Doctor for diagnoses.

[angels]

<span style='font-family: Comic Sans MS'>Hi,
:crazy:<span style='font-size: 11pt'>I'm new to this. Found this site by mistake. Seems like a GOOD mistake so far!
I have so much I want to ask but will start with the first step.
My 1st question is:
Who exactly do I need to see to get a "overall" testing done on my son? Maybe I should explain a little first.
Please bear with me, I think it's gonna be a long one!
My son has been in special services since he was 4 yrs old (only speech) They did always mention some kind of anger, frustration with him but the associated it with the speech delay.By the time he went into kindergarten they said alot of the language would be picked up in 1st grade so to be patient and did not qualify in first and kindergarten. I look back now and I think how nieve I was and sometimes still am ,but I have come a long way. He is now 9 yrs old and in 3rd grade. Last year is when things escalated as far as behavioral part. I believe alot of his issues are due to him being able to express himself when he is mad and it is hard for him to deal with situations and he reacts with yelling and has an outburst. Reading some of the criteria I think he has ODD too along with charaterists of ADHD. I asked them to<span style='font-family: Comic Sans MS'> please re-evaluate him in 2nd grade because he still strugles with words. They did a e-val and they classified him emotionally disturbed due to the percentage in which he rated. He was,at times difiant refused to be tested and he did knock a chair because he was upset, when he was in </span>this mood he let you know. I just took it and I am thinking of having him retested because I'm not happy with the classification. I am not in denial it's just a gut feeling.(any suggestions on this one) They gave me two choices. to work with special needs children in the school or take him out of district. I forgot, they referred him to a psychotherapist that works for my school district and he classified him with ADHD. My question is what kind of sevice do I need to take him to to do a OVERALL assestment? I still feel like there is something else going on or he was misdiagnosed. I must say in my sons defense alot of the behavior is my fault because many times there are no consequenses and lack of consistancy, so I am to blame. I need to do this and that is why I am doing alot of searching. Thanks for any help! P.S i am still trying to get my profile done.</span></span>

 

[PollyParent]

Your son sounds very much like mine.

You've landed in the right place; there are a lot of VERY experienced folks on this board who will help you through this process. First of all, take a break from blaming yourself. Yeah, you could be doing things better, but on the other hand, part of parenting a kid like this is knowing where to pick your battles. SO sometimes my son "gets away with" stuff that his sisters would never dream of doing. But it's not all bad parenting, so give yourself a break and focus on what the kid needs.

Mine was initially designated as Emotionally Disturbed by the School District (SD), but with further analysis and private evaluations, I have been able to request that his designation be changed to Asperger's with Anxiety.

In my experience ED becomes something of a catch-all designation, as in, we don't know what it is, but we can get him in this box for right now. I wouldn't stay in that box if you can get a deeper understanding of WHAT is driving that behavior.

Schools tend to focus on behavior, but they often miss the connection that the behavior is often CAUSED by an underlying disability, perhaps a cognitive deficit in social perception.

My son is generally defiant when he is frustrated or anxious (or doesn't like the adults he is around) or when he doesn't understand WHY he should have to do X, Y, or Z. The defiance is NOT the disability in our case, it is the major symptom of the disability, which for us is Asperger's.

It took us a long time to land at Asperger's and I still believe there are elements of Early Onset Bipolar Disorder going on too, but it's been hard to crack one disability apart from the other.

I would suggest asking your pediatrician for a consult, explaining the child's behavior and your discomfort with the school diagnosis. You can ask for a referral to a pediatric psychiatrist to begin the process of a neuroevaluation, or you cna request, in writing, that the SD take part in an IEE (Independent Expert (Educational?) Evaluation).

Speech and language delay, along with raging when frustrated are hallmark signs of Asperger's and a few other disabilities. (I'm a little tired just now, as I'm up late cramming for my son's IEP in teh morning. If I were more awake, I could rattle off the names of some other disabilities.

Does your child have friends? Does he do well in a group? Is there a particular topic in school which sets him off? Or a task?

Your school district needs to provide for your son. They can't tell you to take him somewhere else -- THEY have the responsibility here. They also have the responsibility to Make Accommodations For His Disability, not blame him for his behavior. The courts do not look kindly on that sort of behavior from School Districts. The "Least Restrictive Environment" is the GenEd classroom in his own district. It's the school district's responsibility to make that work for him, or to provide an appropriate setting outside of that classroom.

More people will come along and comment too. There are some great resources here. Keep asking questions.

PollyParent

 

[SRL]

Hi Angels,

Do you have insurance or the financial resources to get an evaluation done by a private doctor or clinic? Personally I wouldn't trust a school district evaluation on child who has been struggling for this many years without making good progress.

 

[Sheila]

I wouldn't trust your school district either.

Unless your child has recently been evaluated by the school district, the chance of your being able to get an IEE (independent educational evaluation at public expense) probably is not good. And the time it would take to win the battle with-the sd, if winnable, would just further delay things.

Because of the high probability of co-existing conditions, I'm a big fan of multidisciplinary evaluations for "overall" evaluations. http://www.conductdisorders.com/community/threads/parent-input-multi-disciplinary-evaluation.10/

They gave me two choices. to work with special needs children in the school or take him out of district.

I categorize this as bullying and lying. School districts must educate their students.

And your child was what? +/-10 yrs old at the time?

If a parent refuses special education, the child is held to the same standards as a regular student -- including alternative schools for behavior problem kids or expelling a student when serious offenses are involved (bringing a weapon to school, drugs on campus, serious bodily injury situations).

