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<blockquote data-quote="susiestar" data-source="post: 169508" data-attributes="member: 1233"><p>Welcome CardiganGirl! I am so glad you found us. Sorry you needed to, but glad you are here, nonetheless.</p><p> </p><p>Just in case you didn't understand the term, MDE (see klmno's post) is a multi-disciplinary evaluation. There is info on these on the FAQ/Board Help forum. It is a team of professionals (docs and others) who all evaluate your child and then work together to figure things out. If you are lucky, a neuropsychologist is included in the team. We were lucky enough to have this, but many here were not. That is why most here recommend the neuropsychologist seperately. Neuropsychs (good ones) do 10-12 or more hours of testing, broken up over several days. We found the MDE (with a neuropsychologist) at the developmental pediatrician's office. This is rare. Usually an MDE is found at a major university or children's hospital.</p><p> </p><p>Also found in the FAQ/Board Help section of this site is a thread on Parent Report or Parent Input. I forget which it is called. It is a way to organize info about your daughter so that the docs will "get it". I found it to be amazingly helpful, as have others. It should NOT be tackled in one session, you really need several to do it justice. If you have a doctor appointment sooner than that, be brief on each section and fill in more info later. One of the most important parts of this report, for me, was the photo. I got a bunch of little photos about 1" by 1 1/2" from the school that were stickers. I used these throughout the report, at each section beginning and in the middle of long sections, so that the docs would remember WHICH child they were learning about. Heck, I find it useful in stuff I give to my docs now! Anyway, wanted to let you know this was in there - it might help give a more complete view of your daughter to the doctors.</p><p> </p><p>I know how hard it is to remember they are just little girls when their bodies look so much older. My 12yo could be taken for (and HAS been taken for) over 18! It is alarming, but is what it is. Working to remember how young they are really does help increase patience for me. </p><p> </p><p>Another thing that helped me was learning to tell the signs at the beginning of when I was getting angry. Physical signs like clenching my teeth, etc... I found it in a book called Look Out, Mom's Gonna Blow, or something like that. It was a Christian book, but was not strictly bible based or any specific brand of religion other than Christian. Learning how to tell when I was starting to become very angry was incredibly helpful - it let me manage myself, after that I could better handle my son when he was getting angry.</p><p> </p><p>I think most of us here were first given the ADHD diagnosis for our kids. Our first psychiatrist explained Asperger's as having ADHD as a symptom, though it was written down separately to increase the access to services and funding. But most of us, no matter what diagnosis we end up with, start off with ADHD. </p><p> </p><p>The Explosive Child is great at helping parent our kids. It is a different way of looking at parenting, but is incredibly helpful. Marg is also very very helpful at letting us see how our kids think, which helps us handle how they act. She just is able to open a window into how the kids think, I am always amazed by her ability to do this. I get a lot less mad (and yell a lot less) when I "get" the why behind my kids' actions.</p><p> </p><p>The other thing I want to mention here (before I write a book at you, LOL!) is the possiblity of sensory issues. Have you heard of Sensory Integration Disorder? It is when the brain can't process all the input from the senses. From my understanding, the first technique thing that is recommended to help a child with sensory issues is a full evaluation by an occupational therapist. The schools may do an evaluation by an Occupational Therapist (OT), but it rarely gives the full picture. A private Occupational Therapist (OT) will do a much better job. Then they teach you about brushing your child. this is done over or under clothes with a very soft brush, like a surgical scrub brush. It is simple, but amazing. DO NOT DO THIS with-O TRAINING BY AN Occupational Therapist (OT)!!! If you brush certain areas, or don't follow the procedure properly, it can create more problems. Brushing the stomach, for example, can create problems throughout the digestive tract. So training is important. But WOW! my youngest quit having major tantrums and outbursts when we started the brushing. He also was happy, so much less anxious, and amazingly calm. I used it on my daughter (who had PTSD) after I was trained and the Occupational Therapist (OT) said that as long as I did it properly it would not hurt her and I didn't need a separate session for her. It really helped with her anxiety and panic attacks. </p><p> </p><p>Anyway, glad you are here, I hope to see you around often!