trinityroyal
Well-Known Member
Well said, all of you.
And just to throw more complication into the pile, since Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), BiPolar (BP) and other conditions are spectrum disorders, the number of symptoms, range of severity etc. etc. etc. can vary so much from one person to the next.
One of the things that really rots my socks is the approach that a lot of docs take to the diagnostic process. As someone mentioned earlier, often they find what they're looking for. A doctor who's an "ADHD specialist" will diagnose ADHD in the same child that someone else has just labelled bipolar, and someone else again has labelled Aspergers.
Years and years ago, when I was studying Adult Education Theory, there were special units covering the learning styles and requirements of doctors and lawyers. Believe it or not, each group has some singular learning characteristics related to their professions and personalities.
For many doctors, what it boils down to is, they are the experts. Because of the nature of their jobs, and the way they are viewed by society, they cannot be perceived as less than expert at any endeavour in which they participate, as it reduces their credibility with patients, and it hampers their own ability to diagnose with confidence. The biggest hurdle in educating doctors is their lack of willingness to interact with anything where they are not an expert. When I taught beginner-level computer classes for doctors, I had to provide one-on-one private instruction, in order for them to even put their hands on the keyboard, let alone learn anything.
Now this isn't to say that docs are not willing or able to learn, just that the environment in which docs tend to learn best is very specific to their profession and their role as authority figures. If the research comes from them, it makes more sense than if it's being brought in from an outsider (such as a parent). I know this is a sweeping generalization. I just hope it provides some insight.
So the difficulty we all face in getting docs to diagnose our very complex and difficult to pin down children is that, in a lot of cases, the docs are unwilling to take in new information in a manner that will make them appear as anything less than the authority on the subject, because it damages their credibility in their own eyes, and in the eyes of their patients.
Which makes the whole conversation a real PITA when you're trying to bring new information to your doctor.
Persistence, education, asking enough questions of the doctor in such a way that they can question their own diagnosis without losing face, it's a h*ll of a lot of work, but sometimes it's the only way.
Trinity
And just to throw more complication into the pile, since Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), BiPolar (BP) and other conditions are spectrum disorders, the number of symptoms, range of severity etc. etc. etc. can vary so much from one person to the next.
One of the things that really rots my socks is the approach that a lot of docs take to the diagnostic process. As someone mentioned earlier, often they find what they're looking for. A doctor who's an "ADHD specialist" will diagnose ADHD in the same child that someone else has just labelled bipolar, and someone else again has labelled Aspergers.
Years and years ago, when I was studying Adult Education Theory, there were special units covering the learning styles and requirements of doctors and lawyers. Believe it or not, each group has some singular learning characteristics related to their professions and personalities.
For many doctors, what it boils down to is, they are the experts. Because of the nature of their jobs, and the way they are viewed by society, they cannot be perceived as less than expert at any endeavour in which they participate, as it reduces their credibility with patients, and it hampers their own ability to diagnose with confidence. The biggest hurdle in educating doctors is their lack of willingness to interact with anything where they are not an expert. When I taught beginner-level computer classes for doctors, I had to provide one-on-one private instruction, in order for them to even put their hands on the keyboard, let alone learn anything.
Now this isn't to say that docs are not willing or able to learn, just that the environment in which docs tend to learn best is very specific to their profession and their role as authority figures. If the research comes from them, it makes more sense than if it's being brought in from an outsider (such as a parent). I know this is a sweeping generalization. I just hope it provides some insight.
So the difficulty we all face in getting docs to diagnose our very complex and difficult to pin down children is that, in a lot of cases, the docs are unwilling to take in new information in a manner that will make them appear as anything less than the authority on the subject, because it damages their credibility in their own eyes, and in the eyes of their patients.
Which makes the whole conversation a real PITA when you're trying to bring new information to your doctor.
Persistence, education, asking enough questions of the doctor in such a way that they can question their own diagnosis without losing face, it's a h*ll of a lot of work, but sometimes it's the only way.
Trinity
- meeee too. But at least I knew I wasn't alone and that one other Mother was witness to such weird stuff. 
