Child Psychiatrist

So Cameron has his FIRST appointment ever with a child psychiatrist tomorrow.. and here i am, last minute thinking..

Is there anything I should take with me? I have the papers they sent me in the mail about his background and what he's being seen for and all the bells n whistles that they sent papers for, but is there anything else that I should take in with me?

Are there certain things I should ask?

Sorry, I get nervous and all that when I have to do something new like this, I just wanna cover all the bases and whatnot  

well, i would just write down and questions/concerns you have personally. idk what he is being seen for, but are their behaviors you are concerned about? have they already said that they are leaning toward a certain diagnosis, and if so, do you have questions about it in an of itself? idk from experience necessarily, but i feel like that is what i would do. just write down any and all questions or whatever i could think of, whether i ended up actually voicing them or not. but just so i wouldn't forget or feel like i left something out.

Quoting Mom of 2 Monkeys:" So Cameron has his FIRST appointment ever with a child psychiatrist tomorrow.. and here i am, last minute ... [snip!] ... Sorry, I get nervous and all that when I have to do something new like this, I just wanna cover all the bases and whatnot  "

How old is he and what is he being seen for? My main concern would be making sure he knows why he ia going and what will go on at the appt...

Wow this is your FIRST appt?

Well we've been going to them for years now.

It's always nerve wracking, are they going to look at you? Are they going to think something is wrong with you and not him? What do you say? What do you do?

Take notes of your concerns. We're seeing a new one tomorrow too, and I'm going back because I think Jacob is having black outs and anxiety problems on top of the problems he already has. Make sure you hit all the points on your list. And you'll usually know within the first 2 appts if this psych is worth your while or if you need to find another.

Quoting MommaNoodle:" well, i would just write down and questions/concerns you have personally. idk what he is being seen for, ... [snip!] ... think of, whether i ended up actually voicing them or not. but just so i wouldn't forget or feel like i left something out. "

sorry i had to run and do dinner after i posted. He's 4 and he has autism. The case manager at mental health, his teachers at school, and his neurologist all suggested he see a child psychiatrist. He's been aggressive lately (to himself) and he can't function at school because he seems paranoid of everything. He went from going to his class (which is a SN class) of 7 kids (counting him) and being happy and participating, to hiding in a corner screaming and making loud refusals  

Quoting Mom of 2 Monkeys:" sorry i had to run and do dinner after i posted. He's 4 and he has autism. The case manager at mental ... [snip!] ... class) of 7 kids (counting him) and being happy and participating, to hiding in a corner screaming and making loud refusals  "

That's pretty much where Jacob is now too. On most days he'll participate, but like with what happened today, he just gets these obsurd outlandish ideas that only make sense to him. Which is causing the out burst.

So the school psych, the special ed teacher and I all agreed, it's time to go see a counselor again for Jacob. We just have no idea, and I know he's the only one they can't figure out. Every time they think they have a plan for Jacob and think they have him figured out, he turns on them again.

They had to replace his point sheet because he was going crazy thinking that a $5 meant a 5 minutes break instead of what it actually meant was earning money towards store on Mondays. So when he got a 4 or a 3 he would yell and scream and say he wasn't getting a break anymore, and rip up his papers.

He's also been into self harm. More than usual, his face it tore up from fingernails, he'll scratch himself until he bleeds.

So we're off tomorrow too. Intake eval!

Quoting TheCoopersKnitWitch:" That's pretty much where Jacob is now too. On most days he'll participate, but like with what happened ... [snip!] ... usual, his face it tore up from fingernails, he'll scratch himself until he bleeds. So we're off tomorrow too. Intake eval!"

yep we had our intake today.. she took him off the buspar and put him on celexa and focalin.

Quoting Mom of 2 Monkeys:" yep we had our intake today.. she took him off the buspar and put him on celexa and focalin."

They didn't change anything for us yet. They just took all our information and then said she was going to look it over and then schedule an appt. At this time we declined a psychiatrist to over look his meds because we refuse to change it. We want to try the therapist first before the psychiatrist medication evaluations.

Quoting TheCoopersKnitWitch:" They didn't change anything for us yet. They just took all our information and then said she was going ... [snip!] ... his meds because we refuse to change it. We want to try the therapist first before the psychiatrist medication evaluations."

She said it wasn't good Cam being on the buspar , and she seen how aggressive he was in there, and i showed her a picture of him before he was on meds and how bad he'd bruise his forhead from headbanging, and that i'd like to try to keep him on them since he's so abusive without. I tried the non medicine/go to therapy route, it didn't help us  

This was an almost weekly thing... seemed like as soon as it was gone... he'd get another...

Quoting Mom of 2 Monkeys:" She said it wasn't good Cam being on the buspar , and she seen how aggressive he was in there, and i ... [snip!] ... to try to keep him on them since he's so abusive without. I tried the non medicine/go to therapy route, it didn't help us  "

Yeah I remember.

Jacob's out burst are maybe every other week. At least when they're so bad I think he's blacking out. And his self harm is up, but not a whole lot. Maybe 1x a week if that.

Because I used to dispense meds, because his grandma is a nurse. We refuse medication until it's the very last resort.

Quoting TheCoopersKnitWitch:" Yeah I remember. Jacob's out burst are maybe every other week. At least when they're so bad I think ... [snip!] ... that. Because I used to dispense meds, because his grandma is a nurse. We refuse medication until it's the very last resort."

yeah i tried the non medicine route, and therapy route, and nothing was helping, and i was tired of getting the looks everyday of my son looking like i beat and threw him around when it was all him.. I didn't get meds just because of my own insecurities of people, i just want Cam to be comfortable and be able to function correctly and not have to stim so hard he hurts himself. With him having no pain when he does something i didn't want him to end up giving himself a concussion or worse. The psych even mentained while being on these meds now to maybe consider talking to his family doc about maybe getting him a helmet   I don't think he'd keep it on, and i'd hate to do it to him, im hoping these meds will just curb the aggression so i don't have to worry about having him wear a helmet.

Quoting Mom of 2 Monkeys:" yeah i tried the non medicine route, and therapy route, and nothing was helping, and i was tired of ... [snip!] ... to do it to him, im hoping these meds will just curb the aggression so i don't have to worry about having him wear a helmet."

I know we've been lucky with Jacob. Hopefully it will help.

Quoting TheCoopersKnitWitch:" I know we've been lucky with Jacob. Hopefully it will help. "

im still waiting to get the focalin... my insurance wasn't covering it without authorization from the psych as to why he needs THAT med and not another.

Quoting Mom of 2 Monkeys:" im still waiting to get the focalin... my insurance wasn't covering it without authorization from the psych as to why he needs THAT med and not another."

That happened to us with the intuniv since the kids are on medicaid now.

I have no idea what focalin is for, but the celexa like helps virtually nobody so it's like why would they take away something that would help you know?