Just want to point out -- it is a neuropsychologist who most frequently does the extensive testing needed for the diagnosis of many childhood neurological disorders, although a child psychiatrist frequently makes the diagnosis of mood issues (anxiety, depression, bipolar).
I appreciate the education I've received over the past six months while reading all the trials and tribulations. I would appreciate any suggestions on the following. My friend's 9 year old son is currently diagnosted and being treated for ADHD, Anxiety, and OCD. Over the last three years he has seen the gamut of professionals. including a Neurophychiatrist which spent a total of 40 minutes with him basically saying he has a sleep disorder. My friend questions the current diagnosis (basically ADHD) as her son's behavior indicates he may have additional problems or at least should have a different diagnosis. She is debating whether to have her son rediagnost using different doctors. She has seen phychiatrists, phychologists, neurologists, nutritionalists, neurophychologist and neurophychiatrists. She has been told her son has bipolar, asbergers, adhd, OCD, depression, sleeping problems, low blood sugar, by some professionals, others completely disagree. Any suggestions on the direction she should take? Thanks so much!
Seems like they all could be his issues. It is possible to have it all. I know some Asd kids who also have other issues as well. Asbergers kids have ocd. Blood sugar is done by a blood test. Sleep issue can be detect on a sleep test. Diet change can help with that though. I am not a professional. Just research alot. Wow! It doesn't sound to me like this child needs another dx. My question is...What do mom and dad think the child has? There are numerous internet sites that discuss different disorders, and I would advise the parents to do their own research and see what they think fits. I will say, though, that ADHD, anxiety and OCD combined sounds Aspie to me, but I have not met the child, so there's no way for me to know. lillian38765.3371527778Well, the mom is so overwhelmed (she has a five year old and newborn) she's not sure what to make of all the different opinions. From what I understand from various posts I've read, children who are difficult to diagnosis typically get the most accurate diagnosis from many hours with a neurophychiatrist who truly understands the child. He's never had that. Do you feel that a neurophychiatrist would be the best professional to see for an accurate diagnosis?
My son has been evaluated by psychologists, psychiatrists, and diagnosticians. For a proper diagnosis, what I have learned, at this point, is that the title is not as important, as the evaluator's reputation. I suggest the mother, or you if she is too overwhelmed to do this herself, find local support groups in the community for parents of children with disabilities and start asking around. Ask who the parents or the organizations recommend. This is how I found the woman who evaluated my son for dyslexia, and she was superb! This is also how I found the man who is going to reevaluate my son for ADHD and anxiety. I will see how I like him, but everyone who has used him thinks the world of him.
There are good and bad doctors, psychologists, and diagnosticians. The degree does not insure compassion or an unbiased evaluation.
A NeuroPsych who only sees a child for 40 minutes is an oddity. My son was tested for twelve hours. Tell her to take him to another NeruroPsych--one that will run the gamut of tests on him. My advice is to skip the non-MD professionals except for NeuroPsychs (that rules out seeing Psycologists, therapists, social workers, school counselors, etc. because they just don't have the knowledge to diagnose and they really aren't supposed to). A Psychiatrist and NeuroPsych working as a team could be very useful. Also, the mother should bring in a history of the family. Are there mood problems, substance abuse, suicide attempts on either side of the family tree? Any Aspergers or suspected forms of autism that went undiagnosed? "Odd duck" loners in the family who never got along with others? Looking at your own family tree is a very good prediction of what is wrong with your child. If she feels it's not just ADHD, she's probably right. Moms live with the k ids and have good instincts. (Dads tend to be in denial--truth!) But Moms tend to get it right 90%of the time. I agree with Lilian that it could very well be Aspergers or another higher form of autism (HFA or PDD-NOS). Was there a speech delay or speech problems? Does the kid socialize well?OlderMom38765.5059722222Sometimes it can take years for an accurate diagnosis. We've seen many Drs also. I continually question my son's dx's. The reason----developmentally--they may grow-out of it. My son has grown-out of alot of his behaviors. But then--new ones pop up. As he gets older---it will be more clear as to what he really has. My son is a "mutt". A mix of alot of dx's---but none that looks 100%. Right now---it's narrowed down to only a couple. But, at 3yo--we saw a neuropsych, SLP and psychiatrist for ruling out ASD. They didn't agree on the dx at that time. One of them thought--yes, the other 2 no. So.....he was dx with mixed developmental disorder(which meant---they didn't know) and expressive/receptive langauge disorder. Then we started in with the therapists--psychologist. We switched to a different one---because the clinic was moving to a different location. Our current psych has seen my son since 3.5yo. She said at 4y--he needed a psychiatrist for poss meds. At 4y---he was dx with Anxiety, disruptive behavioral disorder and his langauge disorder. This Dr did not believe in childhood bipolar and I truely believed that was what my son had. So after a failed med trial of SSRI's---this pdoc told me there was nothing more he could do and to come back in 4 months. I got on a waiting list for another pdoc. Very good one. Didn't take our insurance---but we needed the best. At 5yo---he was then dx with bipolar, anxiety, expressive language disorder and possible aspergers. Started med trials. At 6y---same dx, add ADHD, and aspergers is still looking like it.
I know that in the future we will find out which dx will "stick". The ones I KNOW he has right now-----language disorder and anxiety (even though he shows no anxiety in school---except for stimming or fidgety)--they would say it was ADHD impulse behaviors.
As long as treatment with behavior mod and/or meds is working----I beleive it really doesn't matter what dx a child gets. Treatment for symptoms is what is important. My son is treated in school for social/behavior, language. Pretty much as if he was an ASD kids. He does not show his bipolar---aggressiveness/raging at school.
Holly
Jacob--6y
Just wanted to update everyone on my friend's 9 year old situation. As mentioned last month, this boy has been to countless professionals, tried many different meds over the past few years, but never received a definite diagnosis (except ADHD), but clearly there was more going on.
She brought him to a Neuropsychologist (she had seen one in the past), who spent 1 1/2 of extensive testing and came back with "he does not have ADD or ADHD, he has dyspraxia". After doing some research on dyspraxia, the diagnoses sure seems to fit. Although it appears similar to ADHD, the running with the arms waving and many other gross motor issues are now so obvious. It's a motor skill issue resquires which can improve with OT and PT.
Although there appears to be other issues going on, this is the diagnosis she has received that doesn't appear to be based entirely on guesswork.