Plain talk about medications and our children

[BusynMember]

The foster care thread had me thinking about medication and our children. I don't want this to be a pro or anti-medication thread. I just want to know what other warrior moms/dads think about the medications situation, since medications ARE given out to young kids in both the US and Canada. Do you feel it is appropriate to give, say, an anti psychotic to a three year old? Do we give out stimulants too much? Do our doctors pull out the prescription pads too quickly?

Or are our psychiatrists doing a good job on the medication front? Do our psychiatrists see the children enough to diagnose? Are there enough good psychiatrists?


My son's psychiatrist, when he went to one, was in love with the diagnosis of bipolar and everyone I know whose child goes to him has that diagnosis. He likes to prescribe mood stabilizers and anti psychotics to even very young children. If I never took medications myself, this probably wouldn't bother me as much as it does, but I was a very disturbed child and it didn't go away as I got older so I've played the medications game myself. As an adult, though, I could express if something didn't work for me. A child can't.

Yet some kids NEED medications to function. I probably would have had a childhood of some sort if I had been on maybe a low dose of an antidepressant. So what do you think? Do we overmedicate our NOT foster care kids? Do they tend to be medicated right? Are they diagnosed right often enough?

Speak your mind

 

[TeDo]

I have no idea about medicating foster kids as my two are enough to handle. LOL But, there are psychiatrists that are quick to medicate. We've had two now that have tried to medicate ALL the symptoms. We are no longer with them because medicating wasn't the answer or at least not the medications they were pushing. One of them medicated things she "thought" he had and said if this doesn't work, then it's not (fill in the blank). UGH The other one prescribed a medication for the diagnosis, not the symptoms (difficult child 1 wasn't having them). I didn't know any better so I went along with the "experts". We all know where that got us.

I do like the psychiatrist we have now. She listens to what I have to say, asks questions to clarify severity and frequency, asks me what I want to do, and monitors the effectiveness of the medications regularly. If all psychiatrists were like this, I don't know what the world would be like.

I do know that some adults just can't handle ANY gfgness and are quick to medicate it away. They try to eliminate the problems with drugs instead of putting in the effort to teach skills. That is the part that frustrates me the most. medications should be used to help the kids function and learn, not to drug them into neat little packages of compliance. There, I've said my piece.

 

[InsaneCdn]

I'm doing my best not to start a rant... really hot topic!

You see... I'm actually pro-medication.
With a caveat:
IF you have the right diagnosis, and a complete set of dxes, AND the dxes have a known set of medications with a good track record...
THEN your chances of medications working is high, and definitely worth trying.
In fact, the chances of ANY intervention, accommodation OR medication are directly tied to the accuracy and completeness of the diagnosis(es).

However...
The biggest two problems are:
1) getting the right diagnosis, and
2) getting all of them.

Just my own experience plus talking to other parents and exposure here...
Gut feel is that probably half the kids who SHOULD have a diagnosis, don't get it, and half the ones who GET the diagnosis, should NOT have it.
I'd love to see some real scientific studies on that... but it would be a really difficult study to do, and open to lots of controversy!

 

[Hound dog]

Do I think docs hand out medications too quickly? Yes, I do. And I don't lay the blame completely at the docs feet either. Parents, as a whole, in today's society want quick fixes......they want to go to a doctor and get a pill that will make it all better. It's not just for behavior either, they do it for every little bug that comes along too. So then you have reg docs scripting antibiotics for viruses even though they do squat for a virus simply because they don't have the guts to tell parents that there is little more to do but take the child home and treat the symptoms. Why don't they have the guts? Because most parents will have a holy fit and demand they do something for their child.

Realize that what I said above was meant in the generalized sense. It does not mean every parent is that way.

I'm not anti-medication by a long shot. But I do feel there are far too many kids taking some serious medications even when the long term effects on children is not really known, some at what would be considered high doses for adults. That alarms me. Ok fine, if the reason behind it is sound and everything else has been tried (including thinking outside the box), and the benefit outweighs the risk, then fine. Problem is, most of the time it's lets toss medications at the problem and see if they help is the first step, even if the diagnosis is unclear or they're not even sure there IS a diagnosis. Yup. That's what worries me.