On the flip side, when a parent with-a child with-an IEP disagrees with IEP placement, they still can't make a parent remove the student from the district. Parents have the right and the responsibility to be a full member of the IEP team.

Welcome aboard.

 

[Martie]

In the interest of dotting all i's and crossing all t's, I would ask the SD for a full, complete and legally correct re-evaluation of all areas of suspected disability (if it has been at least one year since they last evaluated.)SEND ALL MAIL TO THE SD CERTIFIED-- it is the only way to prove when you sent things. Start a good filing system if you do not already have one. You need to do this because the SD does not have to accept the findings of an outside evaluation--it must "consider" them only.

Simultaneously, I would seek a private multidisciplinary evaluation from a major medical center children's psychiatric unit. Then I would compare the findings of the two evaluations.

With these in hand, you should be able to figure out what is going on sufficiently to get a good IEP for your son. WHERE this should be delivered depends upon what the evaluations say, but certainly it is illegal to say a priori, that you can "do this or leave..."

Martie

 

[angels]

<span style='font-family: Comic Sans MS'>Hi Polly Parent,
Thanks for responding to my post. I must say it feels good knowing you are not alone. I am sorry I didn't respond quicker, Sometimes it's so hard getting to the computer.

I now take him to a prevenative medicine doctor. He is out of network so I have been working a few hours at night to help with bills (every little bit helps). It's so hard to trust these Doctors,they are so guick at guessing what is wrong and that is what I'm worries me too. The patients are just another visit! How did you know when you were comfortable with the diagnoses?

I did have him see a psychiatrist and she put him on concerta which was very hard for me to do(emotionally).He was on it for 5 days and she took him off because she said I should have noticed a difference, so she thought to suffered from depression and prescribed 2 other medications. I left and threw it in the garbage and never went back. I have decided to do this naturally. It's not for everyone.

As far as the out of distric school, I think it was a blessing in disguise. My son was labeled in his school, by the staff and alot of parents. His teacher was very helpful. It's sad but he never was called for a play date. Thank god for two neigbors.

The school he goes to now is a very structuered. So far he is doing well. sometimes he goofs around and gets into trouble, but she does not see any real "BAD" behavior. It is 30 minutes away but the bus picks him up. I feel bad about him having to get up extra early and riding for about an hour. I appreciate your words about blaming myself, but I have so much guilt.

Is you son into sports? My son wants nothing to do with sports except for soccer, and will not try any. If we ever try and plan an outing there is always a drama. " I don't want to go" why do we have to........ He does have anxiety I believe. He hates to go into another city if it's far and he hasn't said anything but there was a time he worried someone would come into the house and kill me or the thought of me dying, Thank God, he has not mentioned that. How did your IEP go? I hope it went well.
Angel</span>

 

[angels]

<span style='font-family: Comic Sans MS'> </span>
<span style='font-family: Comic Sans MS'>Hi, I do have insurance but to tell you the truth I would rather go outside. I feel like most of the Doctors on the plan do not try as hard if thy are waitng to get paid.

I am having doubts about his diagnosis. I do believe he has characteristics of ADHD but something doen't seem right.
Angels </span>

 

[angels]

<span style='font-family: Comic Sans MS'>Hi,
How do you have the school pick up the cost of the bill for the outside evaluation?

Thanks for the sites I will look into them.
Angels</span>

 

[SRL]

You can challenge the school's diagnostics and push them to get an independent evaluation at their cost but you have a lot less leeway with them plus they automatically have access to any reports. This can become a huge problem when you don't agree with the call the specialist(s) make.

Check if your insurance plan covers a pediatric neuropsychologist. They usually do a thorough job in diagnosis and then refer you on to other specialists as needed based on the results. Often if your insurance doesn't cover it your pediatrician can petition the insurance company to cover one that's out of system.

 

[PollyParent]

Hi Angels,

It's been hard for me to get on the computer these days too.

We had MANY diagnosis's before we landed on AS. Many.

Grade one : ODD (and odd allegations of abuse which were put to rest rather quickly but which soured our ability to trust that psychologist)
Grade two : ODD and possible Bipolar
Grade three: Not ODD, but Anxiety. Possible Asperger's but more likely Intermittent explosivity. Then ADD. Then Aspergers without ADD. We went to a BUNCH of doctors that year. Four, I think?

This year: We've all sort of settled on Asperger's although as I read in a book, "If you've known one Asperger's child, then you've met only one Asperger's child." Meaning that it's not true that if you've met one, you've met them all.

My son's Asperger's comes along with a fairly high rage quotient. He understands simple conversations, making eye contact, being polite. So people don't think he has social deficits. But he'll often walkaway from a conversation and not have ANY IDEA what the other person was talking about. He makes the right responses in the moment, but he seems to misinterpret almost every sentence the other person said. Trying to demonstrate this to the staff who work with him in school has been wildly frustrating for me.

Lots of people interpret his actions as being wholly willful. Don't get me wrong, there is often a manipulative part in his acting out. I'm very honest about that. But first you have to determine if he truly understands what is expected of him. If he misinterprets something and you point out that it's a mistake, he stops raging immediately -- within a breath. If he's being manipulative, that won't happen.

In regards to sports, my town is very into sports, so my son talks a lot about them. But he doesn't understand the rules of the games most of the time. We don't have him participate in sports because he although he's a fine winner, thanking everyone for a good game, shaking hands with the loser, etc., he's just insane if he loses or feels as if he is about to lose. It's too much for him to be in a competitive setting right now, so we don't allow it.

Our hope is that he'll be able to become more adept with social skills and then learn how to "fake it til you make it" in sports.

My son is very intrigued with music and instruments. And Science. And the internet.

More later,

PollyParent