Seeing all of the replies just brought some major tears to my eyes! I'm glad I found you all. For a long time there I was really starting to believe I was alone in all this!! Here are some answers to the questions you asked....
1/Who diagnosed your child, if anyone? She was seeing social workers through a private agency and after I watched 2 of them be fired that were assigned to my daughter I decided that place was more harm then help so currently were not seeing anyone but her school social worker and the psychologist (meeting on Tuesday..IEP I believe it is) Has your child ever had an intensive evaluation at a children's hospital or auniveristy hospital? She has never been to the hospital but I have been tempted due to the fact she does A LOT of things that are very dangerous (running out in front of cars, taking off running in public places, biting, pinching, hitting people and doesnt seem to know when enough is enough ect) Does anyone on here know anything about the U of M Childrens hospital in Ann Arbor Michigan thats where I was thinking of taking her?
2/We already know you have some mental health issues, which puts your child at higher risk for the same ones. Do you know about any issues or substance abuse on his bio. dad's side of the family? Her father is an alcoholic, has seizures and anxiety, he doesn't come around hardly at all maybe sees his daughter 2x a year so I don't know much about him.
Any other psychiatric problems on YOUR side of the family? My family is all undiagnosed but being in and out of the mental health system since I was a child I can tell you from my opinion that my dad suffered with ODD as a child and still suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) he also has non-hodgkins lymphoma. His mother had a diagnosis of depression and took zoloft for years. My mother has depression as does her mother and my aunt who keeps having these unexplained seizures that I seem to think are somehow related to anxiety.
3/How was her early development? Did she talk on time, make good eye contact with strangers, potty on time, socialize well with peers? Can she transition well? Have any odd habits such as rocking or arm flapping or making mouth noises or high pitch screeches?
She was a very good child, never cried much or anything, developed too fast actually, she was crawling at 5 months and walking by 8. By the time she was around 18 months though I knew there was something wrong. She wouldnt listen to my voice or look at me at all just outright would ignore me and growl and act like a tiger (she STILL does this growling). She started to be diliberately mean at that time, pinching me scratching me screaming at me, she still does some of these behaviors as well. I know a lot of things are normal for a 1 1/2-2 year old, but I knew something wasn't right with my daughter. It got to the point where I couldn't take her anywhere. Her sister was born when she was 15 months so I kind of thought it was maybe a jealousy thing, but I know now it's like a disease.
Do you have family or friends nearby to watch the girls once in a while so you can have a break? My dad lives a few miles away and takes her every weekend.
