics are spread across different pieces of legislation and can be updated. The conditions of the right you want to use need to be confirmed in writing with the relevant institution.

What the report does not provide

It does not replace treatment. The report is a document; the treatment plan runs separately.

Exam accommodations do not come automatically. For arrangements in ÖSYM (the Student Selection and Placement Center) exams there is a separate application and document process; I wrote about it in the article on the ÖSYM application.

It does not bring automatic arrangements at work. Adjustments in the workplace are a separate conversation; I covered it in the article on ADHD at work.

It does not force you to disclose the diagnosis to everyone. The existence of the report does not make your decision about what to tell whom for you. The article on disclosing your diagnosis is about this.

Three common situations

The percentage coming out lower than expected. There is a route to appeal; the procedure and deadline are learned from the institution that issued the report. For an appeal, adding new information is more meaningful than submitting the same file again.

Accompanying conditions not being written down. Depression, anxiety and sleep problems, which often accompany ADHD, are part of the assessment. Their appearing in the file shows the picture as a whole.

Appointments and paperwork falling apart. This process has many steps and each has to be remembered. A single file and dates written into a calendar are the biggest help here.

What I take from it

A common mistake on this subject is to build an expectation on percentage tables on the internet and end up disappointed.

The logic of the legislation is not the name of the diagnosis, it is loss of function. At first glance this looks cold, but one side of it is good: there is room to describe what the person really lives through. As long as that description is concrete.

The information here is a general framework, not medical or legal advice. The assessment belongs to the authorized health board; for the scope of rights, get written confirmation from the relevant institution.