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ninanevermore.
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The report from the Meyer Developmental Center arrived in the mail over the weekend. The doctor there was kind, but she wasn’t much help. She specializes in ADHD and Autism Spectrum disorders. She thinks my 6 year old is more likely just nuts, and referred us to a psychiatrist to drug him into submission.
“I could write you a prescription for an anti psychotic medication, if you like,” she said sweetly, “But I think you would be better off getting it from a psychiatrist who specializes in these types of conditions.” Not that she could say what my son’s condition is. She also offered to write a prescription for an ADHD stimulant-type drug, if I liked that idea better. Her willingness to let me, a person who has never been to medical school, chose whether my son was prescribed a stimulant or an antipsychotic drug made me trust her judgment about as far as I could pick her up and throw her.
In her report she didn’t mention the offer she made me to allow me to pick which poison I wanted to give my child.
Actually, what the school said was that he scored higher than average for both the Autism criteria and the ADHD criteria, but that he scored highest of all on the Emotional Disturbance criteria so that was the ribbon they awarded him. That is different than saying that autism and ADHD weren’t present. Rather, in the Sweet Pea Song And Dance Review, Autism and ADHD show up in cameo roles while Emotional Disturbance gets star billing.
"One nice side effect of the drugs is that they will help him gain weight," she said with a smile.
I did not smile back at her. My son is thin, but healthy. He is built the way the men in my husband's family are all built, and that is how Nature made him. Having him weight as much as his peers but be unhealthy is not my idea of an improvement.
After the appointment we went to dinner, because nothing says comfort to us like greasy Tex-Mex. We agreed that the doctor was off base, and that our son wouldn’t be seeing a psychiatrist until a psychologist and/or behavioral therapist told us that nothing they could do was working. This, I think, is a conclusion that you draw after weeks and months of working with a child, not after a 40-minute interview. Heck, the doctor at the Meyer Center didn’t even get kicked, hit or bit, and she wanted to drug him. That didn’t seem right to me.
I didn’t mention his attempts to stab classmates with school supplies on three occasions (that I know of) while I was there. I think if I had, she might have actually written the prescription she had offered to. Yes, those things scared me when they happened. No one got hurt (due to the fast reflexes of the staff and the blunt points of Kindergarten scissors), but it is alarming to read the reports when they come home with these stories in them.
The school psychologist talked to me today and agreed that he is making progress and that he is much easier to control than he was at the beginning of the year. She has seen the progress and considers it significant rather than a fluke. I have seen it, too. We once had an entire week with no incidents. Sometimes we go days with only minor ones. He is more likely to turn his anger toward an object (kicking a door) or to scream these days than to attack a person. I agree he needs help and I'm willing to look into help and finding someone to work with him. I'm just not sure that soaking his still-developing brain in wash of powerful chemicals would be in his best interest or in society's long-term interest. First, I’d like to try to teach him how to control the emotions that now have control over him. It won’t be a quick fix like pills would be, but I think having this skill will serve him better.
And so it goes.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * # * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
.
.
The report from the Meyer Developmental Center arrived in the mail over the weekend. The doctor there was kind, but she wasn’t much help. She specializes in ADHD and Autism Spectrum disorders. She thinks my 6 year old is more likely just nuts, and referred us to a psychiatrist to drug him into submission.
“I could write you a prescription for an anti psychotic medication, if you like,” she said sweetly, “But I think you would be better off getting it from a psychiatrist who specializes in these types of conditions.” Not that she could say what my son’s condition is. She also offered to write a prescription for an ADHD stimulant-type drug, if I liked that idea better. Her willingness to let me, a person who has never been to medical school, chose whether my son was prescribed a stimulant or an antipsychotic drug made me trust her judgment about as far as I could pick her up and throw her.
In her report she didn’t mention the offer she made me to allow me to pick which poison I wanted to give my child.
IMPRESSION
[Sweet Pea] is a 6-year-old 5-month-old male who is have significant behavioral problems in the area of hyperactivity and inattention, significant temper outbursts, especially at school, and anxiety symptoms. School has fully evaluated him and said he had above-average intelligence, [and] significant behavioral problems but did not feel autism was present and gave him an emotional disturbance designation for special education services.
Actually, what the school said was that he scored higher than average for both the Autism criteria and the ADHD criteria, but that he scored highest of all on the Emotional Disturbance criteria so that was the ribbon they awarded him. That is different than saying that autism and ADHD weren’t present. Rather, in the Sweet Pea Song And Dance Review, Autism and ADHD show up in cameo roles while Emotional Disturbance gets star billing.
In the opinion of the examiner the diagnoses today are:
1) Anxiety Symptoms
2) Hyperactivity and inattention symptoms.
3) Significant temper outburst, especially at school.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1) It is felt that, due to the constellation of the behavioral problems and normal mental abilities, [Sweet Pea] needs to be seen by a child psychiatrist for help with behavior, especially the possibility of appropriate medication.
[Here she listed off some baby shrinks we might could go to, should our insurance approve.]
2) Psychological therapy or play therapy may be beneficial to him as well.
3) Will not give [Sweet Pea] a return visit at Meyer Center as his problems are felt to be more psychiatric and psychological would be best handed in those specialties.
"One nice side effect of the drugs is that they will help him gain weight," she said with a smile.
I did not smile back at her. My son is thin, but healthy. He is built the way the men in my husband's family are all built, and that is how Nature made him. Having him weight as much as his peers but be unhealthy is not my idea of an improvement.
After the appointment we went to dinner, because nothing says comfort to us like greasy Tex-Mex. We agreed that the doctor was off base, and that our son wouldn’t be seeing a psychiatrist until a psychologist and/or behavioral therapist told us that nothing they could do was working. This, I think, is a conclusion that you draw after weeks and months of working with a child, not after a 40-minute interview. Heck, the doctor at the Meyer Center didn’t even get kicked, hit or bit, and she wanted to drug him. That didn’t seem right to me.
I didn’t mention his attempts to stab classmates with school supplies on three occasions (that I know of) while I was there. I think if I had, she might have actually written the prescription she had offered to. Yes, those things scared me when they happened. No one got hurt (due to the fast reflexes of the staff and the blunt points of Kindergarten scissors), but it is alarming to read the reports when they come home with these stories in them.
The school psychologist talked to me today and agreed that he is making progress and that he is much easier to control than he was at the beginning of the year. She has seen the progress and considers it significant rather than a fluke. I have seen it, too. We once had an entire week with no incidents. Sometimes we go days with only minor ones. He is more likely to turn his anger toward an object (kicking a door) or to scream these days than to attack a person. I agree he needs help and I'm willing to look into help and finding someone to work with him. I'm just not sure that soaking his still-developing brain in wash of powerful chemicals would be in his best interest or in society's long-term interest. First, I’d like to try to teach him how to control the emotions that now have control over him. It won’t be a quick fix like pills would be, but I think having this skill will serve him better.
And so it goes.
