I initiated an appt for my youngest -- psych evaluation

[Nestof3]

And I'm nervous. I feel like I have no idea where I will even start with trying to describe what's going on. I'm just nervous about the whole thing.

 

Plus, it's going to be expensive.

[Catwoman]

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

 

I hope everything will be OK.

[Caroline]

Could you keep a journal until the appointment? That way you would have data to share.

 

Good luck. :grouphug:

[Nestof3]

Could you keep a journal until the appointment? That way you would have data to share.

 

Good luck. :grouphug:

 

That's a great idea. Why didn't I think of that? :)

[Lisa in Jax]

Most psychologists or neuropsychologists will administer questionnaires or checklists about behavior. If you're not sure what's important, ask if he has a checklist for you or psychological measure he can complete.

 

Lisa

[Carol in Cal.]

Good move!

[LizzyBee]

When two of my dd's had edpsych evals for LDs, we had numerous questionnaires to complete. In addition, they gave us about half a page to write our concerns. Haha. I wrote about 8 pages typed. I just started writing about the earliest things that concerned me and the progression forward, ps experience for the older one, homeschooling experience, information from my reading that described them, etc. The psych said I was one of the most informed and informative parents she'd ever worked with. Even though the focus of your son's eval is not LDs, I think that kind of narrative is very helpful because a psych only sees a child in a clinical setting, and his behavior there may not reflect the reality you live with on a day to day basis. Just start at the beginning, and I'm guessing that once you start, the words will pour onto the page.

[8circles]

We had to do this for my 7yo this past year. I was nervous but it has helped tons.

 

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[AStableBeginning]

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

I'm so sorry, but if you get answers and solutions, it will be so worth it.

 

:grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[Parrothead]

:grouphug::grouphug: You are a good mom.

[Denisemomof4]

I was also nervous but afterwards I realize I never should have been. I was never left to explain things on my own. There was a lot of paperwork/questionnaires, and the appt consisted of my answering all the questions.

[BlueTaelon]

Before you get wrapped up in the world of clueless psychs and nasty meds PLEASE read this book. Like many desperate parents we went to a psych desperate for help with this child from hell and thats the only way to put it. I tried everything with this child and she was on powerful drugs with serious side effects from severe weight gain to making her a zombie. After a few years I got sick of it all, the drugs didn't work and they had horrible side effects. The Dr's had nothing else to offer but more drugs. At that time dd12 had a dx of Bipolar 1, ADHD/ODD and something else I'm forgetting, I did everything in my power to make sure they didn't add Schizophrenia even though I knew she was seeing/hearing things. (I can't remember why I was so set on avoiding this dx)

 

Its been a little over a year since we thumbed our noses at the drugs and guess what, she shows NO SIGNS of Bipolar/SZ/ADHD/ODD. Whats wrong with her was a nasty little blood disorder called Pyroluria and Histadelia. NO Dr had ever ran the tests for it until I demanded it after learning about it online, none of our Dr's except the PA (and she'd only seen it once back at the beginning of her career) had ever even heard of it. The book above was written by a mom who's child was just like mine and ended up having the same conditions to boot. I have become so angry at the psych community after finding out that not only my dd but many in my family who's lives have been destroyed by mental illness also have the condition. Many mental health issues, especially the more severe ones are very treatable without powerful drugs but you have to be aware of the diseases that cause them. Another good book would be this one.

[jenL]

We just went to an intake appt for our eldest on Tuesday, and I was nervous too. It turned out to be a wonderful experience. We feel so relieved, and the testing hasn't even been done yet!

 

We had several pages to complete concerning behavior, education issues, mental health, regular health, etc. I also wrote extra in their comments section. At the appointment, we went over what I wrote, and then she asked further questions to clarify or dig deeper. Keeping a journal is a great idea too.

 

It's going to be okay. :grouphug: to you!

[lulubelle]

Just had our third appointment with a psychologist. My emotions have been all over the place. Last weeks appointment wiped me out. Today was much better. Next week we hear the therapists input of what she has observed and read in all the questionnaires and a previous neuropsych report from 2 years ago.

 

One step at a time. It is all for the better.

[Flowing Brook]

:grouphug::grouphug: I hope you get the to the bottom of the problem.

[Ottakee]

I agree it is worth testing for but we did those tests too and still have mental illness here.

[Nestof3]

This makes sense and will help a lot.