I was talked into giving medications to Travis against my better judgement. It was a disaster. A dangerous disaster. There was not one benefit to the medication for him at all. In fact, he had a horrid reaction to it. I made them drop the medication and refused any others except his seizure medications. We worked on behavior ect without the aide of medications. It was harder probably, but in my opinion it was worth it and he did just fine.

When medications came up with Nichole I was of course leery. I made them use a more cautious approach, MUCH more cautious approach. Her first medication she reacted to horrifically, it was dropped. Due to her symptoms we tried again because the possible benefit outweighed the risk of another bad reaction. Still, I made it clear to her psychiatrists I wanted her on the lowest possible doses. We didn't increase doses simply because behavior changed.....we waited and tried other methods first. Honestly, I don't think she had but one medication increase the entire time on medications and when she weaned off them she was still below the recommended dosage for every one of them. I dropped her first psychiatrist because all he wanted to do was keep increasing her medications and would get ticked when I'd tell him no.

So I had one kid we did without medications and the other where it was necessary to help her become and maintain stability. Nichole has been off medications since she was about 18 yrs old.

I worry because I've seen docs hand out the diagnosis of the week without ever really evaluating a child to be certain they even had the diagnosis, then scripting medications left and right. Parents don't hold a medical degree and trust the people treating their kids, so go along with it.......often these kids get worse because they either don't need medications at all or they're on the wrong medications because their diagnosis is wrong. psychiatrists poo poo it because 90 percent of them spend an average of less than 10 mins with each child. (now tell me they have a clue) So you have the parents dragging their kids from one doctor to the next hoping for the right answers and the right treatment.......and the kid becoming more and more resistant to treatment. (sometimes I can't blame them)

I'm not going to say a parent should or shouldn't medicate their child. Each child is different and each situation is different.

 

[HaoZi]

I've seen both ways - kids given it that didn't need it, and kids that needed it that didn't get it. Kiddo's first pediatrician (I miss her!) would ask sometimes if I thought Kiddo was too active. Kiddo was about two, and I said at this age she's supposed to run me into the ground and be very active. pediatrician was happy to hear that, she'd had parents wanting ADHD stuff for their kids (or maybe themselves?) simply because they couldn't keep up with a normally active child.

Was that my first warning sign for Kiddo? I don't think so. Kids that age should be bouncy and active, she certainly wasn't aggressive back then, or even whiny. Just active, precocious, extremely intelligent. Everything you'd want from a kid at that age except housebroken.

I don't think there's any generalization about medicating difficult child's that would be completely correct - or even completely wrong. Landing on the correct diagnosis and ways (medications and non-medications) to help the difficult child and getting the cooperation of all professionals that you need (I'm eyeballing YOU, you unhelpful SDs/psychiatrists/public agencies/etc., you know who you are) in time to provide the most help that are the biggest hurdles.

 

[Hound dog]

I don't think there's any generalization about medicating difficult child's that would be completely correct - or even completely wrong. Landing on the correct diagnosis and ways (medications and non-medications) to help the difficult child and getting the cooperation of all professionals that you need (I'm eyeballing YOU, you unhelpful SDs/psychiatrists/public agencies/etc., you know who you are) in time to provide the most help that are the biggest hurdles.

Very well put. And so very true.

 

[DammitJanet]

well....MWM...when Sonic was thought to have bipolar all those years ago, you thought every kid had bipolar. You thought bipolar was under every rock. I had Cory on depakote because that was all my county mental health psychiatrist would prescribe and you kept on me time after time to force him to change it lithium even though I didnt have much of a chance of doing that when I had to keep this psychiatrist to keep Cory in the program he was in.

Then when Sonic was found to have aspergers, well, now everything is aspergers or Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). In fact, the whole country has gone autism crazy to me. Autism was so rare even 15-20 years ago, now there are at least 2 or 3 kids in every classroom. Im not sure I buy into as many kids having autism as they now claim.

I think eventually they are going to find out eventually that some of the adult diagnosis's can be diagnosed way younger than they think so they dont need to make up dumb names for kids diagnosis's.

medications, If they help the symptoms, go for it. I think 6 weeks should give you enough time to know if something is working or not unless there is an extremely bad reaction right away.

