Child Physcologist

[stressedmcd]

Please help!!! We have been having problems with our daughter (Age 11) since she was about 5 or 6 with behaviour issues, anger, frustration, not listening, aggressive etc. This behaviour is only happening at home. However recently she has gone high school and they have raised some issues about her work, not retaining information etc, they are thinking along the lines of dyslexia. However having read up on this, we feel that she ticks more of the boxes in ADHD. We have since made an appointment with our GP and she is referring her to a Child Physcologist. Can anyone provide any info on what lies ahead for us all.

is she referring her to camhs?

Sorry, all new to this, not sure what camhs is??????

CAMHS is the child and adolescent mental health service- not as scary as it sounds!

No she didnt say what it was specifically, she just mentioned that she would refer her to a Child Physcologist. The school are also doing their own tests as they have concerns regarding her schoolwork and her teachers feel that she is not retaining any information. She is a very well mannered wee girl and anyone meeting her thinks she is lovely, it only seems to be at home that all these problems arise. She is so hyperactive all of the time, has happy hands (constant clapping) and never stops talking. On a one to one basis she is brilliant, when other people come into the frame thats when the problems start.

sounds like her school are on the ball then

Did the GP specify a clinical psychologist? Has she been seen by an ed psych? Are school sorting that out?

No not clinical just a child phyc. The school havent mentioned anything like that, they are thinking along the lines of having a support worker work with her to help her with her studies!

So are they providing the support worker? They sound very good.

Once they have completed their tests, and if these prove conclusive in any way then they have support workers based in the school. I think their role is more based on working one 2 one with the children in the classroom, they will not get involved in any of the issues that is happening at home.

How are they assessing her? Do they have an SEN specialist on their staff? You need to know that their tests are accurate and relevant if they will base their support on the outcome.

They are assessing her with spellig tests and maths test as these are the 2 main areas that she seems to be having problems with, she is being assessed by teachers at the school. This is one of my other problems, they will not be looking into any of the other issues that I have raised, this is why we decided that we needed to visit our GP with the wider issues that were happening. My daughter is not aware that any of this will be taking place yet. It will be a very difficult time for her to understand why we have did this.....

You have done the right thing then by going to the GP. Your daughter may well be able to hold it together at school to some extent and then let it all out at home. You could really do with an ed psych to assess her with regards to what's going on at school. The school won't be able to get information about her ability to retain information from spelling and maths tests.

That was one of the reasons we decided to visit the GP, I know the school are trying to help but we felt she needed professional help. She has a few school years ahead of her and we want her to have the best possible chance at getting a good education and being happy both inside and outside. I assume we have a long rocky road ahead of us that certainly won't be easy on any of us but at the end of the day if we get answers then it will all be worth it.

It sounds like you have the school and GP's support so that's really important. You may get more of a response by posting in SN - lots of parents there with experience and advice

I will thank you for your help.