</p><p> </p><p>Susie</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="susiestar, post: 169508, member: 1233"] Welcome CardiganGirl! I am so glad you found us. Sorry you needed to, but glad you are here, nonetheless. Just in case you didn't understand the term, MDE (see klmno's post) is a multi-disciplinary evaluation. There is info on these on the FAQ/Board Help forum. It is a team of professionals (docs and others) who all evaluate your child and then work together to figure things out. If you are lucky, a neuropsychologist is included in the team. We were lucky enough to have this, but many here were not. That is why most here recommend the neuropsychologist seperately. Neuropsychs (good ones) do 10-12 or more hours of testing, broken up over several days. We found the MDE (with a neuropsychologist) at the developmental pediatrician's office. This is rare. Usually an MDE is found at a major university or children's hospital. Also found in the FAQ/Board Help section of this site is a thread on Parent Report or Parent Input. I forget which it is called. It is a way to organize info about your daughter so that the docs will "get it". I found it to be amazingly helpful, as have others. It should NOT be tackled in one session, you really need several to do it justice. If you have a doctor appointment sooner than that, be brief on each section and fill in more info later. One of the most important parts of this report, for me, was the photo. I got a bunch of little photos about 1" by 1 1/2" from the school that were stickers. I used these throughout the report, at each section beginning and in the middle of long sections, so that the docs would remember WHICH child they were learning about. Heck, I find it useful in stuff I give to my docs now! Anyway, wanted to let you know this was in there - it might help give a more complete view of your daughter to the doctors. I know how hard it is to remember they are just little girls when their bodies look so much older. My 12yo could be taken for (and HAS been taken for) over 18! It is alarming, but is what it is. Working to remember how young they are really does help increase patience for me. Another thing that helped me was learning to tell the signs at the beginning of when I was getting angry. Physical signs like clenching my teeth, etc... I found it in a book called Look Out, Mom's Gonna Blow, or something like that. It was a Christian book, but was not strictly bible based or any specific brand of religion other than Christian. Learning how to tell when I was starting to become very angry was incredibly helpful - it let me manage myself, after that I could better handle my son when he was getting angry. I think most of us here were first given the ADHD diagnosis for our kids. Our first psychiatrist explained Asperger's as having ADHD as a symptom, though it was written down separately to increase the access to services and funding. But most of us, no matter what diagnosis we end up with, start off with ADHD. The Explosive Child is great at helping parent our kids. It is a different way of looking at parenting, but is incredibly helpful. Marg is also very very helpful at letting us see how our kids think, which helps us handle how they act. She just is able to open a window into how the kids think, I am always amazed by her ability to do this. I get a lot less mad (and yell a lot less) when I "get" the why behind my kids' actions. The other thing I want to mention here (before I write a book at you, LOL!) is the possiblity of sensory issues. Have you heard of Sensory Integration Disorder? It is when the brain can't process all the input from the senses. From my understanding, the first technique thing that is recommended to help a child with sensory issues is a full evaluation by an occupational therapist. The schools may do an evaluation by an Occupational Therapist (OT), but it rarely gives the full picture. A private Occupational Therapist (OT) will do a much better job. Then they teach you about brushing your child. this is done over or under clothes with a very soft brush, like a surgical scrub brush. It is simple, but amazing. DO NOT DO THIS with-O TRAINING BY AN Occupational Therapist (OT)!!! If you brush certain areas, or don't follow the procedure properly, it can create more problems. Brushing the stomach, for example, can create problems throughout the digestive tract. So training is important. But WOW! my youngest quit having major tantrums and outbursts when we started the brushing. He also was happy, so much less anxious, and amazingly calm. I used it on my daughter (who had PTSD) after I was trained and the Occupational Therapist (OT) said that as long as I did it properly it would not hurt her and I didn't need a separate session for her. It really helped with her anxiety and panic attacks. Anyway, glad you are here, I hope to see you around often! Susie [/QUOTE]
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