 

[buddy]

It is varied by location, income, parenting style, school pressure, doctor nature, arrggg....our poor kids. I think we are lucky in that Q has up until the lamictal incident, been prescribed all of his medications by a neurologist (with a child who is autistic) and his pediatrician working together. When I make a pediatrician. appointment the scheduler always says I can't have less than a 45 minute appointment. I spend at least an hour in every single appointment. Now we have added this psychiatrist, and she does seem good, I get that they are worried about the medications because of the high doses. But here we go.... the first thing we try, terrible reaction and the second, seizures plus not sure it is doing anything worth anything...but I do in my gut believe that part of that is that a couple of medications are not right for him anymore and need to be out...(prozac, benadryl)

But I have seen parents pressured to have medications, and their kids stop eating and growing and no matter the medication they are not well, and they are not aggressive but have attention issues and school begs them to try medications. I dont think it is always because they dont want to do the work, but I have heard them, they really believe that the child would be happier and be able to learn more. Sometimes they are right. Other times they dont get the big picture.

There was a boy in the outpatient autism program Q was in who bit his baby siblings ear off. Actually took a chunk off. They put him on Risperdone and it was a miracle. This kid was not only not aggressive but started using PECS and doing so much better.


DJ, I know what you mean. I can say this about autism (MHO). Many of us KNEW we were dealing with high functioning autism and Aspergers for years and years. These kids got labels like troubled at best, brats/rude/etc. at worst...and diagnosis. of childhood schizophrenia, adhd+odd+anxiety+ + + and I always wondered?....is it realistic to think that tons of kids kids have MANY things wrong, or have one thing with these symptoms? Plus if you add the high interest area where the child speaks about their topic with no clue of another person's absolute boredom with the topic, the vocal characteristics that you become really good at recognizing after a while, the inability to play/interact WITh others in novel ways...not the rote back and forth stuff like chase games and play fights, the collecting so many of them do, the sensory issues, and other things...though each child has a different profile, it does really add up. Really, in my opinion.... they were there, but it was under-diagnosed. (I suspect that is true as you say for the adult mental health things too, especially schizophrenia, and bi-polar--when it is truly that)

Now we have "autism specialists" who are wonderful, but it is frustrating that there were a bunch of us out there early on (20 years ago). The autism specialists make all the things we used to fight for, legit. I have met many kids who were misdiagnosed as another disorder, and with the correct interventions, they did so much better. I admit, that may speak to the interventions being appropriate for lots of diagnosis though. There are EBD programs that embrace Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) methods and the kids do very well. Doesn't tend to work the other way around. I think kids with emotional and behavioral/mental health diagnoses have their sensory needs, their language processing issues etc. under treated because the focus is mostly on the behaviors and getting rid of them. I hear you, it is true that people grab on to a hot diagnosis and go to it. But in fact, people are still reporting that kids are being missed-re: autism, and to me re: any appropriate diagnosis, in huge numbers. Now that the genetic markers are being identified and more research is being made into the causes and how it is inherited, it may help us sort through this better. There are several illnesses and genetic diagnosis that have autism symptoms and then autism is only beneficial as a label in terms of learning style and coping...but the overriding diagnosis still needs to be treated. It could be true for Q though since he has a genetic sibling with very similar behaviors (the autism ones) it is really suspected he would have had autism even without the brain injury. Doesn't matter much, he is who he is.

My answer to the medication. question: a wimpy one. It all depends. I am not for throwing medications one after the other on a child. Q never never has more than one medication touched at a time unless it is a life threatening, illness situation. I don't let therapies change when medications are being started and I dont let medications change if school or therapies are changing. I think there are kids who have NO BUSINESS being on medications. and I agree it is systemic. Q has been on antibiotics not more than 4 times in his life. I now found out that even antacids are on the list of medications he can't have...not all but some. uggg, it is a scary topic and I would love him to be off any kind of medication. Wish that for him desperately but it is not going to be so for him. At least not in the real world.

 

[Wiped Out]

Last spring I read a great book (can't think of the title right now but I'll get my kindle out later and look at it). The author set out to write a book about children being over medicated by doctors. Through her research over the years she changed her stance and the book came out generally stating most kids are not over prescribed medications. It was a very good read.

difficult child's first psychiatrist I think did try writing prescriptions too much. He'd see us for about 5 minutes (not even really talk to difficult child) and write a new prescription. For that and other reasons we switched psychiatrists.

We love difficult child's psychiatrist. He meets with difficult child and us for about 40 minutes and really listens to what is going on. We share teacher emails and everything that is going on. He talks with difficult child. Then he talks about different options and we usually end up asking which option he would choose.

