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am I doing the right thing.....
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<blockquote data-quote="InsaneCdn" data-source="post: 437243" data-attributes="member: 11791"><p>Hmmm...</p><p></p><p>You've already been through the therapy rounds more than once. And as you say, the costs add up.</p><p></p><p>Maybe you could try looking at some non-technical "diagnoses" for your next layer. These will NOT be the whole answer, but may peel back one or more layers so you can get to the bottom of things.</p><p></p><p>I'd be looking for fatigue - mental, physical, emotional, neuro-motor, anything... Fatigue always generates behavior problems - even in PCs - its just that difficult children react even more poorly to fatigue. The good news is that most of this research you can begin yourself, and the rest should be fairly easily accessible and not outrageously expensive...</p><p></p><p>Wondering if just maybe, he behaves better over the holidays and/or (maybe) on weekends? If so, the issues will be more specific to school tasks and school life - just one more factor to note in your research. </p><p></p><p>How much sleep does he get? Is he hard to wake in the morning? How long does it take him to fall asleep at night? Are his sleep routines consistent (bedtime and wake-time have a fair consistency, and exceptions are within 1.5 hours of "normal")? Does he have a TV in his room? A computer? A cell-phone? Computer games? Anything that would keep him up at night? Anything else going on at home that might keep him awake? </p><p>Things to watch for:</p><p>- falling asleep in less than 10 minutes, frequently</p><p>- difficult to wake in the morning</p><p>- difficulty staying asleep</p><p>- restless sleep</p><p>- dark circles under the eyes</p><p>=> if you're seeing these things... start with the family doctor and ask for bloodwork related to fatigue... iron, thyroid, calcium, etc. </p><p>=> if inconsistency exists, try to establish more routine</p><p>=> if difficult to wake, try an earlier bed-time or later start to the day</p><p></p><p>Does he follow verbal instructions well? Does it make a difference if he is in a quiet or noisy environment? How is his speaking - does he pronounce things clearly, or sometimes has trouble wrapping his tongue around certain words? Normal vocabulary? Started speaking "late"? Any of these would support a screening by an Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) (speech-language pathologist). In particular, their feedback can rule out specific issues, and/or raise flags. SPECIFICALLY ask about testing for auditory discrimination - this is a newer test set, which looks for the difference in "listening ability" in noisy vs. quiet environments... most classrooms are noisy! Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) issues can be supported in school - for some things, by therapy, for others, by technology (listening systems, for example). If these problems exist, then the child is likely expending significantly more mental energy than his peers, to try to hold it together at school. Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) screenings, at least here, take about 2 hours - plus report-writing time - so not highly expensive. Most schools have Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) resources, but not usually available to "older kids" and only for extreme cases - which your child is probably NOT (or you'd already know and/or school would have caught it much earlier...)</p><p></p><p>Is he "sensitive" about stuff? like, food (textures, smells), his clothes (tags, seams, kinds of fabrics), water temperature, noise, activity, etc.? How is his pencil-grip - does he write well? or is that "workable" but a struggle? How long did it take him to learn to tie shoes? ride a bike? Does he avoid clothes with buttons? Does it take him extra time to get dressed? These kinds of issues would call for an Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation (occupational therapy) - in these parts, that should be about 4 hours of testing and a couple of hours for writing the report... so total cost should be in the 3-digit figures. The Occupational Therapist (OT) would be looking for "sensory issues" and/or motor-development issues. OTs cannot provide a diagnosis, but their input is invaluable in helping others make their diagnosis, AND the fact that the Occupational Therapist (OT) documents issues means others will take note as well. AND the Occupational Therapist (OT) has therapies that can help. (we paid for this - and are paying for an updated re-test several years later - its been worth it)</p><p></p><p>If these three strategies turn up issues, then you have NEW DATA to take to the next psychiatrist/therapist/pediatrician/whoever else... which can help in coming up with a different course of action. Even if all of these come back as "clear - no issues", you STILL have "new data" to take with you... because you at least know what the problem "is not".</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="InsaneCdn, post: 437243, member: 11791"] Hmmm... You've already been through the therapy rounds more than once. And as you say, the costs add up. Maybe you could try looking at some non-technical "diagnoses" for your next layer. These will NOT be the whole answer, but may peel back one or more layers so you can get to the bottom of things. I'd be looking for fatigue - mental, physical, emotional, neuro-motor, anything... Fatigue always generates behavior problems - even in PCs - its just that difficult children react even more poorly to fatigue. The good news is that most of this research you can begin yourself, and the rest should be fairly easily accessible and not outrageously expensive... Wondering if just maybe, he behaves better over the holidays and/or (maybe) on weekends? If so, the issues will be more specific to school tasks and school life - just one more factor to note in your research. How much sleep does he get? Is he hard to wake in the morning? How long does it take him to fall asleep at night? Are his sleep routines consistent (bedtime and wake-time have a fair consistency, and exceptions are within 1.5 hours of "normal")? Does he have a TV in his room? A computer? A cell-phone? Computer games? Anything that would keep him up at night? Anything else going on at home that might keep him awake? Things to watch for: - falling asleep in less than 10 minutes, frequently - difficult to wake in the morning - difficulty staying asleep - restless sleep - dark circles under the eyes => if you're seeing these things... start with the family doctor and ask for bloodwork related to fatigue... iron, thyroid, calcium, etc. => if inconsistency exists, try to establish more routine => if difficult to wake, try an earlier bed-time or later start to the day Does he follow verbal instructions well? Does it make a difference if he is in a quiet or noisy environment? How is his speaking - does he pronounce things clearly, or sometimes has trouble wrapping his tongue around certain words? Normal vocabulary? Started speaking "late"? Any of these would support a screening by an Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) (speech-language pathologist). In particular, their feedback can rule out specific issues, and/or raise flags. SPECIFICALLY ask about testing for auditory discrimination - this is a newer test set, which looks for the difference in "listening ability" in noisy vs. quiet environments... most classrooms are noisy! Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) issues can be supported in school - for some things, by therapy, for others, by technology (listening systems, for example). If these problems exist, then the child is likely expending significantly more mental energy than his peers, to try to hold it together at school. Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) screenings, at least here, take about 2 hours - plus report-writing time - so not highly expensive. Most schools have Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) resources, but not usually available to "older kids" and only for extreme cases - which your child is probably NOT (or you'd already know and/or school would have caught it much earlier...) Is he "sensitive" about stuff? like, food (textures, smells), his clothes (tags, seams, kinds of fabrics), water temperature, noise, activity, etc.? How is his pencil-grip - does he write well? or is that "workable" but a struggle? How long did it take him to learn to tie shoes? ride a bike? Does he avoid clothes with buttons? Does it take him extra time to get dressed? These kinds of issues would call for an Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation (occupational therapy) - in these parts, that should be about 4 hours of testing and a couple of hours for writing the report... so total cost should be in the 3-digit figures. The Occupational Therapist (OT) would be looking for "sensory issues" and/or motor-development issues. OTs cannot provide a diagnosis, but their input is invaluable in helping others make their diagnosis, AND the fact that the Occupational Therapist (OT) documents issues means others will take note as well. AND the Occupational Therapist (OT) has therapies that can help. (we paid for this - and are paying for an updated re-test several years later - its been worth it) If these three strategies turn up issues, then you have NEW DATA to take to the next psychiatrist/therapist/pediatrician/whoever else... which can help in coming up with a different course of action. Even if all of these come back as "clear - no issues", you STILL have "new data" to take with you... because you at least know what the problem "is not". [/QUOTE]
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