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<blockquote data-quote="hexemaus2" data-source="post: 197289" data-attributes="member: 4560"><p>Marg said it before me! I was thinking something along the lines of Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) as well, although like she said we can only offer suggestions for a starting point. My difficult child 2 is on the spectrum & he showed alot of the same issues you're seeing. However, there are so many childhood dxes that mimic each other or have overlapping symptoms. It's really best to have a full work up done. In our case, that was done inpatient after years of misdxes. We didn't get the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) diagnosis until difficult child 2 was almost 9 - pretty late in the game, now that I look back.</p><p> </p><p>I have to second the recommendation for The Explosive Child. It really will give you some alternative ideas for helping your difficult child. I know with difficult child 2, he mirrors any emotion you show him. If you're frustrated, he'll get frustrated. If you're happy & bouncing off the walls - he'll get happy & bounce off the walls. It's the only way he knows how to respond to other people, even at 15. It's very much a case of monkey see/monkey do for him. As he gets older, he's learning more and more how to distinguish situations where it would be inappropriate for him to just mimic the moods/emotions of others around him, but it's a long, slow process for him. </p><p> </p><p>He also doesn't like to read. Not unless he absolutely has to. For him, it's a problem of converting language to pictures in his mind. He thinks in pictures & most of the time needs things explained several different ways until he can get a picture of it in his mind. The same thing happens when he tries to speak. He has trouble finding the right words to verbalize what he sees in his head. (We've had several speech therapists work with him because we thought he had some sort of speech impediment, but it all boiled down to an articulation problem, not a speech problem.)</p><p> </p><p>What you describe as far as your child's apparent disregard for others' needs/wishes & his getting stuck on certain things sounds so much like my difficult child 2. (Part of the reason I was leaning towards suggesting asking his doctor about Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) or other Autism spectrum issues) For my son (difficult child 2) he has no concept of other people. He has no "theory of the mind" - the ability to put himself in another person's shoes and empathize with their needs/wants/feelings. So the idea that someone else might need/want/be interested in something other than what he needs/wants/is interested in doesn't even dawn on him. </p><p> </p><p>My difficult child also gets "stuck" on things and just can't move on from it. It doesn't matter if it's a game he's playing and needs to stop, or something he is expecting to happen that doesn't (like a friend not coming over because they get grounded, or doctor appts getting changed, etc.) He struggles with any kind of transition. It's like he has a script in his head of what should happen next & if that doesn't happen, he gets lost and panics because now he doesn't know what to do. He has no "plan B" in his script, so he just gets lost. When he gets lost, he gets anxious. When he gets anxious, he gets very, very irritable & easy to upset. That's when the verbal debris starts flying & before you know it, he's an absolute mess. </p><p> </p><p>I would suggest getting a referral from his pediatrician and/or the special services folks at your difficult child's school for someone who can do a thorough psychiatric evaluation on him. In our case, it took a complete multi-disciplinary team to diagnosis difficult child 2, but he was a little older & had already had so many dxes that no one could agree on what his issues were. So, talk to both the pediatrician & the school and see what ideas they can give you in terms of having a more complete evaluation done. There may not be anything else going on beyond the Learning Disability (LD), or there might be more. You won't know until you start asking and digging. You'll know when you find the right diagnosis that truly fits your child - or at least comes close. If they give you something you don't agree with, ask them how they came to that conclusion. Ask them to spell it out for you so that it makes sense. If you still don't think you're on the right course, keep asking for more testing, keep speaking up. For some of us, it's the only way we've gotten to the real root issues that should be addressed.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="hexemaus2, post: 197289, member: 4560"] Marg said it before me! I was thinking something along the lines of Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) as well, although like she said we can only offer suggestions for a starting point. My difficult child 2 is on the spectrum & he showed alot of the same issues you're seeing. However, there are so many childhood dxes that mimic each other or have overlapping symptoms. It's really best to have a full work up done. In our case, that was done inpatient after years of misdxes. We didn't get the Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) diagnosis until difficult child 2 was almost 9 - pretty late in the game, now that I look back. I have to second the recommendation for The Explosive Child. It really will give you some alternative ideas for helping your difficult child. I know with difficult child 2, he mirrors any emotion you show him. If you're frustrated, he'll get frustrated. If you're happy & bouncing off the walls - he'll get happy & bounce off the walls. It's the only way he knows how to respond to other people, even at 15. It's very much a case of monkey see/monkey do for him. As he gets older, he's learning more and more how to distinguish situations where it would be inappropriate for him to just mimic the moods/emotions of others around him, but it's a long, slow process for him. He also doesn't like to read. Not unless he absolutely has to. For him, it's a problem of converting language to pictures in his mind. He thinks in pictures & most of the time needs things explained several different ways until he can get a picture of it in his mind. The same thing happens when he tries to speak. He has trouble finding the right words to verbalize what he sees in his head. (We've had several speech therapists work with him because we thought he had some sort of speech impediment, but it all boiled down to an articulation problem, not a speech problem.) What you describe as far as your child's apparent disregard for others' needs/wishes & his getting stuck on certain things sounds so much like my difficult child 2. (Part of the reason I was leaning towards suggesting asking his doctor about Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) or other Autism spectrum issues) For my son (difficult child 2) he has no concept of other people. He has no "theory of the mind" - the ability to put himself in another person's shoes and empathize with their needs/wants/feelings. So the idea that someone else might need/want/be interested in something other than what he needs/wants/is interested in doesn't even dawn on him. My difficult child also gets "stuck" on things and just can't move on from it. It doesn't matter if it's a game he's playing and needs to stop, or something he is expecting to happen that doesn't (like a friend not coming over because they get grounded, or doctor appts getting changed, etc.) He struggles with any kind of transition. It's like he has a script in his head of what should happen next & if that doesn't happen, he gets lost and panics because now he doesn't know what to do. He has no "plan B" in his script, so he just gets lost. When he gets lost, he gets anxious. When he gets anxious, he gets very, very irritable & easy to upset. That's when the verbal debris starts flying & before you know it, he's an absolute mess. I would suggest getting a referral from his pediatrician and/or the special services folks at your difficult child's school for someone who can do a thorough psychiatric evaluation on him. In our case, it took a complete multi-disciplinary team to diagnosis difficult child 2, but he was a little older & had already had so many dxes that no one could agree on what his issues were. So, talk to both the pediatrician & the school and see what ideas they can give you in terms of having a more complete evaluation done. There may not be anything else going on beyond the Learning Disability (LD), or there might be more. You won't know until you start asking and digging. You'll know when you find the right diagnosis that truly fits your child - or at least comes close. If they give you something you don't agree with, ask them how they came to that conclusion. Ask them to spell it out for you so that it makes sense. If you still don't think you're on the right course, keep asking for more testing, keep speaking up. For some of us, it's the only way we've gotten to the real root issues that should be addressed. [/QUOTE]
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