Not sure what to expect.

[frustrated04]

Ds NEEDS to see the psychiatrist, like yesterday.

There's a wait and the soonest he'll be seen is August-September.

I was informed today that having to call the crisis number could help bump him on the list. He'll be seen by a crisis worker in the office or ER. Most likely ER, because everything happens later in the day.

He's been having intense rages so I'll be calling within the next couple days for sure. Basically the next rage he has, I'll make that call.

I will not allow him to be admitted even for one night. What can I expect at an ER evaluation for mental health?

 

[BusynMember]

Hi there and welcome back.

Why won't you let him be admitted to the hospital if he needs it? Looking at his diagnosis., it seems he probably needs some interventions though as much or more than psychiatric care. He has many symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), and it does run in the family. Is he getting help in the community since he is being homeschooled? Any possibility you'd put him into public school so that he can take advantage of their interventions?

Many children who can not easily say what they feel or need get frustrated and rage. Do you think this may be partly why he has rages? What seems to set him off? You say it usually happens at night. Do you feel he may be overtired? Some kids with these issues need more sleep than most kids do. Does he get overstimulated? Has he ever seen a neuropsychologist?

Sorry that you are having such a bad time of it. Hope you get the help you need very soon.

 

[frustrated04]

No admitting because I can't see him understanding or accepting that as help vs me just leaving him. I'm not going to do it yet, and I hope we never have to.

He's getting max support, even more than he'd get in public school (3 hours behavior analyst, speech, Occupational Therapist (OT), completely customized and mommy made curriculum). We did public school long enough to know that's a dead end for him at least in our area.

I know his rages stem from language. Once something frustrates him, he has a really hard time speaking beyond "f you."

I don't think he's worse at night. It's more like I'd call because I've had enough by the end of the day! Lol.

He's not overtired from lack of trying; he generally goes to bed between 6-7 and wakes between 6-7. He does have some mild sleep disorders that could be getting worse, but I doubt it as his trend has basically been growing out of the sleep problems.

At this point I think I can accurately say that anything and everything is setting him off.

There's only one neuropsychologist in a 3 hour radius of us and they don't want to evaluate him. I'm looking for another. So he's never had a scheduled neuropsychologist evaluation, but he's been evaluated multiple times.

 

[slsh]

A word of caution - if you have ds evaluated in an ER and the staff determines that he is a danger to himself or others, I believe they can admit him regardless of your wishes.

Our very first "crisis" evaluation did take place in an ER, under a program that I don't believe exists any longer in IL. A crisis worker met us there, interviewed him, interviewed us. We got hooked into services immediately that were home-based. It was quite a while ago, but I believe once I mentioned to ER staff that XYZ Agency was meeting us there, they pretty much left us alone, but my son was 6 at the time. Even had the crisis program existed when he was 12, no way would ER staff have been able to leave us alone and wait for the crisis folks to show up - by that point, when he fell apart, he did it in a very violent fashion.

 

[frustrated04]

A word of caution - if you have ds evaluated in an ER and the staff determines that he is a danger to himself or others, I believe they can admit him regardless of your wishes.

That's what I'm afraid of.

 

[Liahona]

Would it be better to call the crisis number during the day?

 

[frustrated04]

I was hoping to be able to call during the day on a work day, but I can almost guarantee a major rage today. I can either ride it out and get things done (chores, etc) or call and go to the ER.

 

[shelleyils]

Frustrated, I feel go bad for you! My son will be 11 this month and is totally non verbal autism. He has what I call epic fits of rage! We've tried all types of medications and nothing really works. He started to get so bad here, we had to put him back on abilify. We did seem some results with that, but it makes his so hyper. We've been told to take him the the er when he has these fits and have them admit him for an evaluation. Like you, I don't want him admitted. If we did, what would they be able to do?

 

[InsaneCdn]

Ds NEEDS to see the psychiatrist, like yesterday.

There's a wait and the soonest he'll be seen is August-September.

Did you ask to be put on the short-notice call list?
That's what our psychiatrist uses for... semi-emergency situations, whether you're an existing patient or not.
Call the assistant, explain that things are getting worse, and ask if you can be added to the short-notice call list.
This means... if they get a cancellation, they start going down the list calling, to fill that spot. It might be for tomorrow - or for this afternoon.
Probably worth at least asking.