pSYCHOLOGIST JUST RANG ME FOR A CHAT BEFORE SHE MEETS MY 3 BOYS TOMORROW!!!

[TheRealMrsF]

i WAS ABSOLUTELY GOBSMACKED...SHE RANG TO HAVE A CHAT AS SHE QUITE RIGHTLY ASSUMED THAT TOMORROW THERE WILL BE LITTLE CHANCE FOR DIALOGUE BETWEEN HER AND MYSELF!!!

She thanked me for the letter i sent her describing my concerns about Alex (as he isn't officially meant to be going to the appointment)

she then went on to ask me if i wanted to bring alex alone tomorrow for a preliminary ASSESSMENT!!!!!!

You should have seen the look of shock on my face!!!!

I opted however to stick with all three for tomorrows appointment....as part of the reason we have been refferd is cos of Leigh's interaction difficulties (resulting in him getting violent)

This is why i was amazed that the paed only referred the 2 older boys...as the prob is mainly the 2 younger ones...can olyy assume that she did that cos if she refferred alex then sh'e have to admit he needs assessing.

so.......very excited now about the appointment.

we talked for 30 mins (or rather i talked for 30 mins.....maybe she'll assess me too!!!!)

she agreed that too many professionals seem to be bvery 'blinkered' about ASD....we were talking about imaginative play at the time....specifically about how some professionals will say the child is showing imaginitive/social skills if playing with the 'pretend/home corner with classmates at school'....whereas what is really happening is the ASD child is simply repeating visits to shops etc...and will react terribly to suggestions that he 'pretend to be someone else' or that 'the shop' becomes a hospital etc (alex cannot adapt to other ideas...he would have to have a new area designated ' for that new purpose....and he always 'role plays' as himself...either as him when he was a baby or as he is now...he never plays at being dad etc.....but as his teacher keeps saying ....he does play in the home corner with classmates.

so the appt is @ 9.30 tomorrow!!!!

[lunavix]

Congrats She sounds great and just what you need

[TheRealMrsF]

thanks....just hoping she can help.....but at least she listened!!!

[KarenThirl]

Good luck, Mrs F. Sounds as though you could be on to a winner there. Looking forward to hearing the outcome.

[macwoozy]

Great news that Leigh is finally going to be assessed. Good luck.

[Fio2]

[anniebear]

BRILIANT NEWS

hope all goes well

xxx

[jayzmummy]

Will be thinking of you Mrs F and the little forgetfulls.

[coppertop]

I know what you mean about the pretend play stuff, MrsF. Ds1 also finds it hard to understand that in the home corner his LSA can also be a doctor/shopkeeper/receptionist etc as well as being Mrs X. It has taken a while to get past this. He also used to insist on having the same scenario each time. His LSA deserves at least double what they're payng her.

Best of luck for tomorrow. I hope it goes well (or not well IYKWIM!) for you and the mini-Forgetfuls. We'll all be waiting for the imaginatively-titled thread.

[TheRealMrsF]

have told DH that the psychologist is suggesting assessing Alex

As expected he 'switched off' straight away.

I then explained that i am sick and tired of evryone telling me 'He's just attention seeking' ....and that 'IF' everyone read the books i read ,watched the programmes i watched, attended support groups that i go to, dropped their boys off at SN holiday clubs[and saw other seemingly 'attention seeking/normal looking] children.... and finally looked at the subtle behaviours of my son........then just maybe they'd take off their blinkers and see what i see.

Ok...so if i were scoring Alex on a 0-10 scale....where zero was severe and 10 was 'normal'...then none of my boys are below 5...... all basically hold their own in the big bad world.

So for me i hope the psychologist not only sees the behaviour etc that i have alerted her to- but i would also love her to tell me more about my son than i have worked out already- as then i stand a chance of repairing the damage that is being done daily whilst i am continually told 'he's fine at our house' or 'he's fine at school' (the psychologist agreed with me that a child sticking fingers in other's ears at school was not 'fine at school'....nor she said was it helpful to wait till he's 7 (as hinted by the paed) til his behaviour has deteriorated so much in order for him to get help....

so,for me i would like her to agree that a formal assessment is needed....and yes the outcome could be my name changing to :

MUM2THREEASD

but rather have that than

3BOYZWITHACRAPMUM

[JakB]

Deffo not boys with a crap mum, Mrs F!
Good luck tomorrow, thinking of you, JakBX

[mummytosteven]

not boyzwithacrapmum TheRealMrsF but more like MumBattlingHardThroughTheSystemForHerBoys

hope it goes well tomorrow - it sounds like she's willing to listen to you and receptive which is a good sign

[Twiglett]

sounds like it should be an excellent appointment MrsF

[coppertop]

You're definitely NOT a crap mum, MrsF!

If she's already suggested a preliminary assessment then it sounds to me as though she obviously agrees that Alex needs to be seen. Phoning before the appointment also suggests to me that she is genuinely very interested and not liable to just fob you off.

[TheRealMrsF]

Alex just made me smile ....he brought a highlighter pen over to me and said

"this always reminds me of rudolph"

I asked why

"he has this shape body"

I asked him to draw rudolph....and sure enough....his rudolph has a body identical to the highlighter pen!!!

[TheRealMrsF]

also...MY psychologist has offered to 'back me up' as far as my 'sanity' goes....and the effect all this 'justifying' has on my health.... remeber chocol8 when her son was being bullied- she had to confront that awful SENCO- and lost loads of weight in a few days through worry.....unlike me ofcourse gaining wight by the minute!!

[macwoozy]

Sorry,I should have said Alex, not Leigh, I really must take more notice of names in future. Anyway, good luck.

[Blossomhill]

Good luck Mrs F xxxxx

[TheRealMrsF]

TQ...and McW....I'm useless at names too! So no worry!

BH...Ilove my new name! (cannot seem to get messanger running....better that i don't really....i'd be sat here permanently!)

[Blossomhill]

You can't get msn running

[Blossomhill]

Right I have re-emailed you so you should get it any minute now. I think all u need to do is click on the button!

[JakB]

TheMarvellousAndVeryEntertainingMrsF
Good luck again, we are all thinking of you!!!!

[coppertop]

MrsF will now either be sitting nervously in the waiting room or doing a mad dash to get there on time.

Good luck, MrsF!

[coppertop]

Hope it went well, MrsF.

[jayzmummy]

Thinking of you Mrs F.....let us know how it went. XXX

[TheRealMrsF]

well....been.....and feel exhausted!!!!

Only 1 hour appointment....where do you begin!!!

she was lovely.....explained straight away that she is a general psychologist....not an ASD wizz- but said that for her the purpose of our mettings was to get the support i clearly need(yippee!) and referrals to various other bodies for amongst others...The Assement of Alex.

She was amazed that tom & Leigh were not statemented!!! I explained the 'glitch' that they are so achademically able that it's very hard to get a statement.....etc.
she says we will talk about this more.

she's alao amazed that to date the ONLY proffesional that has seen my boys is the community paed.

so hopefully we will be put on never-ending-waiting lists...but as i explained i would rather be on one for 2 years than not...as there's no 'danger' that my boys will 'suddenly grow out of it ' (as my hubby likes to think!!!)