 

[Nancy]

I've thought about this recently in regards to difficult child and have a couple thoughts.

First I think there are doctors who are way to quick to prescribe medications and those that are very responsible. I also believe the right medications can really help a child if they are prescribed by a qualified pediatric psychiatrist who has a great deal of experience in this field.

BUT I have thought back to the medications my difficult child was on and the fact that now she is on none and I wonder if any of those medications were really necessary. She was not and is not ADHD or bi-polar or depressed or any of the labels that would have supported the medications. But she was certainly out of control and not able to function without them at times. So was it just easier for me???? I ask that now and have to think yes. I also believe that she has Borderline (BPD) and that is what caused a lot of her early behavior and there is no medication for that. She is doing very well on no medications now which tells me none of them were necessary, unless her brain chemistry changed as she got older.

Nancy

 

[buddy]

good point nancy, Q's docs have said all along, that especially regarding the impulse control, judgement, frontal lobe things, there is a huge change (and I assume for chemicals too) as the child grows older. I can see that maybe your difficult child did need it, maybe it wasn't all about your convenience... it could be that her brain has matured enough now. In any event there are probably times where, though a child could do ok without it, if under a highly structured setting 24 hours a day where they were willing to deal with behaviors without medications ( a pipe dream, right?) then maybe we could feel badly about needing the medications in part for our sanity. But it is probably not all bad that medications, for some kids--not all--those with really serious behaviors, make the whole system they live in less stressful because, that will impact their overall lives and thus their ability to use better coping skills. It all feeds on everything else....

 

[BusynMember]

This is an interesting discussion. First to Janet: Yes, you are right. I did think so and now I'm not even sure there is a bipolar in kids. But I'm not a doctor and I am not getting paid to make these judgments. Secondly, part of the reason autism has increased is awareness of Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified and Aspergers. in my opinion, which again is not scientific or based on anything other than my opinion, bipolar may not even really exist in kids (mood disorders, yes, but bipolar, I am not convinced) and doctors DO diagnose it fast and prescribe very serious medications for it. Aspergers/Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified/even ADHD can all benefit a lot from interventions of similarity. I've learned a lot since I've been here and am glad I have. Part was experience. Part was you folks.

I do think medications are valuable. I think it is very hard to diagnose many children correctly and, in hindsight (which I did n Occupational Therapist (OT) have when Sonic was little) I think everything should be tried first before medications. And then I think they should be tried conservatively...one at a time...to see if it benefits the child and if there are side effects. When a doctor puts kids on two medications at one time, for example, and t he child is obviously not right, it's hard to know which medication is causing the behavior.

Unfortunately, psychiatry is an inexact science. There are many mistakes made. I am not sure we are at the point yet where we can always know exactly what is wrong. Also, even among those rightly diagnosed, medications may take time. I will go back to myself. I've been depressed all my life. It took ten years to find an antidepressant that really worked for me (sigh). And quite a few made me ill. And what helps me so much (paroxatene) is toxic to other people. It is all so confusing in my opinion...

I don't think parents should ever feel badly about medicating children unless they are willfully trying to make them comatose for their convenience and we don't have any parents like that here. I think the problem, if there is one, is more psychiatrist related.

 

[muttmeister]

I know for a fact that there are doctors out there who are too quick to prescribe medications. I also know for a fact there are parents out there who want their kids medicated. I know for a fact there are schools who would rather have kids medicated than have to deal with their problems. But I also believe, firmly, that those are the minority.

We here on this board have kids who, in many cases, are not "normal." They have issues most kids don't have to deal with and we, as their parents, have issues that many parents can't understand. We tend to come at this from a slightly different perspective. If you have a child who is merely acting out, the idea of giving that child medications is foolish. But if you have a child who is psychotic or has any other serious issue, giving that child medications may be the only chance you have of giving that child and yourself a chance at a halfway normal life.

As several of you have said, the problem lies in getting a real diagnosis. Doctors who deal with these issues in children are few and far between and good ones are even harder to find. That leaves a lot of us wandering in the wilderness. Painting ALL children with a wide brush does them all a disservice. It seems to me one of the problems in this is that we all want easy answers. THere are those who feel that kids are overmedicated and that little kids shouldn't be given medications - period. There are others who feel that medications are a kind of panacea and that they should be used extensively. As with most things, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

I have to admit to not being a fan of medicating kids. THere are long term side effects that are not always understood. Sometimes medications can mask a problem that should be addressed. But for some kids, they are a godsend. My own son (now 27) was a raving lunatic until he found the right medications. My grandson was in danger of being expelled from kindergarten until he was put on a low dose of what seems to be the right medications - now he is doing well. Is that the answer for everybody? Of course not, but it is hard to argue with success.