 

Most psychologists or neuropsychologists will administer questionnaires or checklists about behavior. If you're not sure what's important, ask if he has a checklist for you or psychological measure he can complete.

 

Lisa

 

When two of my dd's had edpsych evals for LDs, we had numerous questionnaires to complete. In addition, they gave us about half a page to write our concerns. Haha. I wrote about 8 pages typed. I just started writing about the earliest things that concerned me and the progression forward, ps experience for the older one, homeschooling experience, information from my reading that described them, etc. The psych said I was one of the most informed and informative parents she'd ever worked with. Even though the focus of your son's eval is not LDs, I think that kind of narrative is very helpful because a psych only sees a child in a clinical setting, and his behavior there may not reflect the reality you live with on a day to day basis. Just start at the beginning, and I'm guessing that once you start, the words will pour onto the page.

[Nestof3]

I agree it is worth testing for but we did those tests too and still have mental illness here.

 

I don't think professionals can take away mental illness, right? Just find ways to cope/manage. I'm so sorry it isn't helping for your family.

[Nestof3]

Before you get wrapped up in the world of clueless psychs and nasty meds PLEASE read this book. Like many desperate parents we went to a psych desperate for help with this child from hell and thats the only way to put it. I tried everything with this child and she was on powerful drugs with serious side effects from severe weight gain to making her a zombie. After a few years I got sick of it all, the drugs didn't work and they had horrible side effects. The Dr's had nothing else to offer but more drugs. At that time dd12 had a dx of Bipolar 1, ADHD/ODD and something else I'm forgetting, I did everything in my power to make sure they didn't add Schizophrenia even though I knew she was seeing/hearing things. (I can't remember why I was so set on avoiding this dx)

 

Its been a little over a year since we thumbed our noses at the drugs and guess what, she shows NO SIGNS of Bipolar/SZ/ADHD/ODD. Whats wrong with her was a nasty little blood disorder called Pyroluria and Histadelia. NO Dr had ever ran the tests for it until I demanded it after learning about it online, none of our Dr's except the PA (and she'd only seen it once back at the beginning of her career) had ever even heard of it. The book above was written by a mom who's child was just like mine and ended up having the same conditions to boot. I have become so angry at the psych community after finding out that not only my dd but many in my family who's lives have been destroyed by mental illness also have the condition. Many mental health issues, especially the more severe ones are very treatable without powerful drugs but you have to be aware of the diseases that cause them. Another good book would be this one.

 

Thank you. I will definitely look into this.

[TXMomof4]

I agree with keeping a journal. Or at least think of situations that exemplify your concerns and write them down. When dd started going to a psych I did NOT do that and I came across as jumbled and confused. Now I write down the situation, my concerns, my questions about whether a certain treatment/response would be effective or if that's the best choice. We've made LOTS of headway and I feel much more confident dealing with DD and with the Dr. Of course, it helps that I really like the dr. and she is supportive of me while still giving me a kick in the pants now and then.

 

:grouphug: and good luck!

[Ottakee]

I meant the medical condition mentioned above. Our doctors checked for that and many other things but we still have mental illness.

 

I do think though that a full physical, blood work and maybe an EEG and MRI can be very helpful, as well as a pediatric neurologist or geneticist is anything else is suspect.

 

There are kids out there that seems to have a mental illness but the root cause of the behavior might be thyroid problems, partial seizures, mitochondrial myopathy, etc. Sometimes treating those issues eliminate the mental health symptoms and other times they just go with it. It can be very complex.

[BlueTaelon]

I meant the medical condition mentioned above. Our doctors checked for that and many other things but we still have mental illness.

 

I do think though that a full physical, blood work and maybe an EEG and MRI can be very helpful, as well as a pediatric neurologist or geneticist is anything else is suspect.

 

There are kids out there that seems to have a mental illness but the root cause of the behavior might be thyroid problems, partial seizures, mitochondrial myopathy, etc. Sometimes treating those issues eliminate the mental health symptoms and other times they just go with it. It can be very complex.

