forkeeps251
Member
I just met with the play therapist. The way they do it is that before a psychologist or psychiatrist in the medical network I am going through will see someone my son's age, they first go to a play therapist. She meets with me, then with him twice, and the final session is just with me to let me know her findings.
Basically, it all boils down to she thinks he has ADHD, and would also like to have him have an Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation for sensory issues. Which of course, I kind of suspected anyway. Now though, everything makes sense.
I'm trying to find a way to word this... I guess when you look at everything that is going on with him, it may look to someone untrained (me) like something it isn't. I think he has a few indicators on the autism spectrum. Like his meltdowns at school and trouble relating to peers, and sensory problems, and his speech delay. But if you look at them all seperatly, you can kind of see something else. Take the speech delay out of the equation (some kids just have those), and I think that his aggression and his trouble with his peers, and his impulsiveness are all pretty common in kids with ADHD. And she said that sensory problems (in his case, with noise) aren't uncommon in kids with ADHD. Because there are a lot of sings he DOESN'T have for other disorders, and those are the ones that don't really overlap with ADHD. Again, this is purely from the standpoint of being his Mom and not a trained professional ;-)
She said that he has "multiple indicators" of ADHD. He is impulsive (he led the way to the play room even though he didn't know where it was or what he was doing), and he switched from one play area to another (she said, he didn't "follow through" with any of the playing), and that he got frustrated when he couldn't do something and immediatly gave up or asked for help, rather than trying to think it through (this is something we see a lot at home and at school).
The next step is that she will refer us to (I think) a psychologist (I don't know the difference between all of them, but I do know that she is in the same building as the neuropsychologist people, so maybe that is it?), and a psychiatrist, and that she would recommend an Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation for sensory problems, but that they don't do that there. It may take a few months. She seemed to indicate that medication would probably be the likely outcome, and that AFTER that point we would see what other behaviors there were, and maybe how much medication is able to take care of, and go from there.
She did say that she didn't see any other behaviors that would indicate problems other than ADHD and possibly a sensory problem. Phew!
I'm practically giddy over all of this. I'm not anti medication, especially in this situation where his problems are disrupting his life, his education, and are impacting his happiness. My other son, who I think maybe have slight ADD, is another story... since he is happy and doing well and home and school, academically and other wise, I see no need to step in (at this time).. but with difficult child, that is another story. I guess I should mention that my husband was diagnosed with ADHD (and was very aggressive and very similar to difficult child), and that I was diagnosed as "borderline" ADD when I was younger, but never medicated (I think I was just a very heavy daydreamer)(and still am).
To me, this is one of the best things she could have told me, because NOW I can get him some help!!
Basically, it all boils down to she thinks he has ADHD, and would also like to have him have an Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation for sensory issues. Which of course, I kind of suspected anyway. Now though, everything makes sense.
I'm trying to find a way to word this... I guess when you look at everything that is going on with him, it may look to someone untrained (me) like something it isn't. I think he has a few indicators on the autism spectrum. Like his meltdowns at school and trouble relating to peers, and sensory problems, and his speech delay. But if you look at them all seperatly, you can kind of see something else. Take the speech delay out of the equation (some kids just have those), and I think that his aggression and his trouble with his peers, and his impulsiveness are all pretty common in kids with ADHD. And she said that sensory problems (in his case, with noise) aren't uncommon in kids with ADHD. Because there are a lot of sings he DOESN'T have for other disorders, and those are the ones that don't really overlap with ADHD. Again, this is purely from the standpoint of being his Mom and not a trained professional ;-)
She said that he has "multiple indicators" of ADHD. He is impulsive (he led the way to the play room even though he didn't know where it was or what he was doing), and he switched from one play area to another (she said, he didn't "follow through" with any of the playing), and that he got frustrated when he couldn't do something and immediatly gave up or asked for help, rather than trying to think it through (this is something we see a lot at home and at school).
The next step is that she will refer us to (I think) a psychologist (I don't know the difference between all of them, but I do know that she is in the same building as the neuropsychologist people, so maybe that is it?), and a psychiatrist, and that she would recommend an Occupational Therapist (OT) evaluation for sensory problems, but that they don't do that there. It may take a few months. She seemed to indicate that medication would probably be the likely outcome, and that AFTER that point we would see what other behaviors there were, and maybe how much medication is able to take care of, and go from there.
She did say that she didn't see any other behaviors that would indicate problems other than ADHD and possibly a sensory problem. Phew!
I'm practically giddy over all of this. I'm not anti medication, especially in this situation where his problems are disrupting his life, his education, and are impacting his happiness. My other son, who I think maybe have slight ADD, is another story... since he is happy and doing well and home and school, academically and other wise, I see no need to step in (at this time).. but with difficult child, that is another story. I guess I should mention that my husband was diagnosed with ADHD (and was very aggressive and very similar to difficult child), and that I was diagnosed as "borderline" ADD when I was younger, but never medicated (I think I was just a very heavy daydreamer)(and still am).
To me, this is one of the best things she could have told me, because NOW I can get him some help!!