Sunshine1966
New Member
Hi,
I haven't been on here long but I have some questions on the diagnosing and testing procedures. My difficult child is 4 years old and he was recently diagnosed by a psychiatrist to have ADHD and ODD. My husband and I spent an hour with him initially and then he met with our difficult child for an hour the next visit. There really didn't seem to be any 'testing' or real assessment other than getting the history of behavior and watching him there in the office. Which, by the way, he was almost an angel with the psychiatrist the first time. He showed some resistance when I had to put his shoes on after getting weighed but that's NOTHING compared to what actually happens at home.
We are now on our second medication from the Psychiatrist and its one that most people have never heard of or know nothing about. Should that worry me? Is it because he's so young that the Psychiatrist is trying these different medications? And what kind of testing does a neuropsychologist do exactly? When our difficult child was still in foster care he was evaluated at the CHDD (Center for Human Development & Disability) at the University of Washington. He got examined by a pediatrician and then questioned by a psychologist (I think) and they gave me an age that they thought he was operating at vs. the age he was chronologically (at that point there was a 12 month difference). The last time he saw the psychologist at UW CHDD the doctor said that my son was untestable because he wasn't cooperating with the testing. Even if he knew the answer he wasn't cooperating and treating it like a game. I saw the doctor write down "spoiled" on a exam paper and underline it right in front of me! I was so upset by that I couldn't believe that he would be so bold as to do that right in front of me. He told me that I was going to have a lot of problems with him if I didn't get him help with behavior issues right away.. My thought was that he didn't spend hardly any time with him to even know what his issues were. That was when my difficult child was 3 years old, I cried on the way home and never went back.
So, should I pursue an evaluation by a neuropsychologist to get a better more accurate diagnosis if the psychiatrist didn't do any testing or anything and is just prescribing medications? I am not dead set against medications any more like I thought I was but I certainly would like to feel confident that he's being treated in the right way for what he actually has.
Any pointers or advice on this would be greatly appreciated. I am so thankful for finding this website and I can't imagine not having this place to go and read about things going on with other families and what they are doing to make things work or do better. I have read the "Explosive Child" but I think I'd like to read it again and apply all the younger children hints that were listed here on the site. This has become an invaluable resource for me and I'm so thankful!
Debbie
I haven't been on here long but I have some questions on the diagnosing and testing procedures. My difficult child is 4 years old and he was recently diagnosed by a psychiatrist to have ADHD and ODD. My husband and I spent an hour with him initially and then he met with our difficult child for an hour the next visit. There really didn't seem to be any 'testing' or real assessment other than getting the history of behavior and watching him there in the office. Which, by the way, he was almost an angel with the psychiatrist the first time. He showed some resistance when I had to put his shoes on after getting weighed but that's NOTHING compared to what actually happens at home.
We are now on our second medication from the Psychiatrist and its one that most people have never heard of or know nothing about. Should that worry me? Is it because he's so young that the Psychiatrist is trying these different medications? And what kind of testing does a neuropsychologist do exactly? When our difficult child was still in foster care he was evaluated at the CHDD (Center for Human Development & Disability) at the University of Washington. He got examined by a pediatrician and then questioned by a psychologist (I think) and they gave me an age that they thought he was operating at vs. the age he was chronologically (at that point there was a 12 month difference). The last time he saw the psychologist at UW CHDD the doctor said that my son was untestable because he wasn't cooperating with the testing. Even if he knew the answer he wasn't cooperating and treating it like a game. I saw the doctor write down "spoiled" on a exam paper and underline it right in front of me! I was so upset by that I couldn't believe that he would be so bold as to do that right in front of me. He told me that I was going to have a lot of problems with him if I didn't get him help with behavior issues right away.. My thought was that he didn't spend hardly any time with him to even know what his issues were. That was when my difficult child was 3 years old, I cried on the way home and never went back.
So, should I pursue an evaluation by a neuropsychologist to get a better more accurate diagnosis if the psychiatrist didn't do any testing or anything and is just prescribing medications? I am not dead set against medications any more like I thought I was but I certainly would like to feel confident that he's being treated in the right way for what he actually has.
Any pointers or advice on this would be greatly appreciated. I am so thankful for finding this website and I can't imagine not having this place to go and read about things going on with other families and what they are doing to make things work or do better. I have read the "Explosive Child" but I think I'd like to read it again and apply all the younger children hints that were listed here on the site. This has become an invaluable resource for me and I'm so thankful!
Debbie