 

[buddy]

unless they are willfully trying to make them comatose for their convenience

But dont think I haven't day-dreamed about it once in a while, lol

 

[hearts and roses]

Yes, I think there are many doctors who are very quick to write scripts. I think some of them realize that some parents are so desperate they will Dr shop until they find a Dr who will write a script for their kid.

I think that we live in a culture that is hooked on 'normal' and well behaved children 24/7. I think we've been fooled into believing that if we put our children into organized, scheduled sports, that will be sufficient to burn off energy so they will behave and be less fidgety the rest of the time.

I think that twenty years ago, ADD/ADHD was the popular diagnosis, next came bi-polar, anxiety and depression in record numbers among our children and now AS is the big one. I do not think it's a coincidence that as mass media and technology has BOOOMED that more and more children are being diagnosis'd with these disorders. They are spending less and less time outdoors in free play, creating and using strategic thinking skill.

I know there are kids with true diagnosis, mine included. But when is the last time you heard a dr offer some natural solutions for ADHD? When is the last time your dr suggested looking at diet, supplements, sleep habits, etc?

My difficult child was on medications. I can honestly say that she needed some of them, but in retrospect, I think there may have been one or two we should have skipped. Especially now, after learning so much about brain development, I wonder if medicating a child with drugs that have only previously been used on adults doesn't mess with their brain's development, Know what I mean??

So, like IC, I am pro-medications but only when it's absolutely necessary. I think doctors and parents should work together to use alternative methods whenever possible.

 

[Hound dog]

Well, autism spectrum dxes aren't on the rise just due to "awareness". I'd like to think so, but I know better.

I've seen a ton of kids acquire the diagnosis when at the very best they might have some of the traits, but very doubtful as to having the diagnosis itself. Or even apergers has gotten extremely high functioning. Of course that is in this area of the state, not the whole country. But odds are.......these dxes are being handed out as readily as the ADHD was and still is. Sometimes it's just to get a poor kid some type of services into place to help them when otherwise they'd receive no help.....sometimes docs misdiagnose because they just don't have the skills to diagnosis it properly. And some docs just don't care, it's another set of parents paying them to treat their kid. (and sadly yes there are docs out there like that)

Alex so obviously is autistic you just can't deny it. Evan at best is iffy.......because his parents never bothered to socialize him or give him any sort of boundaries. But I know the child does get subtle social cues because he gets mine quickly. So at best he might have a few traits. But the more I've been around him, the more I think it's a case of awful or total lack of parenting.........and let's face it, there is an over abundance of awful parenting going on in the world today for various reasons.

Misdiagnosis is the main reason you'll see dxes like bipolar, ADD/ADHD, and the autism spectrum ones skyrocket. If one skyrockets.....odds are there are a lot of people walking around with the label who don't have it.

Psychiatry is not an exact science, and therein lies the whole problem. It is too subjective. If they could develop more objective testing for the various dxes, you'd see a dramatic drop in those dxes. But psychiatric disorders only now are beginning to be truly researched in the neuro/biological sphere.

Nichole was diagnosed bipolar and Borderline (BPD). I don't believe she's bipolar. She's missing a whole half of the symptoms, she has no manic behaviors and never did. Situational depression, oh yeah, in a huge way. But that is a far cry from bipolar. And I still believe the Borderline (BPD) heavily contributed to the depression. Once we got a grip on the Borderline (BPD), the depression lifted. And as someone else said, there are no medications for Borderline (BPD).

Buddy, if it were me, I'd lean heavily on your neuro for medicating Q instead of the psychiatrist. Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) really puts a wrench in the mix and brain wiring and chemistry is altered. And psychiatrists just don't have the knowledge or education to deal with it.

 

[buddy]

Yes, there should be more natural and even appropriate behavioral training support IN HOME. Our psychiatrist said she thinks Q should have therapy sessions at home. Have any of you had that? We have lots of home support, but he does not have counseling at home... of course the Integrated Listening Systems (ILS) folks do "counseling" round the issues that pop up while he is with them, plus he will tell them about school etc. It may be the best way for him since discussions generally only can happen when he decides to say something, it is his agenda at that time.

