Thanks!! Terry- I'm in a bit of a hurry right now- I worked on the IEP some last night and need to email principal and cm this morning- difficult child is on his way to school!! If you could PM me and let me know of any around my area that yoou wouldn't recommend, that would be great! I wouldn't want to drive more than an hour to go to one. I can call the place where the MDE was done- they didn't do testing because I took them a copy of the report from testing done 18 mos earlier.
He has been up half the wee hours of the morning, had showered (even though he did that before going to bed), ate breakfast and was pacing the floor by the time I got up. I mentioned that I thought he was a bit hypomanic so if a teacher ask him a question...then he finished the sentnece by saying "what, don't take the whole class period answering the question?" I said "yeah, I think you are getting it!" (This really might be as much excitement and anxiety as hypomania- not sure, but at least he notices to and is starting to realize more how it effects what he does.)
MWM- I can see a questionnaire used like that for adults. I remember though that the psychiatric who tested my son said there were some things she couldn't give him because he was too young to be able to answer those questions about himself. She also recommended that I take him to a neurologist to be checked and have a complete physical done by his pediatrician just to rule out other things, which I did. The neurologist reviewed the report, met with us together and separately, did some tapping around on difficult child, etc., had a sleep deprived EEG done, then sent a letter saying the only other consideration would be a possible neurolinguistic problem - I think NonVerbal Learning Disorder (NVLD)- but that was probably not a real big problem- just something little he thought would be looked at by the ed spec on the MDE. The ed spec on the MDE mentioned it as a possibility because of the way difficult child was slow to answer questions and not speaking up clearly, but the psychiatrist who lead that team said she thought it was more of a symptom of the mood disorder or side effect of medications, not the underlying order. I agree with that because I know difficult child was nervous in a rooom full of profs with all of us discussing his hx and diagnosis. And, I've been around him many times when he does speak very clearly and is quick to respond with bright answers- also, I've experienced his excessive talking phases, too.
SW- difficult child's diagnosis on testing was Major Depression and Disruptive Behavior not otherwise specified (this was due to erratic behavior that I had reported) with a rule out of ODD and borderline ADHD. His psychiatric hospital psychiatrist (he had just been released from psychiatric hospital for his first acute stay) was Major Depression, rule out Bipolar and/or CD.
I'm pretty comfortable when I look at it all together- anxiety and depression run in my family. Regular psychiatrist is starting to see anxiety more and more in difficult child. Maybe anxiety triggers mania, I don't know- let's say it might trigger erratic behavior. MDE psychiatrist said she thinks difficult child might not need MS's in the future if he gets adequate therapy now and hormones stablize after puberty, but he needs them now. She said he might just end up with a Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) that he can manage without medications- like his Mom
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difficult child's therapist (psychiatric, phd) does testing but I would prefer a nueropsych do it if I can afford to have them done again soon. I'd like to. Would there be any advantage or disadvantage to having difficult child's therapist do testing on him? My only concern would be that he hasn't seen the full spectrum of difficult child yet and I wouldn't want preconceived ideas to dominate his evaluation. It's a bit like putting "all eggs in one basket" too.
I mainly want them done again for issues pertaining to school performance and just to see if anything else might be revealed that could help us tweak the treatment plan. It will be 3 years in March since his first ones were done.