 

 

I thought our Dr's had done their homework too, they didn't. It wasn't until I started learning about Orthomolecular medicine and all the problems that can cause mental illness that I became aware that our Dr's were clueless and hadn't ordered a single test needed to detect ANY condition that could be caused by diet or nutritional issues or any other issues. Were gluten/dairy free and trying to go Paleo (gluten is a known cause of severe mental health issues, on top of celiac gluten causes rages in my dd12), we had to give up artificials too, we've had to make major diet and lifestyle changes. You can not rely on Dr's to heal you, once I understood that and got proactive in our care and started researching a whole new world opened up and that was the beginning of our healing. I never thought I'd be free from depression or that my dd12 would no longer suffer from severe mental illness (this verified by psych evals) or that we wouldn't even be dealing with severe immune deficiency thats been in our lives since dd 12 was 3 months old just a year after beginning treatment. Thats HUGE and by most would be considered a miracle but it was just a fed up mom who didn't give up. I thought people like me were crazy not to trust their Dr's and to try "vitamins and diet" and "weird stuff". Now I wish I'd seen the light earlier and saved us all that grief.

[Mom-ninja.]

Be prepared for anti-homeschool bias. This was my experience. I went to two and each time got the lectures about how school would solve blah blah blah. One told me straight out, "I see this a lot in home school families. Home school moms don't like to cut those apron strings." :glare:

 

I finally asked in my home school group and got a name for a home school friendly psychologist.

 

I hope that you don't not experience what I did, and you get the help you need.

[Jan in SC]

Be prepared for anti-homeschool bias. This was my experience. I went to two and each time got the lectures about how school would solve blah blah blah. One told me straight out, "I see this a lot in home school families. Home school moms don't like to cut those apron strings." :glare:

 

I finally asked in my home school group and got a name for a home school friendly psychologist.

 

I hope that you don't not experience what I did, and you get the help you need.

 

Don't go in scared about this, though. I took a child (he was in ps at the time) with anxiety to be evaluated by a full time school counselor/ part time private therapist. After the first 30 minutes, she told me that I should try homeschooling, if I was willing. Homeschooling is not a novel thing, anymore. It's fine to ask the receptionist to ask the therapist if he/she is supportive of homeschooling, before you visit.

[chiguirre]

:iagree:

 

The doctors we've been to haven't questioned hsing. They've usually heard too many horror stories about ps.

[Plucky]

Don't go in scared about this, though. I took a child (he was in ps at the time) with anxiety to be evaluated by a full time school counselor/ part time private therapist. After the first 30 minutes, she told me that I should try homeschooling, if I was willing. Homeschooling is not a novel thing, anymore. It's fine to ask the receptionist to ask the therapist if he/she is supportive of homeschooling, before you visit.

 

I agree. Our new therapist is absolutely lovely and she is pro-homeschooling. She's seen enough bad school situations where kids needed something else. She was a ps teacher and ps school counselor. I'm very thankful to have found such a wonderful therapist for my dd.

[LizzyBee]

Don't go in scared about this, though. I took a child (he was in ps at the time) with anxiety to be evaluated by a full time school counselor/ part time private therapist. After the first 30 minutes, she told me that I should try homeschooling, if I was willing. Homeschooling is not a novel thing, anymore. It's fine to ask the receptionist to ask the therapist if he/she is supportive of homeschooling, before you visit.

 

:iagree: My middle dd had some anxiety, and when I asked about sending her back to ps, our psychologist said she wasn't ready yet. She did go back for high school, but not that year based partially on the psych's answer. Some are anti-homeschooling, but many are not.

Edited October 11, 2012 by LizzyBee

[sparrow]

Don't go in scared about this, though. I took a child (he was in ps at the time) with anxiety to be evaluated by a full time school counselor/ part time private therapist. After the first 30 minutes, she told me that I should try homeschooling, if I was willing. Homeschooling is not a novel thing, anymore. It's fine to ask the receptionist to ask the therapist if he/she is supportive of homeschooling, before you visit.

 

:iagree:I read the psych evaluation we had for LDs. The doctor stated clearly that "child is receiving exceptional education at home". He felt that the one-on-one attention was precisely what was needed and it could not be duplicated in the classroom. The evaluation was provided by our public school district.

 

:grouphug: Best wishes! Dh and I left our child's evaluation feeling better because we finally had professional *proof* that something was going on.

[tex-mex]

Most psychologists or neuropsychologists will administer questionnaires or checklists about behavior. If you're not sure what's important, ask if he has a checklist for you or psychological measure he can complete.

 

Lisa

:iagree:

 

Many also do an informal interview and ask questions about birth, early learning issues, schooling issues, etc. It is very worthwhile! The best cheerleaders for our homeschooling decision has been the Neuropsychologists over the years.