Our doctor always asks about sleep and says it is one of the most common problems for difficult child's . He focuses on it a lot, not medication wise but good sleep hygiene-wise. In fact even when we go in for appts for little things, most of the docs ask about sleep, is that not common? We have also been given drops like the babies get for thrush/yeast esp because he is so itchy at times.... Really interesting how some are open to it and some are not. Do any of you use OD's or chiropractors instead of MD's? or along with them?

 

[BusynMember]

Well, awareness is a big reason, but I've too seen kids diagnosed mostly with Aspergers who seem normal to me. I've also seen some who are far less functional than my son (who was diagnosed Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD)-not otherwise specified) but a feel good diagnosis is Aspergers. in my opinion layman's opinion, Aspergers should not be diagnosed at all unless the person is not functioning. But I'm not the expert. Like everything else that you can't test for, it's the evaluator's subjective opinion. ADHD/bipolar/Aspergers are often used interchangeably. Anyhow, the short answer is, I agree with most of what Hound Dog said.

Look, psychiatry keeps changing. When I was 23, and the dinosaurs roamed the earth , I had a diagnosis of "manic depression." Then it was bipolar II. Now it is mood dysregulation disorder. I am also sure I have borderline, which I've worked very hard at controlling, but it was never diagnosed.

We are learning more and more about the mind, and sometimes we learn we have made mistakes. Until we have blood tests....every diagnosis is just the evaluator's best guess. Aspergers wasn't in the DSM ten years ago. So it goes.

 

[Hound dog]

Buddy, your docs sound smart. Sleep is a huge issue in my opinion, or rather lack thereof for various reasons. Sleep deprivation can cause a host of issues including psychosis if one is sleep deprived enough.

Many kids today (and heck even back when I was a kid) don't get anywhere near the amount of sleep they should get per night.....including pcs. I know tons of parents who don't even have bedtimes for their kids and those kids are up until midnight or later and yet have to get up before 7am (usually earlier from 5am on) for school each day. Lack of sleep can cause mood swings, general grumpiness and uncooperation, not just falling asleep in class....as well as those mood swings it can cause over emotional reactions from tears to rage to depression.

Your brain needs that down time. Not just for rest but to de stress itself from daily events ect.

As a child who had to get up at 4:30 am each morning and no bedtime, it didn't take me long even as a little kid to go to bed on my own at a fairly early hour. I couldn't think properly without sleep.....and the whole face plant on the desk was no fun either. lol

Aubrey has some mighty strong difficult child behaviors. I won't label her a difficult child because much of these behaviors are from sleep deprivation. Nichole has her on a early bedtime, no problem. But she wakes several times a night at best which interrupts her REM sleep and when she does sleep it's not usually a deep sleep. One good night's sleep and she's a different child. Her sleep issues are allergy related.......that lovely drip drip you get going in the back of the throat and tonsil related.

 

[Nancy]

Lisa my easy child has a child in her classroom that exhibited so many of the autistic traits that it looked like a textbook case. She struggled trying to find some way to reach him while at the same time making sure all the other kids in the class didn't suffer. She asked for an evaluation, had parent conferences, had the psychologist and Special Education teach evaluate him, everyone agreed with her. Yet the hospital the parents took him to (I won't name it but it is the biggest and most prestigious one in town) said he was not autistic. He did not interact with anyone, no eye contact, shouted out sounds inappropriately, clapped or wrung his hands all the time, didn't like to be touched, wouldn't answer you, had no idea how to play woith the other children, couldn't hold a pencil or crayon, very poor fine motor skills, disrupted the classroom, could not follow any directions, and it went on and on.

Finally after all the school evaluations were completed he was scored to be autistic, not a surprise. So at least now he can hopefully get an aid to help him in the classroom. But why did it take so long for this to be recognized? The parents have been trying to find the answers, he was in preschool and they should have picked it up. He really needs to be in a school that can appropriately help him, and the thing is we have a wonderful autistic school here in town that is connected to the same hospital that diagnosed him with anxiety instead of autism. Makes you wonder. Some kids are diagnosed too quickly and others fall behind their peers because he is not diagnosed when he should be.

Nancy